Life of Oharu was distributed by Shintoho
The 40s through to the 60s was a Golden Age for Japanese Cinema: of course there are the Akira Kurosawa films which Westerners know and love, but these films represent only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the genre offers to the viewer. Many Westerners proclaim Kurosawa as the "greatest Japanese director" without being able to name any others and this is a disservice to the men and women who created what was and remains one of the most vibrant and powerful national cinemas in movie history. The Life of Oharu, a product of director Kenji Mizoguchi, and starring Kurosawa favorite Toshiro Mifune (Sanjuro and Yojimbo) as well as Kinuyo Tanaka in the title role, is an important film to be aware of as it, for me, represents how a director or screenwriter can take a common motif and make it meaningful and memorable through exaggeration and high quality acting and artistic direction.
The Life of Oharu is the story of a young girl who unwittingly tosses aside her privileged life as a servant in the imperial palace and a daughter of a priest when she gives in to the love of a low-ranking man that adores her. When she is discovered in amorous embrace with the young man, she and her family are exiled from the capital of Kyoto and the man is executed. This begins what turns out to be one misfortune after another for Oharu as she is next sent to be the concubine of the great daimyo, Lord Matsudaira, and serves her function of bearing his heir, but is then tossed out of the palace because of jealousy on the part of the lord's wife. Oharu next finds herself as a proud courtesan in the pleasure district, but when a swindler causes her to lose that position as well, she ends up eventually becoming a low class prostitute. The most touching scene for me occurs when Oharu is being lead home after her failed stint as a courtesan and she hears a humble woman on the street corner playing a song on the shamisen. Oharu gives her several gold ryo with the words, "You cannot be an ordinary person," recognizing that this woman was once someone proud and privileged like herself that has found herself in unfortunate circumstances.
Years later, Oharu responds to a summons from the new Lord Matsudaira (her son) and goes in the hopes of seeing him, but ends up being allowed only a glimpse of the young man along with a scathing reprimand for becoming a prostitute and embarrassing the clan. After further misfortune, Oharu finds herself as a humble Buddhist nun, a woman that no one would ever suspect had once lived among the "cloud dwellers", the imperial family and their courtiers. The Life of Oharu represents the theme of the transience of life, as well as the tendency of overly-repressive and rigid societies to create multitudes of hopeless victims; yet, the film manages to be original enough that it is not only entertaining but very moving. The film is recommended to anyone that appreciates period pieces, Japanese cinema, or quality films in general.
