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滝の白糸 (The Water Magician)

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Year: 1933
Run-time: 1 hr 40 min
Source: Youtube

Notable For: I've chosen this list for the extraordinary breadth of films on it, with films chosen of nearly every nationality with no regard for their current availability (although this has caused quite a bit of frustration in tracking down these films).  But every cineaste has their particular tastes, and this one has made no secret of the fact that his favorite director is Kenji Mizoguchi.  And while that name isn't quite as well known as that of Mizoguchi's compatriots Kurosawa or Ozu, he was nevertheless a phenomenal director who perfected the art of the long take.  Water Magician is the rare Japanese silent film that survived to the present day, and wonderfully, it's on Youtube with the Bensho narration that it would have screened with at the time (also woefully lacking in films like Page of Madness).

Verdict: Water Magician doesn't have the cinematographic style that his later films would have, but it's characteristic of Mizoguchi in its focus on a strong woman who gives up everything for the sake of a weak man (which makes it remarkably similar to Japanese Girls at the Harbor).  Here we have the titular water magician - another occasional trademark of Mizoguchi is putting traditional Japanese arts on screen, but I don't really know how common this strange and interesting practice is - who falls in love with a poor law student and decides to dedicate much of her earnings to his studies.  The melodrama is ramped up considerably near the end, as she is put on trial and he is forced to prosecute her.  This isn't Mizoguchi's best work, but it's interesting to see his style developing.  There are many more of his films to come.


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