The Crucified Lovers of Mizoguchi

Even though the subjects of Mizoguchi's best films, Shin Heike Monogatari, Street of Shame, Sansho the Bailiff, etc., concern the question of social and political freedom, as does the central narrative thread in Chikamatsu, the freedom that his characters find comes from within themselves, from the way that they look at the world rather than from their actual ability to change that world.3 For this reason, memory and the use of flashbacks are essential to the realization of Mizoguchi's characters' inner freedom. At the end of this long take, when Osan throws herself on Mohei, her action causes the boat to move; her action changes the position of the boat in the frame from parallel to perpendicular to the surface of the frame and the slow, clockwise movement of the boat -the direct, physical result of her emotion, of her love for Mohei-becomes a metaphysical statement of sorts, defining wordlessly the transcendent quality of the lovers' relationship.