Why does oharu faint

Overall though, for a film this old it looks quite well and will only be disappointing to perfectionists. When it comes to this film however maybe one has the right to be a perfectionist. Audio The Dolby Digital 2. Voices come through with only a faint hiss of background noise, which is better than it being flattened out by excessive noise reduction — although this is also over-applied in one or two almost silent scenes notably in the aforementioned scene of Oharu seeing her son for the first time.

They have no real border however and on one or two occasions they can be difficult to make out against bright or cluttered foregrounds. Overall For such an important film, that even saw a limited theatrical run last year with this newly restored print, the lack of supporting features or information on the DVD release is again rather disappointing.

A great deal of the story's pathos comes from the fact that no one except Oharu knows the whole of her life history; she is judged from the outside as an immoral and despicable women, and we realize this is no more than the role society has cast her in, and forces her to play. We watch the film in disbelief. Surely no women could have such misery thrust upon her through no fault of her own? Mizoguchi makes no attempt to portray any male character--even the father--as a self-aware villain. The men behave within the boundaries set for them and expected of them by the traditions of their society.

Even the fan maker does so, but because of the independence given him by his occupation, society allows him more choice--or perhaps simply doesn't care.

Kenji Mizoguchi is today named as one of the three greatest Japanese directors, along with Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu. Kurosawa, considered the most "western" by the Japanese, was the first to gain world wide fame, with such readily accessible films as " Rashomon ," "The Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo. My feeling is that the more specific a film is, the more widely it may be understood. Mizoguchi won Western praise earlier than Ozu. But it was "Life of Oharu" that he considered his best film, perhaps because it drew from roots in his own life.

Years before the rise of feminism in the West, the great directors of Japan were obsessed with the lives of women in their society. No woman in a Japanese film that I have seen is more tragic and unforgettable than Oharu. The film's Criterion edition is streaming on Hulu Plus. It can be viewed in in nine parts via non-Criterion but quite good edition on YouTube. Mizoguchi's " Ugetsu " and " Sansho the Bailiff " are also written about in my Great Movies Collection, which includes many titles by Ozu and Kurosawa.

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from until his death in In , he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Rated Unrated. Reviews Great Movies A life of epic suffering. Post a Comment. Wednesday, December 29, Why does Oharu faint? Oharu faints thrice in The life of Oharu , and on all occasions, wakes up feeling kinder and more forgiving. However, personally, I find that it goes against the standard narrative that Mizoguchi employs throughout the movie, but on the whole, I agree with what Cohen says.

I think what Cohen says about abandoning her identity and sexuality is far more interesting and appealing than any spiritual excuse that could account for how Oharu has become a saintly character and her fainting spell at the beginning and in the end is more a physical and psychological surrendur to the awful life that she has lead till then.

Oharu has the kind of life that is brutal in systematically making a nonentity out of her; from a courtesan to being loved, from a woman abused to a degree of safety as a wedded woman and then eventual fall from position and grace when she is sold as a prostitute, Oharu goes through the umpteenth time what is basically a rotten life for her.

There is resistance from Oharu but in that world, it can only be token. As a concubine to give the Lord Matsudaira his heir and later as a prostitute, Oharu fulfils a certain destiny that women have had to bear in all ages and in all cultures. Oharu walks a languid walk in the beginning of this movie and sitting in a temple, she visualizes her former true lover.

Oharu can only fall into reverie, for only by re-living can she actualize a world that is permanently lost. The rest of Oharu's life is a progressive narration of one injustice after another, but only through her reveries and flashbacks can Oharu gain a certain spiritual meaning.