She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
| She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum 野菊の如き君なりき Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| Screenplay by |
Keisuke Kinoshota (screenplay) Saicho Ito (novel) |
| Cinematography | Hiroshi Kusuda |
Production company | |
Release dates |
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| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (野菊の如き君なりき Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki), also known as You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum or My First Love Affair, is a Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita which was initially released in 1955. It is based on a novel by Saicho Ito.[1][2][3]
Plot
The film is set in the Meiji period.[4] The story tells of the forbidden romance between teenaged cousins Masao and Tamiko.[4] The lovers were also inhibited by a marriage arranged by her family for Tamiko and Masao needing to go away to school.[3] The story is essentially a flashback as remembered by the 73-year-old Masao, played by Chishū Ryū, as he rides a boat back to his home village where they first fell in love.[1][2][3][5]
Production
The flashback scenes were filmed using an oval-shaped mask typically associated with silent films.[3][4] According to Alexander Jacoby, this masking gives the film "an appropriately nostalgic tone."[4] Film critic Donald Richie describes the film style as representing "Meiji daguerrotypes."[2]
Reception
Jacoby rates She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum to be "among the most purely moving of Japanese films" despite its "occasional naivety."[4] He attributes this particularly to Kinoshota's "simple techniques," including "judicious choice of camera position," and to the excellent performances.[4] Richie regards the film as one of Kinoshita's "most successful" in his later style.[2] Joseph L. Anderson praises the film's photography, particularly the "rich blacks" and Kinoshita's "evocation of [the] area."[3] Jacek Kloiowski, et al., regard the film as "one of the most sincere and purest films of its type in Japanese cinema," noting that it marks a return to "pastoral lyricism" for Kinoshota after focusing his films on social issues for the previous few years.[5]
Awards
Cinematographer Hiroshi Kusuda won the Mainichi Film Award for cinematography in 1956 for his work on She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum and another Kinoshita–directed film, The Tattered Wings.[6] He also won the Blue Ribbon Award for cinematography for the same two films.[7]
References
- 1 2 "She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
- 1 2 3 4 Richie, D. (2012). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Kodansha. p. 142. ISBN 9781568364391.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, J.L. (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry. Pinceton University Press. pp. 279, 373. ISBN 9780691007922.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jacoby, A. (2008). A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 9781933330532.
- 1 2 Klinowski; et al. (2012). Feature Cinema in the 20th Century: Volume Two: 1951-1963: a Comprehensive Guide. Planet RGB. ISBN 9781624075650.
- ↑ "Mainichi Film Concours Awards for 1956". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
- ↑ "Blue Ribbon Awards for 1956". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-09-21.