Mizoguchi Kenji ‘One-scene-in-one-shot’ His visual style

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (Montage) LONG-TAKE * Take = a single continuous recording Shot - Scene - Sequence *shot = the shortest unit of film which is continuously shown without interruption, that is, editing – cut, dissolve, fade-out, wipe *scene = a shot or a series of shots that comprise a single, complete event or action; *sequence = a series of scenes which show related events, settings or stories ‘One-scene-in-one-shot’; an entire action in a scene is shown in one shot – normally in a long take

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (Montage) Why does Mizoguchi rely on long take or insist one-scene-in-one-shot? *Average Shot Length (ASL) = a cinemetrical measures; 5.9 second per shot in D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance and 2.5 seconds in American films made in seconds in Osaka Elegy, 33 seconds in Sisters of Gion, 57 seconds in Chrysanthemum, 92 seconds in The 47 Ronin, 29 seconds in Ugetsu

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (Montage) Long take is for ‘… the most precise and specific expression for intense psychological moments.’ Mizoguchi Kenji Long take is an effective way to create psychological tension Though demanding for performers and cameramen

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Expansive screen space Continuous space created by fluid pan and traveling shots (e.g. Oharu) Skillful uses of on- and off- screen space Off-screen space further indicated by repeated sound effects (e.g. Chrysanthemums)

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) One of the great mise-en-scene directors along with Murnau, Ophüls, and Wells Mise-en-scène = ‘staging’ (‘to put it in the scene’) It includes all the elements placed before the camera or within a frame - actors, their performance, sets, props, make-ups, costumes, etc. It also includes the way in which those elements are shown - visual arrangement and composition - lighting, camera angle, camera movement, shot size, lens choice, etc.

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Chiaro-scuro lighting - strong contrast between light and shade (Also known as Rembrandt lighting - Mizoguchi learned western paintings when young.) Atmospheric, moody and powerful images

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Rembrandt Lighting

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Mizoguchi’s chiaro-scuro cinematography (e.g. Sansho the Bailiff)

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Long-shot (a camera view of a character or object from a distance) Related to long-take; the longer a take is, the more information needs to fill the screen, so that the viewer can spend more time seeing and contemplating on it. Long shot provides more information.

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) The scene in Ugetsu where the heroine is dying in agony while the soldiers on the run squabble for pathetic rice balls for which they killed her. A tragedy and human waste is staged in a long shot with multiple actions. Deep-space composition

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) REALISTIC and SYMBOLIC representation Visual REALISM Construction of sets, designing costumes finding locations based on meticulous historical research

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Sansho the Bailiff : The opening shot shows travelers walking across a river bed. Its symbolic visual meaning retroactively becomes apparent as the film progresses. Our life is a only journey-in-progress from eternity to another eternity.

Realistic and Symbolic Representation Symbolic meaning of water Passage from one life to another Passage separating this world from the other world Repeated in many films by Mizoguchi

Realistic and Symbolic Representation A canal separates Gion, a Kyoto pleasure district, where two sisters work as geisha, and commercial districts. Water trade / ephemeral world / floating world

Realistic and Symbolic Representation The lake Biwa separate a village from a large town The lake Biwa also separates this world from the other world of the dead.

Realistic and Symbolic Represent ation The world on reality and dream in Oyu Sama Giving up the torrid triangular love, a woman lives like a recluse in a house near the Yodo River. Her former lover secretly visits her, but being no longer able to distinguish what he is seeing is real or not.

Realistic and Symbolic Representation Water is an important motif in Lady of Musashino Fleeting affairs between a married woman and a younger student Water separates the mundane world and the dreamy world

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Frequent uses of sharply angled shot Mizoguchi’s aesthetic choice Composition inspired by traditional prints and scroll paintings

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) High angle shot looking down on a scene The vantage point of the traditional Japanese painting The beginning of Legend of the Taira Clan (Shin Heike Monogatari, 1955)

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Formal characteristics of composition and movement DIAGONAL Composition and movement Mizoguchi’s aesthetic sensibility as a painter

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Diagonal compositions constructed from the lines of floor, ceiling, beam, and tatami are frequently seen in Mizoguchi’s films.

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Horizontal composition (examples) Ozu preferred horizontal to diagonal

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Naruse Mikio, follower of Ozu in his penchant for horizontal composition

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (mise-en-scène) Painterly cinematography - composition and subdued colour scheme reminding of the ink painting

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style (montage) Montage - editing The same or similar visual motifs repeated in a film Young Anju and Zushio breaking tree branches and collecting grass for a shelter. The similar scene with the same composition to be repeated later. Sansho the Bailiff

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style LONG TAKE, LONG SHOT, OFF-SCREEN SPACE, SOUND EFFECT, DIAGONAL COMPOSITION AND MOVEMENT articulate emotions, intensify drama, clarify meanings, provide aesthetic and formal pleasure. The Life of Oharu

Mizoguchi’s Visual Style Miraculous openings of The Tales of the Taira Clan 3.50The Tales of the Taira Clan