20th Century Japanese film:� Treatment of Women
by Greg McCulley
drafted 20 April 1998
����������� Japan has undergone tremendous change in this century, and that change is reflected in the evolution of her cinema.� Two films, Sisters of the Gion and Minbo, warrant critical evaluation when looking at this change in Japanese culture.
The arts often reflect (or effect, in some cases) changes in the values of a society.� The treatment of women in Japan has developed over the years (even faster than in many parts of the west) and can be seen in film. �The treatment of women by the directors of Sisters of the Gion and Minbo can be compared and contrasted.� I believe there are more contrasts than comparisons to be made, so I will begin with the comparisons.
����������� In Sisters of the Gion, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, the two sisters are named Umekichi and Omocha (the older and younger respectively).� These sisters are quite different from one another, in that the older is very Giri-oriented, and the younger is very Ninjo-oriented.� Together, the sisters paint an accurate picture of the place and thoughts of women in Japan the 1930?s.� Umekichi, being resigned to serve her ex-patron, and Omocha, who resisted attempts to be ruled by men, illustrate both the traditional place of women in Japan and the emerging suffrage of women.� Minbo's main character, Miharu Inoue, represents an independent woman of modern Japan.� She is almost like a final product of a process started by Omocha's generation of women.� She, like Omocha, is a strong woman who stands firmly against men, and even manipulates them.� Omocha manipulated the salesman Kimura to get an expensive kimono, and Miharu manipulated many members of the Yakuza in her attempts to liberate the hotel.� Finally, in both films we see a very childish need of women by the men of the film.� Kimura was in love with Omocha; Furusawa relied financially on Umekichi for a time; and both hotel security workers (Suzuki and Wakasugi) needed Miharu to rid the hotel of the troublesome Yakuza.
����������� There are many examples of contrast between the two films.� In Sisters of the Gion, we see two types of women, Giri and Ninjo, and both women are made to suffer in the end, regardless of the choice they made.� It is almost as if they must suffer simply because they are female.� In Minbo, the heroine does go through some trials (the murder of her father and her own stabbing), but she eventually is victorious in her mission to beat the Yakuza plot.�� Another way the female characters are different in the two films is the social status of each.� The sisters are both poor, and live in a seedy part of town.� Minbo?s heroine is clearly wealthy (from her wardrobe to her jewelry) and is successful in her profession as an attorney.� Also, the women of Sisters of the Gion were displayed to be manipulative to the men (Omocha) and she was punished for that.� The men of Minbo were the manipulative ones, and the heroine was calm and cool and obviously in charge of the situation, and she punished the men (the Yakuza leadership).
The women in Sisters of the Gion could not get what they wanted out of life, and were forced to rely on men.� In Minbo, the woman not only was independent of men, the men in the movie needed her to be successful.� This is virtually a complete reversal of treatment of women by the two directors, and is reflective of the evolved status of women in Japan in the late 20th century.