The World of Geisha

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The World of Geisha
Theatrical poster for The World of Geisha (1973)
Directed byTatsumi Kumashiro[1]
Written by
  • Tatsumi Kumashiro (screenplay)
  • Kafū Nagai (original novel)
Starring
CinematographyShinsaku Himeda
Edited byAkira Suzuki
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
  • November 3, 1973 (1973-11-03)
Running time
72 min.
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The World of Geisha (四畳半襖の裏張り, Yojōhan fusuma no urahari) a.k.a. A Man and a Woman Behind the Fusuma Screen is a 1973 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro and starring Junko Miyashita. The mainstream film journal Kinema Junpo included it in their choices for best ten films of the year of 1973.[2]

Synopsis

In 1918, against the background of political events following the Russo-Japanese War, a geisha serves a new customer. Though he is about to be married, and it is against the rules, she falls in love with him.[3]

Cast

  • Junko Miyashita: Sodeko[4]
  • Naomi Ōka: Yuko
  • Hideaki Ezumi: Shinsuke
  • Hatsuo Yamaya: Pinsuke
  • Go Awazu: Koichi
  • Moeko Ezawa: Hanae
  • Meika Seri: Hanamuru

Critical reception

The World of Geisha was very successful with the public and critics in Japan.

Nagisa Oshima took an opposite view of the film in a well-known essay written before his own In the Realm of the Senses (1976). Oshima called Kumashiro's film "a little too refined," and took it to task for failing to "realise the effect of pornography." Oshima complained about the Roman porno films that they took "sex as their subject matter and not as their theme. The themes of their most highly regarded films tend to be something like adolescent rebellion; sex is merely the seasoning." He concludes, this "is precisely why these films are attractive to superficial critics, and young film buffs."[7]

Contemporary Western critics were also positive towards the film. A January 1974 Variety review noted that Kumashiro showed a "definitely savvy directorial flair", but that there was "(n)othing banal, or pretentious" about the film. Further, the "love scenes... are handled with wit and insight", and the "sex bouts... all have a rightness in tone." The review continues, "It is technically fine and ranks with some well-known costumers." "Right placement," Variety concludes, "could have this gaining some following abroad and not for its sex scenes but its feeling for period, time and mores and social outlooks that are reflected from the sensual rather than the social side of its characters."[8] François Truffaut called The World of Geisha a "great movie," adding, "The acting is perfect, and the film is humorous. In its praise for female beauty and derision for male stupidity lies the generous spirit of Jean Renoir."[3]

Later commentators on Japanese cinema continue to hold the film in high esteem. The Weissers, in their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films (1998) comment, "The structure of the film is its most interesting aspect. Director Kumashiro is playing intentional games with linear storytelling, creating a narrative which flows unhampered, unrestricted by time."[5] In his Behind the Pink Curtain, Jasper Sharp calls The World of Geisha Kumashiro's "most articulate attack" against censorship and state-imposed morality.[9]

Themes and style

Kumashiro's screenplay was based on

Rice Riots of 1918, and a police order censoring the news of these riots.[9][10]

Taishō period censorship, and Eirin's, and the government's contemporary forms of censorship.[9]

Availability

The World of Geisha was released theatrically in Japan on November 3, 1973.[1] Nikkatsu marketed the film to the English-speaking world with the ad, "The essence of the geisha world! The art of pleasing men! ...dainty butterflies... and how these colorful beauties entertain their diverse guests night after night to the strains of the three-stringed samisen."[13]

The World of Geisha was re-released on DVD in Japan on December 22, 2006, as part of

Kino.[3]

Bibliography

English

Japanese

Notes

  1. ^ a b Infobox data from "四畳半襖の裏張り". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  2. ^ a b "1973 Award List" (in Japanese). www.walkerplus.com. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 1973年 キネマ旬報ベストテン; ６位 四畳半襖の裏張り　しのび肌
  3. ^
    Kino International
    . Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  4. ^ The World of Geisha at AllMovie
  5. ^
    ISBN 1-889288-52-7
    .
  6. ISBN 0-87011-815-3
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7
    .
  8. ^ a b Mosk. Yojohan Fusuma No Shitabari (film review). Variety, 1974-01-02.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Sharp, p. 138.
  10. ^ a b Johnson, William (2003). "A New View of Porn: The Films of Tatsumi Kumashiro" (PDF). Film Quarterly, vol. 57, no.1, Fall 2003. University of California Press. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  11. ^ Johnson, pp. 3–4.
  12. ^ Satō, p. 244–245.
  13. ^ Fentone, Steve (1998). "A Rip of the Flesh: The Japanese 'Pink Film' Cycle; Part Two". She. 2 (12): 15.
  14. ^ ジェネオン エンタテインメントよりＤＶＤリリース (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
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