Aug
4
2007
Sakuran
Posted by luna6
Movie : Sakuran
Release Date : February 24, 2007
Country : Japan
Director : Mika Ninagawa
Starring : Anna Tsuchiya, Yoshino Kimura, Masanobu Ando
Runtime : 111 Minutes
Editor Rating : 7.5
(19 Votes, User Rating: 8.47)
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Plot Synopsis : Set in 18th Century Edo, Japan - “Sakuran” traces the life of Kiyoha as she ascents from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara.
“The oiran were women that existed during the Edo era. The oiran lived in self-contained “Pleasure Quarters” and like geishas were required to be well-versed with the arts of dance, music, poetry and calligraphy, and conversation. However, unlike geishas, the oiran were prostitutes, although they were considered to be elite prostitutes.”
Movie Review :“Sakuran” (based from a popular manga by Moyocca Anno) takes the familiar feudal era Tokyo and infuses it with the hip modern day style of Tokyo. Yes, this isn’t going to be your typical Samurai / Geisha film.
To make things even more interesting, the movie was helmed by first time director Mika Ninagawa. Prior to “Sakuran” Mika Ningaawa was well regarded in the modern art world for her contemporary style as a photographer. This may lead you to believe that Sakuran will have visuals to droll over and if so, you’re right on the money. Vibrant hues of red and gold lavish the film throughout. The film’s pop art like backdrops would be comparable to Tetsuya Nakashima’s (Kamikaze Girls/Memories of Matsuko) films and in a way draws its lineage from Andy Warhol rather than Akira Kurosawa. Interesting enough, Mika Ninagawa is the daughter of legendary stage director Yukio Ninagawa. This bring up an interesting parallel with Sofia Coppola, another hip female director, whose father is a well renown director. Also, similar to Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” Mika Ninagawa infuses her film, which is set in a classical period, with a modern soundtrack.
This certainly wouldn’t have been the first time a Japanese director has done such a thing. Simply reference the hilarious “Samurai Fiction” or the campy – but always fun - “Azumi” for prior Japanese films that used modern music in traditional film genres. Unlike “Azumi,” where its campy heavy metal soundtrack felt more like a distraction rather than a piece of the puzzle, the soundtrack for “Sakuran” just worked. Running the gamut of rock, techno and big band sounds, the soundtrack (performed by Ringo Shiina) was as compelling as say….Shunji Iwai’s “Swallowtail Butterfly.”
As you’re indulging in all these sensory experiences the story itself moves along in a less spectacular but still compelling manner. The film stars Anna Tsuchiya (Kamikaze Girls) in the central role of Kiyoha. The choice to have Anna Tsuchiya play Kiyoha was as contrasting as those pop-art like visuals or modern rock soundtrack. Because of Anna Tsuchiya’s mixed ethnicity her appearance in the traditional courtesan role seemed as dramatic as those other contrasts in style. If you have never seen Anna Tsuchiya before in a movie before you just may think to yourself…”Damn…I didn’t know Jodie Foster could speak Japanese so well” when you watch Sakuran.
In the movie, Kiyoha is a feisty young courtesan (prostitute) that sought true love rather than power or wealth. All the powerful Samurai’s were smitten with her beauty and her courtesan abilities. While all the powerful figures fawned over her, Kiyoha fell in love with men of lower rank. Unfortunately, the two men that she loved either didn’t reciprocate in the same manner or found it acceptable to pursue such a woman (initially at least).
Sakuran is a movie that impresses with style and pizazz. Visually the movie is comparable with Tetsuya Nakashima’s films, while the soundtrack effectively used a broad array of modern genres to turn up the ambiance. Anna Tsuchiya worked well as a symbolic piece to Mika Ninagawa’s puzzle…similar to the goldfishes that were so prominently placed in the film. Simply stated “Sakuran” is an enjoyable feast for the senses.
Cast :
Anna Tsuchiya - KiyohaKippei Shiina - Kuranosuke
Yoshino Kimura - Takao
Hiroki Narimiya - Sojiro
Miho Kanno - Shohi
Masatoshi Nagase - Mitsunobu
Masanobu Ando - Seiji
Kenichi Endo - Sakaguchi
Sadanji Ichikawa IV - Retired man
Renji Ishibashi - Owner
Minami -Wakagiku
Mari Natsuki - Mother
Miho Ninagawa - Momoka
Kenji Takama
Ai Yamaguchi - Shigeji
If you like this movie you may enjoy :Azumi, Dasepo Naughty Girls, Memories of Matsuko, Curse Of The Golden Flower
2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews |
Comments
11 Comments so far
Glad you found it. I did enjoy the soundtrack in Sakuran as well and while hearing the soundtrack it did remind me of a song by Chara and the Yentown Club from Shunji Iwai’s Swallowtail Butterfly.
Yen town band "Swallowtail Butterfly"
the song, i finaly found when Kiyoha was walking down the district as the new Oiran in by 椎名林檎 (Ringo Shiina) she was the music director for Sakuran and i think she did an awesome job. had the modern thing going on in a sorta historical movie (?). the song is ギャンブル (gyan-bu-ru) so im guessing its gamble. its in Ringo Shiina’s new album with the rest of the songs from Sakuran she sang. its awesome, and easy to find
John the one that comes to mind would be “In The Realm Of Senses” which easily could be rated NC-17/X. I watched that one in college and thought it was total crap but watched it again recently and it was at least better than I remembered. That should be available in the foreign film section of most dvd shops.
Also a Korean film released this summer and should be out on DVD soon may be of interest to you - named “Hwang Jin-yi”. That film depicts the life of a famous “Kisaeng” (the Korean equivalent of Oiran courtesans). I did watch that one in the theatres and found it really slow, but didn’t have the benefit of subtitles so could have missed some of the nuances of that film.
Where I can find other Dvds that feature Oiran courtesan?I already have “Memoirs of a Geisha”
beautiful colors
Ah its okay now, found the song.
Its ギャンブル by Shiina Ringo if anyone else wondered.
Awesome song. (^_^)
Does anyone know what song it was that was playing when Kiyoha was walking through the street as Oiran? Its just about an hour into the movie.
I hope someone knows, I’ve been looking for its name, but its hard using any search engine since the lyrics are Japanese!
Thanks in advance.
hummm….
I think this movie is great….
made with colorfull bacground,stylish kimonos and great music and beautiful Kiyoha of course heheee
perhaps the storyline was too slow…but with that
I can understand what was kiyoha thinkin,kiyoha seeing and kiyoha feeling….
made me curious what the ending will be heheeee
overall
I like this movie very much!
^__^
Hmm…”As you’re indulging in all these sensory experiences the story itself moves along in a less spectacular but still compelling manner” sums up what I thought about the story. It really was tame compared to the rest, but in the end I enjoyed the whole Sakuran experience. Gloss over substance? If balanced on a scale, possibly so, but I couldn’t help enjoying the movie.
Cheers to Apple (toughest critic around but always enjoyable) and Rae…
i agree with apple.
I was really excited to watch this movie, they put out a really great cast (masanobu ando,miho kanno,mari natsuki,etc). I really thought that the great cast cover the flaws of the movie. I think some of the viewers are judging the movie too fast because of the numerous famous actors/actres , they think it automatically makes the movie “good”. I thought the story line was just plain?? Nothing too special . The soundtrack was brilliant , the visual was shocking!Hands up to the soundtrack and setting . Mainly those two things are what i remember after watching the movie.
hi luna, i didnt realli like this movie. i felt cheated, like curse of the golden flower. well, i think that movie was much better, the visuals were grand n breath taking and it was melodrama. here, it was just ‘pretty’ and bit contrived the imagery i thought. i started watchin n thought great visuals, music n actress so interesting like an arthouse movie. the actress seem so interestin, so different to most types of girls in asian movies, but still the storyline n all was generic n slow which kinda killed it. i mean, at least in memories of matsuko the storyline wasnt nethin too special, n kinda conservative like this movie, girl needing a guy to b ultimately happy n fulfilled blabla..(even using such an interestin actress for this role…) but the imagery was dazzling that i forgot about it. i think the only thing interestin n original goin for it is the music soundtrack. the movie like gettin all excited with a christmas present from ur aunt with the glossy wrapping and all..to find that u were given a pair of bland white socks. oh, and too much references and analogy with the goldfish and spellin it out for us. yeah…kinda got it the first few times.