Okuni to Gohei

Very atypical period piece from Naruse. It's actually a samurai picture, of sorts, though it's definitely more melodrama than action. Michiyo Kogure and Tomoemon Otani star as the titular pair. Kogure is the widow of an assassinated samurai and Otani was that man's pupil. They have been sent out to seek revenge on the murderer, Kogure's first suitor (So Yamamura), but their long and arduous journey has so far been fruitless. The two start to fall in love and question whether their quest for revenge is even worth it. This could have been a bit better told near the beginning - for the first forty minutes or so I was playing catch-up with the plot. But once I got a hold of it, I found it quite powerful, with a lot of subtle, unexpressed emotions. All three of the main cast members are excellent.

Michiyo Kogure married a samurai, and Tomoemon Otani was his apprentice. Then along came Sô Yamamura and killed that samurai. Now honor demands that his widow and apprentice must take revenge by killing Yamamura. And so they set out on the long road to find him. Truths will be revealed, and characters will change.

Mikio Naruse's movie is a character study. How does the individual exist in a ritual-bound society, and does happiness and love of life matter, even to the individual... and are motives clean and separable? An anecdote is stretched out to full feature length, thanks to an excellent cast under skilled direction, and some nice, fog-bound cinematography by Kazuo Yamada, but despite the skill, it's never more than watchable.

"Okuni to Gohei" was one of the few period dramas that Naruse made and I think it's based on a kabuki play. Okuni is a widow of a rich samurai family. Her husband was murdered by her former lover Tomonojo (played by Naruse regular So Yamamura). So she, together with a family's servant, Gohei, start a desperate search for Tomonojo to get revenge.

As expected from Naruse, this is not a typical jidaigeki. Instead of action, Naruse explores the personalities of the three heroes and the relationship between Okuni and Gohei, as they struggle to choose between their feelings and the duty of revenge (a common Japanese theme). Naruse's direction is great as always and the jidaigeki setting and scenery reminded me of Mizoguchi's films of the same period, however the story and the character's reactions seemed pretty predictable. Overall, I wouldn't consider "Okuni to Gohei" on par with director's masterpieces of the 50s and their amazing character studies, but it is worth watching if you are a Naruse fan like me.