Suzuki Seijun’s – Story of a Prostitute
This is the second article on my experience of Suzuki Seijun’s movies. The earlier article is here.
Before, I could get my hands on the DVD of Tokyo Drifter, I roamed around a few DVD stores that I thought were Japanese to look for it. Some turned out to be Chinese and some Korean but I couldn’t figure out a Japanese movie rental place. Finally, one day I asked the store person at a Korean DVD rental place as to where a Japanese movie rental store is. The guy smiled and said, walk down the street, there is a DVD store named ‘NIPPON Video’.
Duh! I have walked in front of that store I do not know how many times but it never registered in my head that Nippon Video is one place where I should be going. Well, the fun just started. I went the store, and found one kid who speaks some English to help me set up a membership there. Now, I knew that I was going to a Japanese store so, I learnt the Japanese title by heart so that I can show off what I learnt 
. I told the kid, I need ‘Tokyo Nagaremnono’. He looked at me quizzically for a second. I repeated my request. He asked me to follow him. I did. He went to an aisle and picked up a DVD and gave it to me with a huge smile of satisfaction that he had served the customer appropriately.
What I got was a Japanese dubbed version of the ‘Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift‘. I looked at the kid for a second and told him, “Not this, I need Tokyo Nagaremono”. He pointed to me and said this is the one. I wanted to say, “Why in the world would a Desi speaking in English and who doesn’t know Japanese, want a Japanese dubbed version of a Hollywood movie?”But I said, “Sorry, this is not the one I am looking for. The movie was made in the 1960s”. Then he said, “No DVD 1960″. I thanked him for his service and left the store. Nowadays, I take a print out of the movie information from IMDB and show it to people there and let them figure it out for me.
Anyway, after that experience, I decided to try a Chinese DVD store near our home. Turns out that they have a small Japanese movie section and they had the movie ‘Story of a Prostitute‘ by Suzuki. Well, I was a bit disappointed that I did not get the DVD of Tokyo Drifter but, I decided to watch this anyway. Sometimes, things from which you do not expect anything or you have no idea about can give you the most rewarding experience. I realized after watching it that my adulation towards him was totally misplaced. I was more interested in the Jazz and the style but this movie changed all that.
The movie is based on a story written by Taijiro Tamura. The story takes place during the second world war. The central character is Harumi, a prostitute, who leaves the city disappointed by the betrayal of her lover. She ends up in a Japanese outpost in Manchuria. The brothel/comfort house that she is in, is used for the soldiers in battle and is provided by the Japanese military. The local commander takes a liking to her and ‘reserves’ her for himself. When he isn’t available, she does need to ‘comfort’ the others who wait in line for her. The commander’s aide Mikami is a loyal aide to him and takes all his abuses in stride. Harumi is at first fascinated by Mikami but on his rejection of her she slowly falls in love with him. Mikami on the other hand is also attracted towards Harumi and they end up comforting each other in hiding. Their love doesn’t care about the military bureaucracy, but Suzuki does. In an explicit, take on the moral attitude towards sacrifice and loyalty, he weaves a wonderful tale of human emotions.
This movie is shot exquisitely in Black and White. The way the characters play out and vent their emotions is tastefully captured. This is in complete contrast to the highly visual and stylish Tokyo Drifter. Suzuki used his personal experiences in the war here. The story was already made into a feature film several years before as Escape At Dawn, co-written by Akira Kurosawa and directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. In an interview in the extra features provided in the DVD, Suzuki refers to the earlier movie as done by masters Kurosawa and Taniguchi. It was a love story where as Suzuki’s interpretation raised it to a completely new level.
Harumi is a fierce woman who is not afraid of authority and believes she has the right to happiness and is willing to go all the way to get it. Mikami on the other hand is submissive and believes in the code of honour and believes in the traditional definitions. Suzuki uses a lot of background imagery to put forth his point of view. The emotional turmoil that Harumi goes through and Mikami goes through are different aspects of betrayal and abuse and they end up having a disjoint point of view about the notion of sacrifice and loyalty. To quote his own words from Wikipedia:
It’s because in drama … you need some kind of moral code or something binding that the characters either submit to or resist. You need to have that element in creating drama. When you watch a western, you see that its foundation is the spirit of sacrifice. The drama in a western develops from that foundation. In Japanese films we don’t share that element. A code is the foundation for us. As an army has its own code, prostitutes have their own code. Characters bound by such a code either resist it or submit to it.
– Seijun Suzuki
The film wasn’t received well at its time because of its realistic portrayal and a radical standpoint compared to the earlier love story. But, his presentation transcends time and culture. He is a true artist. Personally, this is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
My search for a DVD and a silly encounter in a Japanese video store has sent me into a wonderful cinematic journey as I slowly try and understand and admire the genius of Suzuki Seijun.
Tags: Incomprehensible movies, Japanese Cinema, My Favourites, Story of a Prostitute, Suzuki Seijun, World Cinema
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Watch his “BRANDED TO KILL” you will enjoy it !!!
GK
I was always apprehensive about Suzuki operating out of the yakuza ballpark. I’ve got fighting elegy at home but i just can’t get myself to dig in whereas i could always forever be watching Branded & youth of the beast on a loop continuous. There’s an unexciting whiff about ‘elegy’.. same with ’story of a prostitute’. Maybe it’s all in my mind. Maybe i just need some time. But as of now, i can’t seem to convince myself.
Thanks GK.
Siddharth,
If you get to watch the movie, you do not need any convincing…. Similar to my fascination with Kitano or Miike, I initially looked for his Yakuza movies only, until I saw this… Take your time… it will be worth it….
@sarang your lucky enough to have such a great video store in your neighborhood.
Sejun Suzuki films are fascinating to say the least. Personally for me, having seen two or three of his films. Branded to Kill, Pistol Opera Youth of the Beast and Tokyp Dirfter. Something that drives me towards this directors was his uncanny ability to compose frame and use the wide ratio or the scope and the use of lights and colors.
It’s because of these two elements that his visual style rather his mise-en-scene was unique. Ichikawa, Suzuki and even Kurosawasan were some of the masters to handle extra space the frame ratio provided.
Interestingly, since he was regarded as B’ grade director it allowed him greater freedom of expression and eccentricity.
@Nitesh,
Thanks, but these videos are hard to find anyway and they are Very expensive to buy… but some day I hope to have this master’s collection…
Yes, you are correct. They way they have composed their frames is exquisite. I shall add Kobayashi Masaki to the list as well… you are also right about the creative freedom that he got because of the B-movie director status…
That is especially true in the case of ‘Story of a Prostitite’ as he transformed a well liked love story into a more human and real-life ‘love’ story. The first movie Escape from Dawn, had the comfort house girls depicted as dancers and not as prostitutes. Also, it did not deviate much from with the ideals of loyalty and ‘izzat ka sawaal’, ‘maan maryaada’ themes…
Suzuki changed all that.. his personal war experience gave him a completely new outlook…
i haven’t watched this movie but, if you still it’s a good movie, it should get into top listing at IMDB isnt’ it?