THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES / ベルサイユのばら

THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES / ベルサイユのばら

The Rose of Versailles, by Riyoko Ikeda, is originally a manga serialized in 1972. It is considered one of the most iconic Japanese shojo manga series of all time. For this blog post, I will focus on its animated adaptation.

Story / Characters

Set in late 18th century Paris, The Rose of Versailles revolves around the life of Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to take on her father’s place as the commander of the Palace Guards, which is responsible for protecting the Palace of Versailles. Oscar spends her childhood with Andre, the grandson of her nanny, and the two grow up to become capable combatants and close friends, almost like sworn brothers.

Meanwhile, Marie Antoinette also grows up to be an exquisite young woman. Following the death of Louis XV, she is now burdened with the duties of the queen of France, yet her carefree personality and sheltered upbringing sometimes work against her place in the palace. Oscar becomes the personal bodyguard of Marie Antoinette, and the two nurtured a harmonic friendship. Oscar quickly becomes greatly adored by the court ladies of the Palace. Later, a young and handsome Swedish Count, Axel von Fersen, stays the Palace to learn how social etiquette is done in France. Marie Antoinette helplessly falls in love with Fersen – whom Oscar also harbors feelings for - and the two begin an adulterous relationship. Andre also starts to realize that the feelings he has for Oscar are of something deeper than mere friendship.

The Rose of Versailles, with the tragic backdrop of the French Revolution, mainly chronicles the romance and demise of these four characters among others.

Character Archetypes

In The Rose of Versailles, most of the main characters more or less fit into molds of archetypical characters that are especially common in historical “palace dramas.”

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is a quite typical heroine in the story. She is ravishing, sweet, innocent, and most importantly, extremely vulnerable to villainous forces. The villains (mostly females scheming for power within the court) see Marie as an easy target to manipulate, due to her straightforward sense of righteousness and her “ineptitude” and inexperience in being queen at a young age.

Madame Du Barry

The chief villains Madame du Barry, Duchess of Polignac, and Jeanne of Volois-Saint-Remy are typical antagonists in a court setting. They utilize their attractiveness to gain the favor and affection of powerful men (Louis XV, Duke of Orleans, etc.) and in turn, use this favor they gained against a vulnerable woman in the court (Marie Antoinette) whose position they want to overtake.

Oscar in uniform vs. Oscar in dress

However, Oscar’s androgynous appearance and demeanor made this series unique. She can be described as a “男装の麗人/dansou no reijin”: a beautiful, cross-dressing woman (who does so usually because the story requires her to).

Oscar embodies both the hero and heroine archetypes of melodrama in the way that she is both handsome and beautiful, both gallant and caring, and both charming and virginal. While she dresses in masculine uniform for the majority of the series, there is one key moment in the story where she attends a ball at the palace in a hyperfeminine dress and coiffure. This change is so drastic that no one at the ball recognizes her, not even Fersen – who is the reason why Oscar does it in the first place because she wants to approach him romantically and “experience being a woman for only one night.” This event makes her an incredibly intriguing character, since both her masculine and feminine performances are powerful, so she, in fact, genuinely embodies the best of both worlds.

The “Moral Occult”

According to Brooks, the melodramatic mode is first of all characterized by its moral or ethical vision. The historical context of The Rose of Versailles provides a rather augmented moral framework for the characters since most of the characters wield great power to literally change history (a lot of them are based on actual historical figures). The stakes of their actions are incredibly high, thus adding to the tragic/epic nature of the series. All the main characters have to deal with “the contradiction between obligations to society – including one’s family, villages, class, trade, or business (giri) – and individual human feelings (ninjo)” (Russell, p.146). First of all, Marie Antoinette and Fersen’s passionate affair is probably an affair of the most scandalous kind, since it involves the queen of France.

As for Oscar, her conflict stems from her obligation and loyalty to her family (in the katei sense), and to the French royalty, to which her family has sworn loyalty to. She is able to display an extremely staunch devotion to these two groups, until the arrival of Fersen who “enlightens” Oscar with the (feminine) sensations of “being a woman”: helplessly falling in love. At first, Oscar seems to be unbound by gender expectations, yet it turns out that she still feels trapped by the masculine gender conventions she performs. Andre, who is born a commoner and is well aware that he is not worthy of Oscar’s affection, tries hard to harbor his feelings towards her and remain a loyal companion. All these characters are put through great agony due to the forbidden nature of their romances.

Andre & Oscar

Another aspect of melodrama The Rose of Versailles raises is class. “Characters are either frightened of losing the status that they have or inflamed by the desire to improve it,” writes Ken K. Ito. This pretty much sums up what motivates the villains to be villains. The most vicious example is Jeanne, the adopted daughter of a commoner of aristocratic descent who believes she should return to her rightful place – by all means.

Aesthetics

Riyoko Ikeda is known for her extremely elegant illustration style, and the anime adaptation does a good job of replicating it to a reasonable extent. The ornamental style, along with vibrant color design, sets up a dream-like, romantic world for The Rose of Versailles to take place in.

Their theatrical dialogue, further exaggerated by the dramatic voice-acting typical in Japanese anime, is highly stylized as well as that is far from how real people talk like in Japanese. Japanese depictions of Early Modern European history at the time seem to share a similar speech pattern. This heightened artificiality and otherness, in fact, make The Rose of Versailles a perfect story for a theatrical adaptation. That is why Takarazuka Revue, one of the most prestigious theatre troupe in Japan, brought it on stage and it has since then become a treasured Takarazuka classic.

All That Heaven Allows

Directed by German film maker Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows is one of the Hollywood melodrama masterpieces in 1950s. Focus mainly on women’s identity and desire, the film tells the story of Cary Scott, a wealthy, middle-aged widow living in a typical town in America in the 50s. Cary’s life is simple and boring after her husband’s death: she spends most of her time at home or goes to one of those boring country club parties. Longing for love and companionship, Cary falls in love with her young and handsome gardener Ron Kirby. Ron is like no one Cary has met before; he despise materialism and worships freedom. Cary soon finds peace and regains her passion for love during her time with Ron and his friends. But things do not go well for the couple. The gap between Cary’s and Ron’s social class immediately makes them the center of gossip in town. Cary’s neighbors mock Ron’s incivilization and Cary’s inappropriate behaviors as a widow. Under the pressure of her children and neighbors, Cary has to break up with Ron to keep her family together. But soon she finds that her sacrifice means nothing, as her son Ned is leaving the country and her daughter is getting married. Lonely and heartbroken, Cary returns to Ron but only finds out that he has an accident. Luckily, Ron wakes up and they confess love to each other. In the end, Cary leaves home and decides to live with Ron at his old mill.

Similar to many melodramas we have discussed earlier in the class, All That Heaven Allows focus on women’s identity and suffering, which is often caused by difference in socioeconomic classes. From the very beginning, Cary’s uneasiness in the cocktail party has showed the audience her struggle in the community. After her husband’s death, Cary is supposed to be an “unsexed” woman because of her identity as a widow. During her conversation with her daughter about  the old Egyptian custom of sacrificing the widows, Cary says “perhaps not in Egypt”, implying that her community in some way already view her as “dead. ” However, she wears a red dress to show her still existing beauty and sexuality. It is a sign of her resistance to the community’s values. Her relationship with Ron is the emancipation of her sexuality.

One of the most melodramatic scenes in the film is Ned and Kay’s reaction to Cary’s marriage. Cary is a typical motherly figure, and we can see that motherhood and desire for love are both intuitive to her. The melodramatic element comes in when she is forced to make a choice between the two. Cary starts to doubt her decision to marry Ron when her children are hurt by their relationship. Even though she tries to ignore people’s opinion and chases for her love, she is not as strong as she thinks. Ned, who becomes the patriarchal figure in the family after his father’s death, accuses Cary of giving up the family tradition and falls for “a good looking set of muscles.” Kay, no longer able to ignore the malignant comments about her family, forces Cary to choose them over Ron. Here, Ned and Kay serve as the  force that results in Cary and Ron’s separation and later tragedy. They do not care about Cary’s feeling and only consider the benefits of their own. Ned and Kay are satisfied with their positions in the community. Even though Cary can withdraw herself from the community, there is no way for her to separate her children from the rest. At that moment, it seems like Cary does not have a choice beside breaking up with Ron (actually she does, but she choose her children and the community). Later, when the children return home joyfully because of the breakup, they immediately move on to other things and leaving Cary at home with a television box. Unlike the mothers in Haha no Kyoku and Stella Dallas, Cary does not seem very happy with her son’s success and her daughter’s marriage. Instead, she regrets her meaningless sacrifice for them. Obviously, Cary longs for companionship. But her children, the ones who she decides to sacrifice for, never care about her feelings, considering she is a widow who doesn’t need love. The Christmas scene is very melodramatic as Cary’s emotion, her emptiness and helplessness, forms a sharp contrast to everything else. The scene ends with Cary’s reflection on the TV screen. With Ned’s and Kay’s faces hidden, the only thing that Cary can see is herself, emphasizing her solitude at the moment.

It’s comforting to see Cary return to Ron at the end of the film, after all those difficulties that they go through. Cary and Ron’s story has a happy ending, which in some way also reflects the melodramatic nature of the story. If it’s in real life, Cary could have ended up alone at the house, like many other unfortunate women.

Blog post 3: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES 火垂るの墓

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
火垂るの墓 analyzed through the lens of melodrama

This is a devastating Ghibli film that depicts the cost of war through the story of Seita, a teenage boy, and Setsuko, his little sister. Together, they must survive American firebombs after losing both their parents to the war. 

PLOT:

The movie opens by revealing the final outcome right from the beginning: depicted is Seita dressed in uniform, on the night of his death. It then cuts to present-day, in which he is malnourished and dressed in drab clothing. As Seita dies at a train station, train passengers disregard him and janitors throw out his tin candy can into a faraway field. It then cuts to the ghost of his younger sister. The ghost of Seita picks up the tin can to return it to Setsuko, and they walk off into the distance.

The movie cuts to a flashback to explain this devastating outcome. After the two lose their mother to a firebombing, Seita and Setsuko are left to fend for themselves. Their only other relative is their aunt, who convinces Seita to sell his mother's kimonos for food. Seita gives the food to her but keeps a tin can of candy for Setsuko. As rations shrink, the aunt becomes resentful of the two children. She screams at Setsuko when she cries for her own mother, and eventually put the siblings in a position to buy their own living supplies to live on their own.

They find an abandoned bomb shelter to live in. On the first night in their new home, Setsuko discovers fireflies in the fields and brings them into the shelter for light. The siblings decide to fill it with fireflies but are horrified to find that they all die the following morning. Setsuko decides to bury them in a grave, revealing to Seita that her aunt had told her about her mother's ill-fated death, and how she had been thrown into a grave. Seita, who had done everything he could to keep this a secret, is devastated. As the two begin to run out of rice, Seita grows into the habit of stealing. One day he is caught and is taken to the police. Setsuko finds him at the station and admits that she is feeling sick. When they go to the doctor, he explains that Setsuko is suffering from malnutrition.

Seita withdraws all the remaining money from his mother's bank account and learns of Japan's defeat to the US. He realizes that his father is likely dead. Although he is able to purchase a lot of food, when he returns home, his sister is dying. Seita tries to feed her watermelon, her favorite snack, but as he prepares more food, Setsuko takes her last breath. Seita cremates his sister's body in a straw casket, filled with her personal belongings. He carries her ashes in the candy tin can, her favorite candies. He is now left to fend for life on his own.

The movie ends with their ghosts overlooking a current Kobe from a hill. They have united once again... but in spirit.

THEME: The Unfairness of Seita and Setsuko's Situation 

In The Melodrama of Being a Child, Karen Wells writes, "Character in melodrama is not expressed through dialogue but through situations, mise en scéne, action-tableaux and episodic narration... [for] the spectator to viscerally identify with other people's experience, particularly their suffering and the incontrovertible unfairness of the situation... Critical to the effective representation of innocence is the powerlessness of the suffering subject; it is the subject's lack of structural power and capacity that signifies the impossibility of being culpable for his or her own suffering. It is for this reason that melodrama invariably centers on women and children and, to a lesser extent, racialized minorities... In melodrama, the action is constrained by the passivity and impotence of the victim in his or her confrontation with villainy and injustice."

The inability of the narrative to be resolved by simply allowing an adult to rescue Seita and Setsuko creates an excess that is portrayed through facial expressions, music, and the colors of the animation. The realism of Setsuko's malnutrition and Seita's inability to help cannot be resolved: even after the war has ended, others are powerless to stop their suffering. The rich are able to return to their homes, untouched and innocent to the threat of bombs. 

But not Seita and Setsuko. Their mother and father are both dead, and they have no other relatives to go to for care. 

This heightens the devastating effects of the film, leaving the audience feeling as if they are at fault for not having been able to do anything to help. Although the characters have dialogue, it is as if they don't have a voice, confined by the reality of their situation.  

THE UNSYMPATHETIC AUNT: 

The narrative begins by making it immediately clear that the two have no one to go to for care except their aunt, who is unkind and unsympathetic to their situation. When Seita tells her of his mother's death, rather than do anything to make Seita feel better, she yells at him for not telling him any sooner. She even convinces him to sell his mother's kimonos for rice when food rations grow smaller.

Although Seita makes it clear that he wishes not to reveal of their mother's death to Setsuko, his aunt does so anyway. In one scene, Setsuko and Seita play on the piano singing a tune to brighten their dampened spirits. Despite this, their aunt comes into the scene to yell at them to be quiet and make "be more productive," because she is angry with them for not helping around the house. 


The aunt's total lack of sympathy for their situation creates a toxic environment for Setsuko and Seita. Although the aunt is their only relative that can provide a home, the two must leave and survive on their own. 

LIFE WEARS AWAY THE WILL TO LIVE: 
Critic Dennis H. Fukushima Jr. finds the story's origins in traditional double-suicide plays. Although neither sibling actually commits suicide, life simply wears away their will to live. 

SETSUKO's GESTURES:

Gestures are used to give voice to Setsuko's limited vocabulary. She is a child, after all, and lacks the ability to express her emotions in the same way an adult is able to.
Unlike a live-action film, animated films are unable to show human reactions. Post-war films produced by Ghibli are known for using "limited-animation" techniques to lower production costs but speed up the production process. Even if animations were not fluid or fully animated, images could be flashed in rapid succession and create an illusion of motion. This is what Takahata, the director of this film uses by blending limited animation with naturalistic motion to highlight still poses. 

When Setsuko begins to cry about missing her mother, Seita does everything in his power to cheer her up. It doesn't work. The film focuses on a shot of Setsuko wavering left and right, pouting at the ground, holding back her tears. Even when she is about to cry, the animation of her quivers and she stands still, twisting her legs together. The style of the animation heightens the realness of Setsuko's emotions and gives voice to her suffering. 

사도 (Sado)/ The Throne (Blog 3)

Plot Summary:

The Throne, a 2015 South Korean movie, is directed by Lee Joon-ik and starring Song Kang-hoo and Yoo Ah-in. The movie is based on one of the most well-known and saddest true stories that happened in South Korean history. It sets in Joseon period and when the country was under King Yeongjo’s rule. The Throne depicts the darkness of the palace, the constraints between different parties, the heartbreaking father-son relationship between King Yeongjo and Crown Prince Sado, and the tragic execution of Crown Prince Sado. It first opens with Crown Prince Sado enters King Yeongjo’s palace with a sword, and then as he is locked inside of a rice chest for punishment, the story unfolds and tells the struggle of both Crown Prince Sado and King Yeongjo. Under King Yeongjo’s high expectation, Crown Prince Sado has been living in extreme high pressure and his performance has never satisfied King Yeongjo. The King wants a perfect heir to the throne, while the son wants a warm compliment and ordinary relationship with the father. Their relationship and the different political parties lead Crown Prince Sado to a tragic ending.

Historical Background:

The execution of Crown Prince Sado is one of the most tragic events in Korean history. And the reason for his execution is also debatable that whether it is because he is a sacrifice as a result of political game, or  because his mental illness. Crown Prince Sado’s tragedy also reflects how merciless King Yeongjo was. Everything about him was tabooed until King Yeongjo passed away. King Jeongjo, who was the son of Prince Sado and also the next ruler after King Yeongjo, honored his father Sado and restated his name and identity as Prince Sado’s son since his grandfather added him to his deceased uncle’s family tree after Prince Sado was executed.

His wife, Lady Hyegyeong, wrote a memoir for Prince Sado which is considered as the only textual evidence for what really happened to him during this period. In her book, he claimed that Prince Sado is very mentally ill, and her theory might be also the first to talk about bipolar disorder in history.

The story of Prince Sado has been portrayed multiple times in popular culture, such as TV series, movies, and Webtoon. For modern generations, his tragedy is too far away from our real life which makes it become a great source for writing historical drama.

Real Event VS. Melodrama:

Although the film, The Throne, is based on a historical event, it is still a historical drama instead of a documentary. Since the taboo of the whole execution and existence of Prince Sado after his death, nowadays script writers can only based on the explanations that are left behind and create story with their interpretations. For example, The Throne is mainly focus on the father-son relationship, and many melodramatic scenes were around their relationship.

As shown here, the scene where Prince Sado is locked up inside the rice chest: King Yeongjo nails the rice chest himself. The close up of him hammering the nails, the diegetic sound of hammering is like a little bit terrifying considering this is the biological father locking his own son inside the chest. And the sound is like hitting on the audiences’ hearts. However, this scene is also melodramatic since the King doesn’t actually proceed execution on his own. The action of having King Yeongjo is a completely theatrical decision in order to show the extreme relationship between King Yeongjo and Prince Sado.

However, the movie doesn’t only show King Yeongjo’s indifference and cold-heart towards Prince Sado. As the movie unfolds chronologically as the execution, the underlying storyline is the flashbacks of King Yeongjo and  Prince Sado’s past which explains how father and son become like this. And the image on the right shows a scene when King Yeongjo is writing a book for Prince Sado that he stays up in the midnight. It is when Prince Sado is still a child, and the flashback makes strong contradiction to the “present” storyline where as King Yeongjo is watching Prince Sado dying in the rice chest. As the story builds up, the emotions between King Yeongjo and Prince Sado also grow more complicated from love to disappointment, and hate. The way of storytelling makes the whole movie very emotional and melodramatic as the audiences watch towards the end.

Theme Song:

Here below are the lyrics of one of songs from the original sound track, “As the Flowers Bloom and Fall”. The lyrics are from Prince Sado’s point of view and the song is sung by famous actor and singer Jo Seungwoo. It is one of my favorite original songs for South Korean movie. I did a rough translation just to give an idea of the contents of the song.

나 이제 가려합니다 아픔은 남겨두고서
당신과의 못다한 말들 구름에 띄워놓고 가겠소

I am leaving now, and the pains are left behind me.

The words that I couldn’t tell you, I ask the clouds to pass them to you.

그대 마음을 채우지 못해 참 많이도 눈물 흘렸소
미안한 마음 두고 갑니다 꽃이 피고 또 지듯이
I couldn’t fulfil your wish and expectations. And the tears fall like heavy rain.

So I leave my apologies and guilt behind, and go away alone like the flowers bloom and fall.

허공을 날아 날아 바람에 나를 실어
외로웠던 새벽녘 별들 벗삼아 이제 나도 떠나렵니다
Floating in the empty sky, I’m carried away by the wind.

I used to be friends with the stars at lonely dawn, but now I’m also leaving.

이렇게 우린 서로 그리워 하면서도
마주보고 있어도 닿을수 없어
왜 만날수 없었나요
Although we both miss each other so badly, I still couldn’t reach you when we are facing each other.

Why couldn’t we see each other?

행여 당신 가슴 한켠에 내 체온 남아 있다면
이 바람이 흩어지기 전 내얼굴 한번 만져주오

If I could leave a mark in your heart by any chance, please pet my face gently before this wind goes away.

Shina no Yoru /China Nights (Blog 1)

Plot Summary:

Shina no Yoru or China Nights is a film produced by Manchukuo Film Production in 1940. The film tells a love story between a Japanese marine officer and a rebellious Chinese street girl. Mr. Hase travels to Shanghai and stays at Shanghai hotel with his colleagues. He is  an honest and humble gentleman and seldom goes out to the dance rooms and bars like his colleagues do. Keiran is a young Chinese lady who lost her father because of the war. She is an anti-Japanese but is saved by Mr. Hase. The relationship between the two develops as they know and understand each other better. Finally Mr. Hase decides to marry with Keiran. But the happy gathering turns into a tearing ending as Mr. Hase has to leave for business. Keiran waits for Mr. Hase but only sad news comes back. The couple finally reunites at the end as Keiran about to commit suicide.  

Historical Background:

Establishing in 1937, Manchukuo Film Production is a national policy company in order to produce films that promote “friendship” between Japan and China. The film sets in 1940s’ Shanghai and it does not only show the modern life of Japanese officers and people who are living in Shanghai, but also the aftermath and remnants on both Chinese and Japanese side. The movie was popular among Japanese audiences, but the same reaction was not as expected from the Chinese audiences.

Mise-en-scene: the flowers:

This is the scene when Keiran goes back to where she used to hang out with her father. She sees newly grown flower on the ruined ground with broken buildings at background. The flower buds are signs for new life and rebirth. The flower is also a reminder for Keiran of her past happy life with her family. A flashback of her being with her father is shown right after this scene as follow:

This scene is almost like a replication of the previous scene. However, the trees and flowers are flourishing and Keiran is dressed in a beautiful cheongsam. Her bright smile in the flashback is a comparison to her tears in the reality. Everything she loves is destroyed and she can not live the life that she used to live. And just from this flashback and comparison, the audience could have a better understanding of her hate towards Japanese people and her refusal of people’s help.

The flower is being used several times in the movie. After Keiran and Mr. Hase fall in love, Mr. Hase picks blossoms for her. And at the couple’s wedding, the blooming flowers implies their passionate love towards each other.

During this scene, although it is blur to see, the tree leaves or the blossoms at the background are falling as Keiran hears the sad news about Mr. Hase. His colleague comes and shows her a pair of earrings that she gives to Mr. Hase before he leaves. No one believes that Mr. Hase is going to come back despite Keiran. The falling blossoms reveals Keiran’s desperation and misery, and also implies the death of Mr. Hase and their marriage at the same time.

Gathering & Parting:

One of the classic themes of melodrama is separation of people who love each other. To make it more melodramatic, it almost always follows a happy event or big gathering. In China Nights, the parting scene is right after Keiran and Mr. Hase’s wedding. While the couple is sharing a private and loving moment at the balcony, Keiran sings the first verse of the song Shina no yoru.

Then the officer and friends come in to congratulate the couple, and the officer brings the bad news about the ships and Mr. Hase leaving tonight. Keiran doesn’t have the time to weep but to send her newly married husband away. This sudden twist breaks the happiness of the couple and story and makes it more melodramatic until the end as audiences worrying about Mr. Hase’s safety along with Keiran.

君の膵臓をたべたい / I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Blog 2)

Plot Summary:

Originally serialized as a web novel written by Yoru Sumino, the movie adaptation was released in the fall of 2018. The story depicts an ordinary high school boy, Boku/Shiga Haruki, who is obsessed with reading and detached from his classmates. His bland life is interrupted and changed after he accidentally finds out that his classmate, Yamauchi Sakura, has pancreatic cancer and her life will soon be ended. Sakura is like the opposite of Haruki since she is outgoing and popular in class. She hides her illness from everyone except for her family. However, after Haruki finds out, he doesn’t show any sympathy which makes Sakura relaxed. Because of the shared secret, the two soon become friends and accompany each other.

Sakura VS. Haruki:

One of the suspenses throughout the movie is the given name of Haruki. He is first referred as 僕 (Boku) which means “Me” and is usually used by boys in Japanese. The audiences never know his full name until the end of the movie. Even during the scene when Haruki and Sakura are on the train to Fukuoka and Sakura is asking for his given name, Haruki’s voice is purposely muted and kept as a secret until the end.

As shown in the two images above, the scene has a shot of the train coming out from a tunnel. This is a representation of Haruki opening his heart to Sakura by giving his given name to her, and also implies a possible new relationship between the two. The diegetic sound of the train carries over to the close-up shot of Haruki’s mouth, and is made louder in order to cover his voice. In the close-up shot, the audiences could only see that he is speaking. By using high key lighting and sound bridge, the shot gives the audience a hint but puts them in suspense as well.

As the movie approaches to the end, the audience finally learns the given name of Boku is Haruki which is written as 春樹 in Japanese. The two characters of Kanji means “Spring” and “Tree” in English. After Sakura finds out his given name, she said they are meant to meet each other and all the choices she has made are for this moment. Sakura, or Cherry Blossom in English, and Haruki are destined for each other by reading the meanings of the two’s names. Despite the match of Cherry Blossom and Spring Tree, their names also show the implications of both characters’ lives and personality. Haruki is calm, quiet but healthy and has a hopeful life as spring trees. On the other hand, Sakura is beautiful, popular in class, but has fleeting life just as the cherry blossoms. Their meeting is destined but also set a sad tone from the beginning.

Irony of Sakura’s Death:

Before watching the last quarter of the movie, I thought the two is going to enjoy the last moments of Sakura’s life together. Haruki is going to be more outgoing and making more friends. Sakura is going to be completing her autobiography and positive with her treatment. However, everything twists so suddenly with the death of Sakura. She doesn’t die because of her health, but because of a random killing. Just on the next day that Sakura has finished her hospitalization, Haruki asks her to meet in the cafe that the two used to hang out. He waits for a from morning to evening, and this is the first time that he decides to confess his feelings to her through text message. However, he only hears the tragic news.

This sudden twist is so unexpected that I was very shock at first. However, when I went over again about the story, I realized that this might be a “better” and “romantic” ending for Sakura. Her classmates and even her best childhood friend know nothing about her illness, and Sakura tries very hard to keep her image of the “popular, positive and healthy girl”. If she wasn’t die because of the murder, she has to be enduring her pain and eventually died in exhaustion of the treatments. Perhaps the death is not that sudden and is well designed to give Sakura an end of her most beautiful age.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is not only an anime movie that has a creepy name,  but also a tragic but warm romantic story with many melodramatic characteristics. From the naming design to the sudden death of Sakura, the movie builds the emotions step by step. Just like the tree will grow and prosper after blossoms fall, Haruki carries on his life with the wish of being a similar person like Sakura.  

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Blog 3)

Synopsis

Mikio Nrause's masterpiece When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is another woman-centered melodrama. Making a nightclub madam, Keiko, his protagonist, Naruse astutely delineates the ethnography of people in Ginza. Keiko is a widow who lost her husband in a car accident. According to rumors, she burnt a love letter with the ashes of her husband, an act of affection and chastity. After that, life drives her to work as madam at several bars, and, when she turns 30, she has to choose between marrying or opening her own bar. After several twists and turns, which she was almost framed into marriage with the fraud Sekine and raped (depended on the definition of rape) by Fujisakai, Keiko strives to keep her life in the Cartoon bar. Like Scarlett O'Hara's famous saying, "Tomorrow is another day" for Keiko.     

In this film, Naruse is a master in light, frame, and the rhythm of the structure. At the second half of the film, Keiko's conflict with men breaks out one by one. Naruse deftly curved out the characters and their relations. He also conducted an intricate discussion of gender role, gender relations, desires, and postwar micro-level experiences by focusing on the life of hostess or men and women involved in the Ginza sex industry (also depends on how you define sex industry).   

Themes & Character Analysis 

One prominent point of this film is Naruse's depiction of men and women. In other words, gender roles or gender relations in a geographical specific space---Ginza's nightclubs. Secondly, the film revealed the formulation of femininity and masculinity after the war, which is reflected in the structure of interpersonal interactions. 

-Gender, Sexuality, Masculinity, and performance of Femininity 

Firstly of all, men in the film are all cowards, representing the evils in this film. They are irresponsible and hypocritical. Although the setting is nightclubs, I still believe Naruse means to create weak male characters to address postwar despondency and acclaim female strengths like he did in Floating Clouds. Most of Naruse's male characters are not amicable, probably except for Koji in Yearning. By examining Keiko's interaction with women and men, we could gain insights into their relations. The over-arc argument is that everyman in Keiko's life is exploiting her (money, sexuality, and body).  

The lives of Yuri, Junko, and Keiko are the miniature of hostesses or different options and consequences for Keiko. Yuri's death and Junko's rashly compromise reflected Keiko's potential future. Keiko's character is in contrast with Yuri and Junko. Keiko is more cautious and virtuous. Yuri's tragedy made her conscious of the almost impossibility of opening a bar. Keiko, not bending to any man in the first half of the film, insists on her self-agency. It is the familial pressure to help her brother that finally pushes her to engage with Sekine. Keiko is awfully clear about her condition and the nature of this job. She vent out to her mother,  “Drinking till I’m sick, being a play thing for  men.” Her fancy apartment and clothes are all performance of her identity and femininity to attract men; she curved out a fantasy for men just to make a living. 

The film's characteristic is that not a single man could take a stand in Keiko's life. No matter how hard they act to be strong or masculine in the traditional sense, the core of men almost seems to be weak and irresponsible in life and in family. Although war is always not conspicuous in Naruse's film, it is in the background. Keiko and her husband meet after the war, and men go into bar to feel good. Is the macro-level national context related to individuals life? Maybe the general despondency (refusal to fund Keiko with money or only seeks her for her sexuality) or farce are the reflection of postwar public psychology of floating.       
  
Fujisaki basically raped Keiko, even though Keiko likes him the most. Afterwards, her claimed, “I don’t have the courage to break up my home”. He did offer Keiko bonds, but Keiko returned it to Fujisaki's wife when they were leaving for Osaka. Keiko's action relates to her dignity. She returned it because she doesn't want to tint her love or refuse to be in a trading relationship. She refuses to put her body at the site of monetary transaction.  

Komatsu thought he loves Keiko, but actually he's drew to his perception of her. A perception or image that constrains and polices her as a woman. Komatsu claimed after finding out Keiko had sex with Fujisaki, “I used to respect you”. Though for what? He only respects Mama for her chastity, which is an affirmation of heterosexual femininity. He does not yearn Keiko as an individual but an ideal archetype of woman. Even Komatsu is exploiting her.  

On the other hand, Keiko's brother is the archetype of a coward who is hypocritical and "too nice". To gauge Naruse's motive of portraying male characters as "coward" is intriguing. The brother constantly says, “it’s all my fault”, “never mind, it’s selfish of me” when asking Keiko for a large amount of money; Keiko cannot say not and is morally abducted by his narrative of "it's selfish of me". Maybe in the eye of him, his sister equals money. Even Keiko's mother and brother are exploiting her, which made Keiko's life extremely melodramatic and revealed her perseverance.  

                                       

                                   

-Club as a urban social space

Kimberly Hoang is a sociologist who studied sex industry in Vietnam under global context. In her book Dealing in Desire, she argued that nightclub constitutes a space for masculinity formulation and performance of femininity, which means hostess perform subversiveness to make the men feel desired. In the high end bar, it specifically acts as a place for Asian business men to feel more superior than western men that challenges hegemony western masculinity under the perception of global asian economy ascendency and western decline. 

Naruse's film could also be analyzed under this theoretical lens that club serves as a place for gender construction.

“In the Ginza, appearance is everything”.

“Ginza for a taste of luxury”.

“Satisfying that craving is what we’ve paid for”.    

In the film, several lines have reflected the function of Ginza, which is for customers to feel good, to feel desired and valued. Keiko as the madam at the first bar refuses to call Minobe because she doesn't want to beg a man for money. Meanwhile, to beg for a customer to come is partially elevating the men's self-esteem or the feeling of desperately needed. Thus, creating a hierarchy that satisfies men's vanity or selfhood that might be defected in reality or daily business.    

                                     

Melodrama & Film Shooting  

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is quite melodramatic. By making women his focus, Naruse revealed the struggles of hostesses in that age. Money is part of the hardships and mainly controlled in the hand of men. For Mama, to live is to depend on men, no matter how hard she works to challenge that. And Naruse's films are always sensational tragedies. This film is not exceptional, although no one died, Keiko really suffered emotionally and bodily. It is like all bad things happened to one woman and she was able to get up and face it. The turns and twists of her family relations and male-female relations of the development of Keiko's life facilitate the melodrama. Family conflicts is quite common in melodrama. Like in most of the films we have watched, for example, Story of the Last Chrysanthemum and Washington Square, family occupies the role of obstacles towards individual happinesses. Characters are bound by duties and familial morality. 

The sensational emotions in When a Woman Ascends the Stairs are intense, though Naruse excels at repressing anxiety or strong affection under the surface. Emotions are delivered by performance, especially facial expression, and the desolate industrial background or streets in Ginza. Naruse unique way of shooting conversations, shooting each actor separately and letting them pretending to talk the other, enables him to find the best lighting for emotional expression.           

In the scene that Keiko ascends the stairs, the frame is narrow and claustrophobic. Shooting from the back of Keiko, the director shows the hardship of doing this job but also the strength or preserverence Keiko must have to sustain her life, to face her state. Most of time the revelation of Keiko's inner self is subtle. Only when she break out in front of her mother, we were able to peak through her firsthand experience of working under such condition. Naruse's reserved manner of handling the story makes the sensations extremely powerful and profound.         

Naruse's main title choice is exceptional. The music is playful and jazzy, which cast irony to meaning and tone of the film. It corresponds with Keiko's attitude with life and her experience with the farces and drama; it is to face life with the idea that "one has to live as it is, even in fierce currents". The chill ambience   

Hideko Takamine is breathtaking in this film. She is such a great actress that she was able to perform different roles. In an interview with Tatsuya Nakadai, he suggests that Hideko Takamine was chosen by Naruse because of her Nihilism and her female strength that she responds to life melodrama/muddles with her head risen up. The description is exactly how Keiko managed her life at the end of the film, “But the trees line the street can sprout new buds no matter how cold the wind. I too must be just as strong as the winds gust around me.” It is this kind of femininity that Naruse celebrate in lots of his films, even though there's not always happy ending.