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The Ghost of Yotsuya – 1959 Nakagawa
- Four separate set piece sequences make this a top 10 of the year quality film
- There’s a gorgeous opening tracking shot of a man killing two men who turn down the marriage proposal for his daughter. You have obstructed mise-en-scenes views and a booming drum music to accompany the brutal killing. It’s a great opening
- Another stunning tracking shot through the walls of a massage place
- The narrative is bloody, murderous and deliciously vile- very Dog-Eat-Dog nihilism like Kurosawa but with a gothic supernatural twist
- I’m not 100% certain but I don’t think there were a tremendous amount of color films in 1959 Japan- could be wrong—perhaps Nakagawa was closer in popularity to Kurosawa and Ozu than I thought
- Another great set piece shot is the shot behind the gate with red paneling framing the action
- Not exactly the cleanest narrative- very layered and plotted but also very entertaining as it combines basically melodrama, horror and action
- Nakagawa plays with the haunted by past/guilt as revenge motif – a moral tale of inescapable past sins
- The final battle graveyard set piece and blending of reality (fighting against the avenging characters) and surrealism (haunting guilt, neon light, changing and crumbling landscape) is a stunner. It turns into a bit of a montage as it goes back and forth end the final vision is a gorgeous framing of mise-en-scene image with his avenging angel dressed all in white satisfied with the demise of the lead – the Shigeru Amachi character
- Highly Recommend top 10 of the year quality film because of those visuals and set pieces
Drake2020-07-03T10:31:16+00:00
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