| GURENBANA (1993) |
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| Cast: Kumiko Akiyoshi: Sakura Nakata Koji Yakusho: Kenzo Nakata Kumiko Takeda: Yoko Shinonoi Momoko Kouchi: Yoshino Nakata |
| Directed by Mamoru Watanabe Based on a novel by Umeno Tanaka Scenario: Isao Okishima/Toshimichi Saeki Running time: 110 min. Release date: Feb.13, 1993 |
| guren: scarlet flame bana(hana): blossom |
| Kumiko Akiyoshi (Sakura) and Koji Yakusho (Kenzo) at Yoko and Yuzo's wedding reception. |
| This is an epic film which spans the period from wartime to just after the demise of the Showa Emperor. It features the life of a woman called Sakura Nakata ( Kumiko Akiyoshi). Koji Yakusho's role is that of Kenzo Nakata, Sakura's husband. The synopsis of this film is as follows. When the film starts, we see Sakura ask her cousin, Kenzo Nakata to get married with her. It is in Tokyo in 1957. Sakura confesses Kenzo her past life: She was ordered to get married to a millitary officer, Okita by her parents, when she was 18. Her tragedy was that after living with her husband only for four days, he was transfered to a far place and then to a battlefield and died. She learned her husband' death soon after their baby was born. She then was sent to live with her husband's family in Hokkaido. The life there was tough, and she attempted to commit suicide with her baby son, Shiro. She managed to escape to her home in Tokyo but her parents wouldn't let her in, saying that a woman should stay with her husband's house, once married. Sakura continued her story, saying that just after the end of the war, she had been successful in business and had earned a huge sum of money. Her shop, however, was taken over by her elder brother, when he returned from the war. Now aged 32, Sakura says to Kenzo that she wants to start a new life as a married woman, again. Kenzo, who also wants to get married, accepts her proposal, provided that he can part with his girlfriend, Yoko. In the event, Sakura and Kenzo get married. However, their married life turns out to be rather strange. Sakura suffers from consumption and gets hospitarized for a few months. When she returns home, Kenzo's girlfriend, Yoko comes to Saura and Kenzo's house and declares that she will live together with them. Kenzo persuades Yoko that they could meet outside Kenzo's house even though he is married to Sakura. Young Yoko cannot tolerate the situation and determines to live with Kenzo. Sakura becomes furious, urging Kenzo to get rid of her. But Kenzo says no. Night after night, Sakura is tormented to hear Kenzo and Yoko's love affair upstairs. In due course, Sakura hits on an idea to solve this distorted life, that is, to let Yoko and Kenzo's slightly retarded younger brother, Yuzo get married after seeing that Yoko and Yuzo have become friends. Sakura, however, gets stunned to find that Kenzo still visits Yuzo's house, carrying on a love affair with Yoko and letting Yuzo wait outside the house. Kenzo and Yoko's love affair ends after Yoko gives a birth to Yuzo's baby: Yoko rejects Kenzo and Yuzo beggs his brother to leave them alone, emphasizing that he has now become a father. We see Kenzo's attitude to life change from this time. Kenzo frequently drinks and attempts to commit suicide, trying to jump from a building roof or to hang himself. He becomes self-distructive. He murmurs to himself that he hates any feelings of happiness. Sakura and Kenzo's life continues, looking seemingly peaceful, until his beloved mother dies. After his mother's funeral, Kenzo says to Sakura that everything is over with him: he is now a lifeless shell. His purpose of life was to revive his family now in reduced circumstances in order to please his mother: the Nakatas had been wealthy landowners until the end of the war. He says that, with his mother's death, he has come to realize that such a purpose has turned out to be only an endless dream. Soon after his mother's funeral, Kezo commits suicide by setting fire to his car while sitting inside. We see a huge scarlet flame rising. This happenes about 1976. The film ends after the demise of the Showa Emperor, with the aged Sakura and her son, Shiro, recollecting their past lives at Kenzo's 13th memorial service. |
| Sakura suggests to Kenzo that Yoko should get married to Kenzo's brother, Yuzo,who is slightly retarded. |
| Kenzo's characterization seems not so convincing, from reading the scenario only, but Yakusho's portrayal of Kenzo gives viewers some clues to understanding this self-distructive, decadent figure. |
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| The DVD of this film is available. |