Gion Festival Music

Kenji Mizoguchi's Gion bayashi (1953) - often translated as either Gion Festival Music or A Geisha - is the story of two geishas, a newcomer and an experienced one, struggling to survive when the geisha tradition begins to change after the World War II. In comparison to Sansho the Bailiff and Ugetsu, Mizoguchi's so-called feminism is most obvious in Gion Festival Music. The women are powerless against men and thus they are exploited - although Mizoguchi approaches the story in a refreshingly subtle way. But most of all, the film is about the relationship between the two geishas and how it evolves.

Mizoguchi's camerawork is similar to his other movies: (relatively) long takes, constantly moving and always very poignant. Even though the studio pressured him not to stick to his "one scene, one take" editing, there are a lot of takes that can be considered quite long. Even though his editing and cinematography are powerful, they are played down a little here for the sake of more subtlety - although the film can be considered more melodramatic than any of Yasujiro Ozu's films, for example.

Ultimately, Gion Festival Music is a good film which works well in general, but it is forgettable in the end.

Score: 8 out of 10