The Portrait (Shozo)
Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
Written by Akira Kurosawa
1948/Japan
Shôchiku Company
First viewing/Hulu Plus
This is one of the best films by Kinoshita that I have seen. The script by Akira Kurosawa probably helped.
The story takes place just after the end of World War II. None of the character names, except for the female lead’s, is available to me.
Two middle-aged real estate brokers are able to buy a house very cheap because it is occupied by a family that no one has been able to evict thus far. One of the men decides to move into the upper room with his much younger mistress, Midori, in hopes that they will crowd the family out.
The family cheerfully accepts anything that is thrown its way. In fact, everyone in the family seems to get a tremendous kick out of the simplest things. The father is a painter and offers to paint Midori’s portrait in lieu of paying the rent. It is clear that no one could have the heart to throw these people out.
So Midori begins sitting for her portrait wearing an old kimono that her mother gave her. The family has been allowed to believe that she is the boyfriend’s daughter. As she sits for her portrait and observes the happy family life around her, Midori becomes more and more miserable. Finally she is so unhappy that the portrait seems to be accusing her of living a lie and she is tempted to destroy it.
I really thought there was a lot of psychological truth behind this film. The young woman’s struggle with her conscience and her way of life first makes her hard and drunken. She has a friend that seems to be stuck in this mode. But there is something in Midori, which the painter has caught, that is fundamentally honest and good. The film moves right along, unlike many of Kinoshita’s lesser works, and there are many beautiful moments. Recommended.
There are many films by this director available on Hulu Plus. I have not bothered to review most of them here. I keep on plowing through them, though, because about one in three proves to be a gem.
Clip – Dancing in the Moonlight (subtitles unnecessary)
