Shinjû: Ten no amijima (1969)

Réalisateur:

Masahiro Shinoda

Writers:

Monzaemon Chikamatsu (play)
Masahiro Shinoda (writer)

Release Date:

11 février 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drame

Plot:

In 18th Century in Japan, the paper merchant Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) falls in love for the courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita)...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Adultery | Prostitute | Breaking The Fourth Wall | Merchant

Awards:

7 wins

Avis des utilisateurs:

Intensely emotional

Ensemble

Shima Iwashita	...	Koharu and Osan
Kichiemon Nakamura	...	Jihei
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Owner of the Yamatoya
Jun Hamamura
Sumiko Hidaka
Tokie Hidari	...	Osugi
Yoshi Kato	...	Gosaemon
Shizue Kawarazaki	...	Osan's mother
Hosei Komatsu	...	Tahei
Yusuke Takita	...	Mogoemon

Autre(s) titre(s) :

Double Suicide

Durée:

142 min | USA:105 min

Pays:

Japan

Langue:

Japonais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Son:

Mono

Company:

Art Theatre Guild

Connexions De Film:

Featured in Music for the Movies: Tôru Takemitsu (1994)

Intensely emotional

Similar to the fate of the star-crossed lovers in Romeo and Juliet, Double Suicide by Masahiro Shinoda is Shakespearean in its theme of lovers who are forbidden by society's rules to be together and can only find fulfillment in death. The film is based on a 1720 Kabuki (or Bunraku) puppet play, The Love Suicide at Amijima by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, who has been called the Japanese Shakespeare. As the film begins, black-clad puppeteers known as kurago are busy assembling puppets and setting the stage for the drama. Soon live actors replace the puppets but the puppeteers remain in the background, silent participants changing the sets, assembling the props, and "pulling the strings", representing perhaps the inexorable hand that guides our lives or as Shinoda has said the `thin line between truth and falsehood". The film is intensely emotional and has the feel of grand opera but the puppeteers make clear the artificiality of the drama and keep us distanced.

In the film, Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) is a paper merchant who is married with two young children. Though he loves his wife Osan, he has been secretly seeing a courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita who also plays Osan) for two and a half years. He has dissipated his fortune at the brothel and now cannot raise enough money to redeem Koharu from her enslavement to the brothel's owner (Kamatari Fujiwara). Though his family finds out about their romance and Osan tries to persuade Jehei to sever the relationship, it becomes apparent that the bond is unbreakable and we watch helplessly as the inevitable tragedy unfolds. Double Suicide has a haunting score by Toru Takemitsu and amazing black and white photography, shown in sharp detail and contrast in the new Criterion DVD, and is highly recommended for a unique viewing experience.