net_orders Review of Late Chrysanthemums

Late Chrysanthemums (1954)

Life And Times In A Geisha Retirement Community.

[7/10 · 22 July 2017]

LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS / EVENING CHRYSANTHEMUMS (Lit.) (BANGIKU). Viewed on Streaming. Restoration/preservation = six (6) stars; cinematography = six (6) stars; subtitles = five (5) stars; music = three (3) stars. Director Mikio Naruse's very talkative examination of geisha retirement and the lack of planning therefore--something apparently badly needed in geisha-house training processes following WW II! Naruse's nuance-filled photo-play is a tight, insightful, and often amusing mostly understated drama about socioeconomic discrimination encountered by former geisha. It is also a showcase for veteran actress Haruko Sugimura (playing a hard-nosed business women) who is surrounded by an excellent cast of character actresses. Not so much for character actors who deliver, at best, marginal performances. (Using "chrysanthemum" in the film's title is, perhaps, not the best choice of a metaphor, as this is a major symbolic blossom in Japanese culture (along with, of course, Sakura---the cherry blossom) and often used in movie names causing no little confusion!) Restoration/preservation is okay except for audio artifacts where reels seem to have been spliced together. Cinematography (narrow screen, black & white) is fine, but poor lighting occurs in some scenes. Subtitles are a bit overly literary and can flash by too fast. Signs are translated. Music is minimalist and consists of a sequence of solitary instruments (some Japanese, some Western). Use of a percussion instrument here and there is a bit jarring/distracting. Otherwise, the "score" stays in the background. Highly recommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.