Director Kaneto Shindo, film starring Nobuko Otowa, "Epitome"
Kaneto Shindo directed, Nobuko Otowa starring film "Epitome." It is a film that depicts the reality of the geisha world, which is far from pretty, with such skill that the title "Epitome" is truly well-chosen, making it a work with value beyond that of a historical documentary.
Isuzu Yamada starred in it, and much like a leftist from the Communist Party, the protagonist was made to utter a parting shot that pre-modern, exploitative jobs like maiko and geisha should just disappear, ending the film. Compared to that, or to Kenji Mizoguchi's "Gion Sisters," which perhaps faced criticism because its message was seen as problematic, or even compared to the same director's "A Geisha," starring Michiyo Kogure and Ayako Wakao, which seemed to cater excessively to the industry, this "Epitome," directed and written by Kaneto Shindo and starring Nobuko Otowa, was a far superior work.Kenji Mizoguchi directed "Gion Sisters, Michiyo Kogure and Ayako Wakao starring in the same Mizoguchi's "A Geisha," this "Epitome" directed and written by Kaneto Shindo and starring Nobuko Otowa was a much better film.
@Eri Saito The industry strongly dislikes the prejudice that geisha are just "prostitutes" who "offer their bodies to old men they don't even like..." That is why in Kenji Mizoguchi's film "A Geisha," an episode was included where Ayako Wakao, playing a maiko, bites off the tongue of a customer who forced himself on her for a kiss, causing him a serious injury.
Coincidentally, 'Epitome' and 'A Geisha' were both released in 1953, and in the Kinema Junpo rankings, the former was 10th and the latter 9th. However, Nobuko Otowa won Best Actress. She also won the Blue Ribbon Award. Interestingly, the Kinema Junpo Best Supporting Actress award went to Chieko Naniwa, who appeared in 'A Geisha', and the Best Supporting Actor award also went to Eitaro Shindo from the same film. Isuzu Yamada, who appeared in 'Epitome' as the proprietress of a geisha house, was also truly perfect for the role.
It is worth noting that it is interesting that the model for the director who gives harsh opinions on the script in Kaneto Shindo's autobiographical directorial debut, 'Story of a Beloved Wife' (in which Jukichi Uno and Nobuko Otowa co-starred as a married couple; in 'Epitome', Uno played the father and Otowa the daughter, but there was no sense of incongruity at all), was Kenji Mizoguchi. Incidentally, 'Story of a Beloved Wife' is my favorite among the Kaneto Shindo films I have seen.
Reading Kaneto Shindo's Wikipedia entry reveals how dramatic his life was, and it gives me courage by showing an example that even if one is not recognized for a time, if one keeps trying without giving up, one can achieve great success in life.
By the way, I hold director Seijun Suzuki in high regard, partly because I liked the film 'Fighting Elegy' starring Hideki Takahashi' that he directed (the piano performance scene is a must-see!), but learning from the wiki that Kaneto Shindo wrote the script made me re-evaluate him. It was unexpected, as there were many of his works I could not bring myself to like.