Eclipse Series 13: Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women (Osaka Elegy / Sisters of the Gion / Women of the Night / Street of Shame)

This box set consists four excellent films of a great master, Mizoguchi who were obsessed with the stories of suffering women. Sometimes I have to agree with people who call him a sexist because of this, his favorite theme, with which he beautified the images of fallen women in so many of his films. However, I think his sexism was more complex than the simple belief of male superiority. As many Japanese men in those days grew up with witnessing their mothers and sisters sacrificed themslves for their husbands, sons and brothers, also most of Japanese women used to be forced to get married with men whom their parents chose, they usually loved their sons more than their spouses, you can see a strong tendency of oedipus-complex in many Japanese classic films. As a matter of fact, I see the similarities in films from Italy where boys are raised by their strong mothers(or is it just a stereo type?). Two of the films of this set are from pre-war era and considered his turning point works. And especially I loooove "Sisters of Gion" which is the story of two Geisha sisters, the older one is very traditional and the younger one is the very modern thinker, who believes Geisha is the profession to manipulate men, which is a bit unusual as Mizoguchi's heroines. Though I adore this character brilliantly played by young Isuzu Yamada, of course she has to fall as this is Mizoguchi's film, and at the end of the story, she gets hurt terribbly and says "Why does a thing like Geisha have to exist in this world?" And her sentiment reflects in some characters of "Street of Shame" which is Mizoguchi's final film. The young prostitute, who sacrificed herself to raise the bail money for his father, also believes she has to manipulate men. And the middle aged one, who has a sick husband and a baby, says "What kind of civilized country is this? A woman has to sell her body to survive and still cannot feed her family. But I am not gonna die, I will live through this to see what it will lead to" when her husband attempeted a suicide. This movie is also one of my favorites of Mizoguchi's and features the amazing assembly of superb actresses, it's almost a bloody battle, the most notably Aiko Mimasu's unforgettable performance as an old prostitute who goes insane because of being dumped by her own son. Yes, it is true that Mizoguchi beautified or even idealized the misery and struggle of women, but still it cannot be helped to be impressed by these Mizoguchi women's strong instinct of survival, either they express it agressively or passively. I have a mixed feeling about this set, I think pre-war films and post-war films better be gathered separately like Ozu's sets from Criterion, or probably "Sisters of Gion" and "Street of Shame" deserved to be released as an indivisual DVD with extras like commentary. Well, I really hope they keep putting Mizoguchi's great films on DVD along with other great directors' films like Naruse's and Kinoshita's. BTW some pics used on the cover of this box set are not from these four films, even one of them is from Shiro Toyoda's "Geese", I guess the person who was in charge of the artwork does not know much about films.