Tracing the early career of Kenji Mizoguchi (i.e., before THE 47 RONIN) remains a problem for this particular round-eyed devil. I found a copy of the 29-minute Cinemateque Francaise version of this movie -- no problem! I can read the French titles! Alas, the original version is more than a hundred minutes long. What can I tell about the original movie from such a cut-down?
Well, I can tell you about the plot. Shizue Natsukawa, daughter of a geisha, father unknown, loses her job at the factory, so she becomes a geisha. Most of the customers are grabby. Isamu Kosugi, is not. In fact, he proposes marriage, and things are looking rather bright, until his father forbids the marriage because of a Dark Secret.
It's difficult to tell from such an extreme cutdown, but it looks to me like this is a variation on the German Erda story, in which some uncaring female figure of lust lures innocent men to their doom -- THE BLUE ANGEL, perhaps, or PANDORA'S BOX. Except in Mizoguchi's telling of the tale -- and I think I see a lot of German Expressionist influence in the opening sequences -- this alluring Circe is nothing of the sort. She's a nice girl trying to earn a decent living in a world where she is nothing but an object for men's lust, trapped by forces beyond her control.
Or maybe not. Perhaps some day a more complete version will show up. I don't think it likely, but I can hope so. And perhaps one or two more early Mizoguchi films will show up where I can see them.
Well, I can tell you about the plot. Shizue Natsukawa, daughter of a geisha, father unknown, loses her job at the factory, so she becomes a geisha. Most of the customers are grabby. Isamu Kosugi, is not. In fact, he proposes marriage, and things are looking rather bright, until his father forbids the marriage because of a Dark Secret.
It's difficult to tell from such an extreme cutdown, but it looks to me like this is a variation on the German Erda story, in which some uncaring female figure of lust lures innocent men to their doom -- THE BLUE ANGEL, perhaps, or PANDORA'S BOX. Except in Mizoguchi's telling of the tale -- and I think I see a lot of German Expressionist influence in the opening sequences -- this alluring Circe is nothing of the sort. She's a nice girl trying to earn a decent living in a world where she is nothing but an object for men's lust, trapped by forces beyond her control.
Or maybe not. Perhaps some day a more complete version will show up. I don't think it likely, but I can hope so. And perhaps one or two more early Mizoguchi films will show up where I can see them.