@Courtesy of Kino Films
There are a few times when the very first few images of a movie are able to set the tone of it. This is the case of this psychological melodrama directed by Kichitarô Negishi. The beauty of a red umbrella passing through an aisle on a rainy morning. The simplicity of a woman waking up and discovering there is a persimmon outside her window. And then a casual encounter between a seventeen-year old boy who is struggling to discover his poetic sparkle and a twenty-year old wannabe actress, on the verge of leaving Kyoto in order to achieve a better life. Set in the ‘20, “Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” tells the true story of the love triangle between the actress Yasuko Asegawa, the literary critic Hideo Kobayashi and the poet Chuya Nakahara.
Being a movie that deals with different forms of art, it tries from the start to show the complex relationship between human beings that can’t define their feelings with precision, split between the desire of a normal life and the necessity to express themself with freedom. Negishi doesn’t want to explore the realism of the characters and the historical setting, on the contrary he prefers developing a stylized version of them that better suits his own cinematic idea. “Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” is in fact a beautiful movie to watch, especially thanks to the dense cinematography, which in the first half uses warm colors – yellow above all – to create an elegant and melancholic mood.
When Yasuko and Chuya move to Tokyo, the aesthetic becomes less “poetic” and definitely brighter, representing the chaotic life of the metropolis. The switch from the idyllic, almost suspended atmosphere of Kyoto to the new environment brings a different, more dissonant energy to the mise en scene. At the same time the relationship between the main characters – now a love triangle – turns out to be dramatic, almost self-destructive. This second part of the screenplay by Yozo Tanaka becomes more rhetorical, exploring the boundaries of classic melodrama when before it worked better by exploring the literature behind the plot. Having for example the character of Chuya reading and loving Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry makes the mise en scene even more elegant and precious, something that later one goes missing.
@Courtesy of Kino Films
If “Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” is in the end an effective drama it’s not only because of the elegance of the images, but also because of its main actor Suzu Hirose. Her portrait of Yasuko is subtle but highly moving. She has a layered character to work with, while Chuya Nakahara is more rhetorical as a bohemian artist, and the actor Taisei Kido is not always capable to develop it in an original way. Same thing for Masaki Okada, whose Hideo Kobayashi is definitely a more complex psychology but sometimes a little too obscure to be completely understood. But in the end it doesn’t matter too much, since Suzu Hirose provides a performance that is totally capable to support the other members of the cast and make the scenes compelling, if not believable.
Kichitarô Negishi has directed a period-movie that addresses the complexity of human behavior in a way that doesn’t seek for truth more than a literary effect. “Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” is fully enjoyable if you accept to experience the characters like a sort of literary figures, some kind of poetic translations of real human beings. Since that stunning, almost surreal opening, this movie brings you inside a world that doesn’t need to be true, but like a painting it can give the audience the illusion and the atmosphere of truth. While you are watching it, you can definitely experience the melancholy and the sadness of Yasuko and her two lovers. And this says how good the movie is.
@Courtesy of Kino Films
Rate: B-
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Here’s the trailer for Yasuko, Songs of Days Past: