1984 ‘Ｗの悲劇’ Directed by Shinichirô Sawai
A young girl is striving for stardom. In order to get a lead role in a new production, she agrees to stand-in for a famous star whose rich patron died in her arms one night. The real-life drama gradually comes to mirror the story of the play being performed by her.
Hiroko Yakushimaru Masanori Sera Yukio Ninagawa Kōji Shimizu Minoru Uchida Noboru Nakaya Kōjirō Kusanagi Yoshie Minami Moeko Ezawa Kamatari Fujiwara Yuriko Kono Miho Takagi Akiko Shikata Morihiko Saito Michio Hino Ken Nishida Taishi Horikoshi Shunta Fuchino Yuki Watase Seiji Endō Mariko Nonaka Kyohei Fujiwara Yumi Kusaka Iwao Dan Osamu Kimura Kosuke Nakatsuka Kiyomi Tsukada Masaru Nashimoto Tsubasa Fukuoka Show All…
w no higeki, W's.Tragedy, W之悲劇, W의 비극, W的悲剧
Japan
Japan
An interesting drama.
Starts off with a more intriguing first hour of a young struggling actress, Shizuka, who get's a stand in role for a touring theatrical play (with some noted elderly cast). There is some really nice moments here of every day life and is so 80s Japan.
It also shows her relationship with a man, who she has slept with but he is interested in a relationship, she wants to act and likes someone else.
The last 40 mins is a lot more engaging, as Shizuka is given her chance for success, if she helps a sempai actress to cover up an affair, when the older actress' married lover dies in her bed and threatens the success and…
Aspiring young actress Shizuka yearns for the lead role in the full scale production of 'W's Tragedy'. After only scoring a minor role, she later receives an opportunity to displace the leading lady; if she's willing to take the fall for a huge personal scandal.
I've been listening to Japanese pop music since the early 2000s and last year discovered a haunting 80s ballad; Woman Wの悲劇 (W no Higeki) by Hiroko Yakushimaru. Between her original and Yuko Ando's cover, I've easily listened to the song over 200 times.
It's the theme for this film, sung by Yakushimaru, who plays Shizuka. So basically I wanted to see the film that the song was about.
It's a kind of play on duality;…
This was a brutal depiction of the lengths people willingly go to become a theater star. The earnestness of the kids studying their lines, competing for the part, as if it is the most important thing in the world, is heartbreaking. One girl weighs whether to get an abortion or not on whether she gets a role. Another decides to sleep with a guy who could care less because she read she needs to build her life experiences to draw from as an actor. A third had a dying friend and in the moment could no longer distinguish between his real emotions about it and what he should portray his emotions should be. And that's all before the play, "The…
Takes it's time getting going, but when it revs up the duality/sleazy entertainment industry plot it executes it better than most thanks to Queen Hiroko's demanding performance.
I remember seeing a youtube comment saying that Hiroko's bow at the end isn't just a curtain call for the end of the movie, but also a curtain call for the end of the Kadokawa idol film era and the end of the "Idol Golden Era" itself and I have to concur. Seeing as this was released at the very end of 1984 where 1984 was the last great true solo idol class and 1985 would see the true success of the giant overbloated idol group in Onyanko Club (All-nighters were first but…
A somewhat sexist theme (best exemplified in a jilted male lover's complaint: "I'd rather you be an innocent girl dreaming for stardom rather than actual star") almost completely transcended by the strength of Hiroko Yakushimaru and Yoshiko Mita's performances and the modernist direction of Shinichiro Sawai, whose populated yet beautifully controlled aquarium-like wide shots keep the characters' actual motivations at a perpetual, mysterious distance. I know people always say things like this, but I genuinely believe the final fifteen minutes is all self-invented fantasy by Yakushimaru's aspiring actress (i.e., "the final bow is part of the play"). Recommended, especially as a double-bill with Scorsese's The King of Comedy.
First of all, women! 💃🏽✨
Second of all, the struggle of women to be recognised and requiring having to go through gross, but powerful, men in order to get to where they wanna be. Thus also leading to creating an atmosphere whereby the women compete with each other for stardom, in various ways. (On a side note, Raise the Red Lantern is a great film exploring women in such dynamics).
The film title. "W(omen)'s Tragedy".
This film was way better than I had previously anticipated. I was very into it, it really made me miss the theatre. I haven't seen a production in years now.
They had some reflective dialogue:
翔「反対よ！お客様に道徳教えるために、芝居やってるわけじゃないでしょ
私生活と舞台とどんな関係があるの？
私生活がキレイじゃなきゃ、舞台に立つ資格がないとおっしゃるの？
それじゃあ、どなたかしら？舞台に立つ資格がおありになるの
「安恵さん、劇団を維持していくため、好きな芝居を作っていくため、でもお金がない、アルバイトしていると稽古ができない、そんなとき“女”使いませんでした？あたしはしてきたわ。
あたしが、今この舞台に立てるのも、楽屋が花束でいっぱいになるのも
あたしを抱いてくれた男たちのお陰かもしれない」
This film reflects…
... tô me sentindo conflitado pensando sobre esse, então algumas notas:
- Melodrama justificado pela temática e elevado por uma direção que tem consciência do que tá fazendo;
- Atuação como instrumento absoluto pra metalinguagem;
- Tudo em prol do sonho, essa “briga” entre diferentes personalidades e essa questão de qual “eu” é o dominante é bem interessante, me lembrou muito de perfect blue (mesmo que menos visceral). Essa noção toda de personalidade dupla é intensificada e explicitada pela presença do teatro no filme, e da sempre presente atuação;
- O horror da indústria vs. a beleza da indústria, o sonho que mata o melodrama romântico (sonho como faca de dois gumes, sacrifício e recompensa);
- A estética desse filme…
Blurring the lines between stage and reality has got to be one of my absolute favorite cliches when it comes to personifying the hardships of pursuing a career in acting, and I’m going to eat it up every single time. To act is to lose yourself in a role, and the ultimate gig is one where you have to transform yourself and live out the reality of it, with all the impacts and repercussions to your daily life and relationships. In some regards, it’s also an analogy for stardom, because once you begin your ascension there’s no turning back, and every day in its own way becomes an acting exercise in portraying your public persona.
Hiroko Yakushimaru probably gives one…
Responsible for Hiroko Yakushimaru's greatest banger, this is an annoying mix of an actually pretty good story about an aspiring actress and the politics and tribulations she has to go through to achieve success, and the most generic 80s pseudo-romance where she has to hook up with the most forgettable dude chasing after her and slapping her around a bit while grating aerobics tunes plink away in the background...
Just... cut that bullshit and it would've actually been a good film. Acting wise this is probably the best i've seen from Yakushimaru.
Yakushimaru Hiroko stars as an aspiring actress whose greatest role of her young career is the brunt-taking of a scandal involving one of her seniors. I liked when the movie got as shinpa-y and melodramatic as the crummy stage play she performs, but not really. Hiroko also sings the theme tune which is infinitely more emotional and compelling as this movie it's attached to.
This movie reminded me of a Hamaguchi interview when he got asked does acting equal lying and that actor basically living a big lie.
Yet another media I read/watched because of the song associated with it that I had heard first! The story was slow in the beginning but boy does it pick up in the second half. Hiroko's acting was amazing in this, I wasn't particularly invested but it just pulled me in during the especially emotional scenes... I wish the protagonst's relationship with the older actress was explored more, and that the song would be used during the last scene and not the credits.
her love interest sucked though.
