The Anjo Ball (安城家の舞踏会) 1947

Plot Summary

      Following Japan's loss in WWII, the Anjo family, highly respected for their wealth, culture, and perspective, is forced to surrender their lavish mansion and, more importantly, their way of life. As a farewell to their home and lifestyle, the family decides to host one last ball. An internal conflict arises between Anjo son Masahiko (Masayuki Mori), who grows cynical with disappointment in his defeated father and resentment of the way in which they're abandoning their old customs and copes by spending money of alocohol, tobacco, and women, and Anjo daughter Atsuko (Setsuko Hara), who fiercly defends their father and is more optimistic in trying to place herself within their new social arena.

Historical Perspective as a Melodrama

     The raptured institution of such an aristocratic family is rooted in similar events that often happen following the loss of a war. There is an overwhelming sense of uncertainty in the film, as the family has lost their status and fortune in the postwar era, and must now face the reality of a future with which they are completely unfamiliar. Western influence is woven althroughout the film, with the cast wearing 洋服 (Western clothing) rather than 和服 (Japanese clothing), however, the integration and move towards internalizing western culture is more apparent nowhere else than the actual ball seen.

From the music, to the decor, to the costumes, to the dancing of the classic waltz and tango, the theme of Westernization is made clear. Though the film may speak to real emotions and reaction to events of the time, it does, of course, do so from a melodramatic perspective. It's highly formalized and quite stilted at times, though it does, at all times, paint a portrait of the inevitable democratization of class structure and the chaos of uprooting the status quo. The scene in particular that epitomizes this transition is short, but impactful - the physical toppling of the ancestral samurai family armour that is proudly displayed at the entrance of the mansion is symbolic of the toppling over of Japanese culture immediately after the war.