04-20-2020, 09:28 AM
Mifune plays a handsome young doctor who begins making house calls to a remote villa to treat a man afflicted with TB for years. The stir-crazy wife of the invalid takes an interest in Mifune, who has reciprocal feelings.
But they restrain themselves, for the most part. When she gives him a new pair of shoes (because there's lots of walking for the house calls, and his shoes are very worn), he gives excuses for not wearing them. Then there's her wedding ring, which she wears like a cross to fend off vampires. But the two of them falter, and he does wear the new shoes on occasion, and she does conveniently forget to put on her wedding ring in the morning, and this symbolism of the vagaries of the heart is a bit too simplistic for my tastes.
Anyway, I had low expectations for this one, and when I told LCF beforehand that this was a love story, she said, "Mifune doesn't seem the leading man type for that." It was a stretch.
The director Kinoshita came on the scene the same time as Kurosawa. Surprisingly, Kinoshita beat out Kurosawa for the coveted New Director Award in 1943.
Kinoshita was gay, and his 1959 Farewell to Spring has been called "Japan's first gay film" for the emotional intensity depicted between its male characters. He did a lot of different genres, refusing to be pigeonholed, and was well respected for his work, though not as well known as other major directors.
For me, Wedding Ring seemed rather lame. But I wasn't expecting much going in.
So, to recap this Mifune fest, I've now watched Snow Trail (1947), Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949), and now Wedding Ring (1950). Chronologically next up is Rashomon (1950), which I'll likely skip because I've seen it before. Then comes Scandal (1950), The Idiot (1951), The Life of Ohuru (1952), all of which I've seen in the last couple of weeks.
Then there's Vendetta of a Samurai (1952) by Kasuo Mori, which I'll likely watch next. Is this Mifune's first Samurai film? Not sure, as Criterion's retrospective is hardly comprehensive (There's a Gary Cooper retrospective going on too, and as LCF noted, there's no High Noon).
Then again, Rashomon probably deserves revisiting.
But they restrain themselves, for the most part. When she gives him a new pair of shoes (because there's lots of walking for the house calls, and his shoes are very worn), he gives excuses for not wearing them. Then there's her wedding ring, which she wears like a cross to fend off vampires. But the two of them falter, and he does wear the new shoes on occasion, and she does conveniently forget to put on her wedding ring in the morning, and this symbolism of the vagaries of the heart is a bit too simplistic for my tastes.
Anyway, I had low expectations for this one, and when I told LCF beforehand that this was a love story, she said, "Mifune doesn't seem the leading man type for that." It was a stretch.
The director Kinoshita came on the scene the same time as Kurosawa. Surprisingly, Kinoshita beat out Kurosawa for the coveted New Director Award in 1943.
Kinoshita was gay, and his 1959 Farewell to Spring has been called "Japan's first gay film" for the emotional intensity depicted between its male characters. He did a lot of different genres, refusing to be pigeonholed, and was well respected for his work, though not as well known as other major directors.
For me, Wedding Ring seemed rather lame. But I wasn't expecting much going in.
So, to recap this Mifune fest, I've now watched Snow Trail (1947), Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949), and now Wedding Ring (1950). Chronologically next up is Rashomon (1950), which I'll likely skip because I've seen it before. Then comes Scandal (1950), The Idiot (1951), The Life of Ohuru (1952), all of which I've seen in the last couple of weeks.
Then there's Vendetta of a Samurai (1952) by Kasuo Mori, which I'll likely watch next. Is this Mifune's first Samurai film? Not sure, as Criterion's retrospective is hardly comprehensive (There's a Gary Cooper retrospective going on too, and as LCF noted, there's no High Noon).
Then again, Rashomon probably deserves revisiting.
I'm nobody's pony.
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