New Tales of the Taira Clan (1955)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

New Tales of the Taira Clan (1955) – K. Mizoguchi

At its conclusion, Mizoguchi’s penultimate film (and final jidaigeki) feels very much like one of Shakespeare’s history plays rather than the stock-standard samurai epic it may at first have seemed. For one thing, there is precious little action – we see our heroes wearily returning from battle or waving their weapons to scare enemies away, but hardly any fighting itself. Instead, Mizoguchi seems more interested in the political intrigues of 12^th century Japan that saw conflict between the nobility (led by the current emperor), the religious class (led by the recently retired “monk-emperor”), and the samurai (here represented by the Taira Clan). To personalise this historical moment, we are encouraged to identify with Kiyomori Taira (Raizô Ichikawa), the son of a heroic samurai (Narutoshi Hayashi) who, despite winning many battles, is not rewarded by the emperor because his advisors (noble courtiers) believe this would empower the samurai too much. At the same time, Kiyomori learns that he may actually be the son of the monk-emperor (his mother was a courtesan who was given away to the Taira leader after becoming pregnant). He is encouraged/tempted to betray the samurai class. More political machinations follow, including a marriage for love that also works to advance certain interests.  Mizoguchi once again proves his mastery in storytelling but also in his use of colour (only his second film using Dalei’s process). What differs from most of his oeuvre is the lack of strong women characters and the deep sense of tragedy that often pervades them. Instead, we are left feeling optimistic about the onset of the era of the samurai (which lasted seven centuries).