Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

I picked up this old (early 1950's) Japanese movie at E-Mart today (in a grab bag of 4 DVDs, along with Kurasawa's Roshomon and a copy of someone's Cinderella and Close to You--about the Carpenters--gag, puke---all for W9,000.) What a bargain! Two great Japanese flicks for W9,000. I'd never heard of The Lady of Musashino (director: Kenji Mizaguchi), so put it on first. Wow! Great flick.

The movie opens with Michiko and her husband fleeing from Tokyo where they were bombed out. They are returning to her family home, Musashino, just outside the city. Michiko is trapped in a loveless marriage with Akiyama. She soon inherits 1/3 of the family estate, along with two male cousins. Michiko falls in love with one cousin, Tsutomu, who has been banging the college girls. At several points in the movie, you are sure you know where the plot will go. It doesn't.

One day she and Tsutomu go to visit a lake and get caught in a storm. They go to a motel to wait out the rain and end up spending the night. When Tsutomu puts the moves on her, she says:

M: We have to behave properly, whatever happens. You think that because Akiyama does whatever he wants, we can do whatever we want, too, don't you? But the more selfishly Akiyama behaves, the more correctly we should behave.

T: You say that because you don't love me.

M: That's not true. I have to behave correctly for your sake.

T: That just means you don't care about me. You're torturing me. I want to take you from that house. Love is freedom. Freedom is power.

M: Morality is the only power. You have to understand that. Tsutomu, you must believe me when I tell you that I love you. But I will only do what I think is right.

T: You only love yourself.

M: That's not true.

T: It is. Or why bring up morality now? That's cowardly.

M: It's all my fault. I believe there is something greater than morality.

T: What?

M: One's word.

T: One's word?

M: If we really love each other, if we swear we'll always be true, and never break that oath, then society itself will begin to change. The time will come when we can be together without hurting ourselves or anyone else.

T: It won't happen during our lifetime.

M: I don't mind.

T: What?

M: Tsutomu, please swear this oath.

T: But...

M: Please trust me and swear it.

T: Swear on what?

M: I don't know.

T: It's ridiculous!

M: I don't know, but there is something...

T: God?

M: Perhaps.

T: I'm not sure God exists.

M: If we're not sure, we must believe. It's like you believing in freedom. I also believe I have a destiny on this earth.

T: Who decided your destiny for you?

M: Who decided that human beings are free? I don'd mind if our morality is wrong. Our oath will raise us above that.

T: But everyone's unhappy.

M: If there are more and more unhappy people, morality will change. Please swear this oath. Swear it, please. Swear it!

***
You may discuss.

[SuperFly]

So what happened? Did they do it like they do it on Discovery channel or what?

[Ya-ta Boy]

If you want to know what happened, you'll have to buy the DVD and watch the movie. OR: you could send me W5,000 and I'll let you have the Karen Carpenter and Cinderella DVDs AND the outcome of the movie. That's a bargain.

[Leslie Cheswyck]

I thought only Catholic girls did that.

[liehtzu]

The Lady of Musashino is a port of the UK DVD released a couple of years ago. See also Mizoguchi's Life of Oharu, another copy (the box lists it as only having Korean subs, but there are non-removable English ones). There are tons of classic movies you can get in the bargain bins in Seoul and Busan, (probably illegally) ported from US or UK versions. Aside from the Mizoguchi films, there's Ozu's Tokyo Story and Kurosawa's Seven Samurai copied from the US Criterion versions (the latter of which is poorly copied and looks bad, but it's watchable). Both films are usually listed in critic's Top Ten of All Time lists with Citizen Kane, The Godfather, etc. Also Hitchcock movies (the Criterion versions of Rebecca and Notorious are out of print in the US, but the Korean copies have all the same extras and are a tenth of the price), Anthony Mann (the James Stewart westerns Man From Laramie, Bend of the River, and The Far Country), Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels), and tons of others. All around 3,000-4,000 won and all over the place.

Cheers.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think what grabbed me about this movie was that it was actually about something...not just how many exploding helicoptors per scene it could squeeze in. I know there are some modern movies that actually have a theme, but even most of them are more concerned with showing something graphically, rather than presenting an idea.

The line about giving your word really hit home with me. I've been thinking about resigning at the end of 6 months, so that really made me think. I also thought the bit about if enough people are unhappy then morality will begin to change. I thought that was pertinent to the general Korean situation of most of us posters here.

Anyway, a very good film.