Winter's Flower (1978) [Film Review]

Winter’s Flower; or, In Pursuit of Forgiveness

     Uncle, thank you very much for the violin. Mr. Minami brought it to me yesterday... I was so happy that I slept with it. It's raining here in Japan now. I'm writing this letter trying to imagine your face... I'm alone in this world, so your existence is so important. It's so hard to put it in words how important it is to me. Mr. Takeda told me that... you might come back to Japan. Is it true? If it's true, I'll be too excited that I won't be able to sleep.

Winter’s Flower is a 1978 Japanese production directed by the late Yasuo Furuhata and starring the late Ken Takakura. Though the film is one out of many collaborations between the director and the actor, it is not as popular nowadays as Dearest (2012) and Railroad Man (1999). Nevertheless, Winter’s Flower is an enchantingly beautiful melodrama that deserves to be discussed over 40 years after its release.

Release Info

Directed by: Yasuo Furuhata Starring: Ken Takakura, Kimiko Ikegami, Kin'ya Kitaôji, Kunie Tanaka

Language: Japanese Original Title: 冬の華 Runtime: 120 min

Synopsis
Hideji Kano (Ken Takakura) is a yakuza member who is released from prison after serving 15 years. In the past, he was forced to kill a friend for the betrayal of the gang. In consequence, he also orphaned the daughter of a friend, Yoko (Kimiko Ikegami). While exchanging letters with her, Hideji pretended to be an uncle, always trying to support Yoko and also dreaming that one day he will meet her in person. Unfortunately, Hideji is immediately thrown back into the yakuza world after his release. The gang is threatened by the rival yakuza from another district and Hideji is asked to help the boss. The more he thinks about Yoko, the more he can’t bring himself to meet with her.

The Power of Tchaikovsky

The most striking aspect of Winter’s Flower are absolutely magnificent visuals. Skilled cinematography and wonderful locations of Yokohama provide a time capsule of Japan at the start of the bubble era in the late 1970s. The sequences of Ken Takakura wandering the streets (with a low-key music score by Claude Ciari) are just pure aesthetics.

With regard to the screenplay, the story itself is quite engaging. The atmosphere of mystique and chivalric values of the yakuza in a way reminded me of the immortal The Godfather (1972). At times, the exposition dialogue may be a bit challenging (who is who and how he stands in the hierarchy), but the ethereal sense of sadness and melancholy (Hideji’s contemplations in a café that plays Tchaikovsky) compensates for these shortcomings.

Winter’s Flower is not so much a crime drama, but a tale about the inevitable passage of time. There’s no place in the new world for traditional yakuza, and; additionally, Hideji himself realises that he has nobody close to him (his only aim is to ensure Yoko’s prosperity).

Speaking about performances, Ken Takakura is simply amazing! He was such a versatile and mesmerising actor. Indeed, he belongs to the pantheon of classic Japanese stars together with Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. I also like the performance of young Kimiko Ikegami who is probably best known for her appearances in Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Hausu (1977) and Hideo Gosha’s Geisha (1983). In addition, the great Isao Natsuyagi and Kunie Tanaka appear in supporting parts as Hideji’s colleagues.

Recommendations
I recommend Winter’s Flower to anyone who searches for a quiet, enchanting, and compelling drama for a calm evening. It is literally a crime that this film is so rare and unknown even today. Try to grab a Blu-ray version in order to fully enjoy the magnificent panoramas of Yokohama. They don’t make such classics like they used to.
Overall score: 9/10

Dearest (2012) [Film Review]

Dearest; or, Love Conquers All

This week’s review will be about the last movie in the acting career of the late Ken Takakura, directed by his frequent collaborator Yasuo Furuhata.

Release Info

Directed by: Yasuo Furuhata Starring: Ken Takakura, Yūko Tanaka, Kōichi Satō, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
Language: Japanese Original Title: Anata e Runtime: 110 min

Plot

The film tells the story of Eiji Kurashima (Ken Takakura), an aged prison guard mourning his wife who has recently passed away. Shortly after the cremation of her body, Kurashima receives a letter in which his wife asks him to scatter her ashes in her hometown in Nagasaki Prefecture. In consequence, Kurashima sets out on a picturesque and phantasmagorical journey through Japan, recalling the memories of his wife, and meeting a variety of interesting strangers along the way.

Something more than just a love story

From the synopsis above, you may infer that Dearest is just another standard melodrama about getting over the loss of a loved one. Well, I beg to disagree. In this picture, Yasuo Furuhata managed to connect together elements of a road film, a drama, and a human interest story. The character of Mr Kurashima is a standard everyman who spent the majority of his life in loneliness until one day, he finally discovered his true love. Yet, after the wife's passing, he goes on a journey that the two always wanted to make; and I’ve got to say that Kurashima’s travel is taken almost straight from the pages of Haruki Murakami’s novels. We not only get an overview of Japan’s most beautiful tourist landmarks, but also meet several bizarre yet extraordinary individuals who are just as lost in their daily existence as Kurashima.

Dearest marks the last performance of Ken Takakura in his acting career (unfortunately, he died in 2014); however, just as in his previous works, he gives a magnificent performance also in this picture. Although it is pretty odd to see an 80-year-old prison guard still on duty and married to a woman in her 60s, Takakura makes it believable and hence adds more reality into Mr Kurashima’s character, making him seem more tragic.

The supporting actors also did a fine job, especially Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Kōichi Satō as Kurashima’s “friends on the road”. Yūko Tanaka as Mrs Kurashima was also convincing, however, she appears only in flashbacks. Even Takeshi Kitano appears in two scenes and gives a solid performance as always. The music score is calm and soothing, but at times forgettable, constituting the only disadvantage of the whole film.

Recommendations

I recommend this film to everyone who would like to spend a quiet evening, see a simple story with a bit of a twist, and have a cathartic experience. I even tend to believe that Dearest outweighs Ken Takakura’s other travel film Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles in terms of screenplay and scenography. If you like Yasuo Furuhata’s other films or the uplifting style of Haruki Murakami novels, Dearest is definitely the movie for you. Watch it and it will leave you in high spirits.

Overall score: 9/10