All night under mosquito net 婦人泊客之図， Kitagawa Utamaro
British Museum 最新展覽： Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art
導演: 溝口健二
編劇: 依田義賢
主演: 阪東簑助 / 阪東好太郎 / 中村正太郎 / 高鬆錦之助
類型: 劇情
製片國家/地區: 日本
語言: 日語
上映日期: 1946-12-17(日本)
片長: 106 分鍾
又名: 歌麿和他的五個女人 / 歌麿的五個女人 / Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna / Utamaro and His Five Women
歌女五美圖的劇情簡介 · · · · · ·
喜多川歌麿（阪東簑助 飾）因繪畫某千金小姐雪江（大原英子 飾）惹上麻煩，雪江的未婚夫，同時也是幕府禦用畫師出身的小出勢之助（阪東好太郎 飾）吵上門來，非要與之用畫技一決雌雄。一番比試過後，勢之助甘拜下風，隨後拋棄武士身份並與雪江分手，拜入喜多川門下學習。
歌麿生性開朗，經他畫出的美女圖成為全城搶購的熱銷產品，而他的模特們也會自此迷戀上他。當然，愛人多了同樣也會帶來煩惱……
[背景]江戶本土出生的喜多川歌麿飾江戶幕府時期最著名的浮世繪畫家，他是“大首繪”的創始人，也就是有臉部特寫的半身胸像，代表作為 “江戶寬政年間三美人”，1804年因繪製《太閣洛東五妻遊觀》得罪幕府，受手銬刑（該事件在片中提到）。（豆瓣）
Between the golden era of the 1930s and his greater still platinum period of the 1950s, Kenji Mizoguchi's 1940s work has too often been overlooked. It's true that no absolute bona fide masterpiece was made in this period, but to dismiss the work would be extremely short-sighted. His 47 Ronin films, while not his best or most comfortable work, bear comparison to any other version of the tale, and Woman of the Night and The Loves of Sumako the Actress are both exquisite minor pieces in their own way. His two central works of the period, however, remain My Love Has Been Burning and this earlier film from 1946. It must be put in context here when the film was made. The Japanese studio system had been crippled not only by the war but by the occupation, and Mizoguchi himself had been so creatively stymied that there is a case for declaring Utamaro the first true Mizoguchi film of its decade. Utamaro is the most famous painter in Japan in the late 18th century. His talents as are unquestioned as his own belief in them, and he gives himself to them absolutely. His main interest is women -- as one such woman accurately observes, "he loves all women to catch their soul" -- while never himself giving more than his talent. He makes enemies both from inside the artistic hierarchy and from without, where many complain at his scouring brothels for courtesan subjects.
Like his earlier works with Izusu Yamada it concerns the plight of women, and yet they themselves are not the focal point. The central figure of the artist remains largely a cipher, and yet that in itself is deliberate. Writer Yoshikata Yoda subconsciously put a bit of Mizoguchi in his depiction of the artist, and Mizoguchi's fascination with women can be easily discerned in the character of Utamaro. He is in awe of them just as Utamaro is, not in a sexual way but aesthetically and of their inner spirit. At the same time, however, there's the analysis of the artist in society and of a genius appreciated by others who suddenly find themselves unworthy. It's a recognition that leads many to jealousy -- think Salieri and Mozart, for example -- but the moment of recognition, when an artist challenges Utamaro to a painter's duel, only for Utamaro to win by simply improving -- in his words, 'fixing' -- the deficits in his opponent's work, is one of the most shattering in film (one again recalls the moment in Amadeus when Mozart does an impromptu reworking of Salieri muttering "that doesn't really work, does it?").
Visually, as one might expect, it's astonishing, right from the opening shot, a dream-time slow-motion pan through a procession by blossom trees that is almost transcendental in itself. More eye-opening, however, is its sensuality. There's a studious rapture in Mizoguchi's framing of the women swimming in the sea watched by the smitten Utamaro. Better still there's the moment where Utamaro paints Tanaka's bare back, which surely qualifies as just about the most erotic moment in Mizoguchi's entire oeuvre, while also looking ahead retrospectively to Masumura (a Mizoguchi disciple) and his later Irezumi. Some might criticise the fact that the artist remains impenetrable, yet it's through his work and the effect he has on others that this is best ascertained. It also, in the depiction of period demimondes, looks ahead to his 1950s masterpieces. As Tony Rayns observed in Time Out, "in style, it's much like Mizoguchi's earlier work, but less emotional, more formalised, more mysterious, and a great deal more daring aesthetically."
歌麿生性開朗，經他畫出的美女圖成為全城搶購的熱銷產品，而他的模特們也會自此迷戀上他。當然，愛人多了同樣也會帶來煩惱……
[背景]江戶本土出生的喜多川歌麿飾江戶幕府時期最著名的浮世繪畫家，他是“大首繪”的創始人，也就是有臉部特寫的半身胸像，代表作為 “江戶寬政年間三美人”，1804年因繪製《太閣洛東五妻遊觀》得罪幕府，受手銬刑（該事件在片中提到）。（豆瓣）
Between the golden era of the 1930s and his greater still platinum period of the 1950s, Kenji Mizoguchi's 1940s work has too often been overlooked. It's true that no absolute bona fide masterpiece was made in this period, but to dismiss the work would be extremely short-sighted. His 47 Ronin films, while not his best or most comfortable work, bear comparison to any other version of the tale, and Woman of the Night and The Loves of Sumako the Actress are both exquisite minor pieces in their own way. His two central works of the period, however, remain My Love Has Been Burning and this earlier film from 1946. It must be put in context here when the film was made. The Japanese studio system had been crippled not only by the war but by the occupation, and Mizoguchi himself had been so creatively stymied that there is a case for declaring Utamaro the first true Mizoguchi film of its decade. Utamaro is the most famous painter in Japan in the late 18th century. His talents as are unquestioned as his own belief in them, and he gives himself to them absolutely. His main interest is women -- as one such woman accurately observes, "he loves all women to catch their soul" -- while never himself giving more than his talent. He makes enemies both from inside the artistic hierarchy and from without, where many complain at his scouring brothels for courtesan subjects.
Like his earlier works with Izusu Yamada it concerns the plight of women, and yet they themselves are not the focal point. The central figure of the artist remains largely a cipher, and yet that in itself is deliberate. Writer Yoshikata Yoda subconsciously put a bit of Mizoguchi in his depiction of the artist, and Mizoguchi's fascination with women can be easily discerned in the character of Utamaro. He is in awe of them just as Utamaro is, not in a sexual way but aesthetically and of their inner spirit. At the same time, however, there's the analysis of the artist in society and of a genius appreciated by others who suddenly find themselves unworthy. It's a recognition that leads many to jealousy -- think Salieri and Mozart, for example -- but the moment of recognition, when an artist challenges Utamaro to a painter's duel, only for Utamaro to win by simply improving -- in his words, 'fixing' -- the deficits in his opponent's work, is one of the most shattering in film (one again recalls the moment in Amadeus when Mozart does an impromptu reworking of Salieri muttering "that doesn't really work, does it?").
Visually, as one might expect, it's astonishing, right from the opening shot, a dream-time slow-motion pan through a procession by blossom trees that is almost transcendental in itself. More eye-opening, however, is its sensuality. There's a studious rapture in Mizoguchi's framing of the women swimming in the sea watched by the smitten Utamaro. Better still there's the moment where Utamaro paints Tanaka's bare back, which surely qualifies as just about the most erotic moment in Mizoguchi's entire oeuvre, while also looking ahead retrospectively to Masumura (a Mizoguchi disciple) and his later Irezumi. Some might criticise the fact that the artist remains impenetrable, yet it's through his work and the effect he has on others that this is best ascertained. It also, in the depiction of period demimondes, looks ahead to his 1950s masterpieces. As Tony Rayns observed in Time Out, "in style, it's much like Mizoguchi's earlier work, but less emotional, more formalised, more mysterious, and a great deal more daring aesthetically."
