Zigeunerweisen (film)
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| Zigeunerweisen | |
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| Directed by | Seijun Suzuki |
| Produced by | Genjiro Arato |
| Written by | Yōzō Tanaka Hyakken Uchida (novel) |
| Starring | Yoshio Harada Naoko Otani Toshiya Fujita |
| Music by | Kaname Kawachi |
| Cinematography | Kazue Nagatsuka |
| Editing by | Nobutake Kamiya |
| Distributed by | Cinema Placet Genjiro Arato Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  April 1, 1980 |
| Running time | 145 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Followed by | Kagero-za |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Zigeunerweisen (ツィゴイネルワイゼン Tsigoineruwaizen?) is a 1980 Independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and based on Hyakken Uchida's novel, Disk of Sarasate. It takes its title from a gramaphone recording of Pablo de Sarasate's violin composition, Gypsy Airs (German: Zigeunerweisen), featured prominently in the story. It makes the first part of Suzuki's Taishō Trilogy, followed by Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991), surrealistic psychological dramas and ghost stories linked by style, themes and the Taishō period (1912-1926) setting. All were produced by Genjiro Arato.
When exhibitors declined to show the film, Arato screened it himself in an inflatable mobile dome to great success. It won Honourable Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for 9 Japanese Academy Awards and won four, including best director and best film, and was voted the number one Japanese film of the 1980s by Japanese critics.
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[edit] Synopsis
Vacationing in a small seaside village, Aochi, a professor of German, chances upon Nakasago, a former colleague turned nomad, who is being pursued by an angry mob for seducing and killing a fisherman's wife. Police intervene and Aochi vouches for the unkempt, erratic Nakasago, preventing his arrest. He then invites Nakasago to dinner. There they are entertained and smitten by the mourning Koine, a geisha. Six months later, Aochi visits his friend and is shocked to find he's settled down and is having a child with Sono, a woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to Koine. Nakasago plays him a recording of Zigeunerweisen and they discuss inaudible mumbling on the record. Nakasago suddenly takes to the road again with Koine, leaving Sono to bear the child on her own. Both men enter affairs with the other's wife. Sono later dies of the flu and is replaced by Koine as a surrogate mother. Nakasago takes to the road yet again. Aochi learns Nakasago has died in a landslide and is visited by Koine who asks for the return of the Zigeunerweisen record but he is sure he never borrowed it.
[edit] Cast
- Yoshio Harada as Nakasago
- Naoko Otani as Koine/Sono
- Toshiya Fujita as Aochi
- Michiyo Okusu as Shuko, Nakasago's wife
- Kisako Makishi as Taeko
- Kirin Kiki as Kimi
- Akaji Maro as Blind Man
[edit] Production
After being fired from Nikkatsu Studios in 1968, Suzuki was blacklisted and his next major film, A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (1977) was a critical and commercial failure. However, inspired by his fans he teamed up with Arato to make this, his first independently produced film.[1] It also reunited Suzuki with his favourite production designer, Takeo Kimura.[2]
[edit] Reception
When Arato was unable to secure major exhibitors for the film he toured it across Japan himself, one city at a time, in a specially built inflatable mobile dome theatre. The film was highly popular with audiences and critics and reignited Suzuki's career.[2]
Despite its popularity on native soil, it never received wide distribution in the international market but has appeared sporadically in various film festivals and retrospectives. It premiered in the UK at the 1988 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[3] It remained unavailable on home video until the 2001 Japanese DVD release (without English subtitles).[4] A North American release followed on March 7, 2006. It features a 25 minute interview with Suzuki on the making of the trilogy.[5]
[edit] Awards
In 1981, it was nominated for 9 Japanese Academy Awards and won 4, Best Film, Suzuki won for Best Director, Takeo Kimura for Best Art Director and Michiyo Okusu for Best Supporting Actress. The nominations were Naoko Otani for Best Actress, Toshiya Fujita for Best Supporting Actor, Yōzō Tanaka for Best Screenplay, Kazue Nagatsuka for Best Cinematography and Mitsuo Onishi for Best Lighting.[6]
At the Kinema Junpo Awards, it duplicated the same 4 wins plus a 5th Best Actress award for Naoko Otani. At the Yokohama Film Festival it won Best Film, Director and Cinematographer. Other wins include the Blue Ribbon Awards (Best Director) , Hochi Film Awards (Special Award), Mainichi Film Concurs (Best Screenplay and Best Cinematographer).[7]
On the international front, it was in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and won Honourable Mention.[8]
Finally, it was voted the best Japanese film of the 1980s by Japanese film critics.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Suzuki, Seijun (interviewee). (1999). Tokyo Drifter interview [DVD]. New York: The Criterion Collection.
- ^ a b c Rayns, Tony (1994). "1980: Zigeunerweisen", Branded to Thrill: The Delirious Cinema of Suzuki Seijun. Institute of Contemporary Arts, p. 43. ISBN 0-905263-44-8. (available online)
- ^ Rayns, Tony (1994). "Biography", Branded to Thrill: The Delirious Cinema of Suzuki Seijun. Institute of Contemporary Arts, p. 46. ISBN 0-905263-44-8. (available online)
- ^ Brown, Todd (March 2006). Zigeunerweisen Review. Twitch. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
- ^ Jane, Ian (February 2006). Review: Zigeunerweisen. DVD Talk. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
- ^ 1981年 第 4回 受賞者・受賞作品一覧 (Japanese). 歴代受賞者・受賞作品. Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved on 2006-12-22.
- ^ History 35 1980年 (Japanese). Mainichi Film Awards. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
- ^ Prizes & Honours. 1981 Yearbook. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin. Retrieved on 2006-12-22.
[edit] External links
- Zigeunerweisen at the Internet Movie Database
- Zigeunerweisen at All Movie Guide
- Zigeunerweisen at Rotten Tomatoes
- (Japanese) Zigeunerweisen at the Japanese Movie Database
| Japanese Cinema |  |
|
| Films directed by Seijun Suzuki | ||
| 1950s | Victory Is Mine | Pure Emotions of the Sea | Satan's Town | Inn of the Floating Weeds | Eight Hours of Terror | The Naked Woman and the Gun | Underworld Beauty | Spring Never Came | Young Breasts | Voice Without a Shadow | Love Letter | Passport to Darkness | Age of Nudity | |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | Take Aim at the Police Van | Sleep of the Beast | Clandestine Zero Line | Everything Goes Wrong | Fighting Delinquents | Tokyo Knights | The Big Boss Who Needs No Gun | Man with a Shotgun | A New Wind Over the Mountain Pass | Blood Red Water in the Channel | Million Dollar Smash and Grab | Teen Yakuza | The Guys Who Put Money on Me | Detective Bureau 23: Go to Hell, Bastards! | Youth of the Beast | The Bastard | Kanto Wanderer | The Flower and the Angry Waves | Gate of Flesh | Our Blood Will Not Forgive | Story of a Prostitute | Story of a Bastard: Born Under a Bad Star | Tattooed Life | Carmen of Kawachi | Tokyo Drifter | Fighting Elegy | Branded to Kill | |
| 1970s | A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness | |
| 1980s | Zigeunerweisen |Kagero-za | Capone Cries a Lot | Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon | |
| 1990s | Yumeji | Marriage | |
| 2000s | Pistol Opera | Princess Raccoon | |
