Osaka Elegy, beg.and end

[Mark Malicoat]

I referred to my Criterion laserdisc of Osaka Elegy in an effort to resolve
this question of the four slightly out-of-focus shots of the opening credits
and the one similar shot at the very end.  It is evident from my copy that
what is seen in these shots is the shiny refuse floating in the water
beneath the bridge as Ayako throws away the empty cigarette pack.  (Let us
recall that we had just seen her defiant, private pleasure in smoking alone
only minutes earlier.  She had impatiently thrown a half-smoked cigarette
away in that scene, and begun to apply lipstick and makeup in earnest as her
brother and sister watched from the dinner table in the next room -- her
gesture, then, could be seen as a sort of 'mise en abyme' and reminder of
what defines her very position with respect to her family, before she joins
them and their father, in the scene of their shunning her.)  There are two
shots of these glistening objects in the water beneath the bridge (they seem
to include some sort of metal or tin perhaps), first a 4" shot at 70'04",
with a cut to a low-angle m.c.u. of Ayako, followed by a second shot of this
trash on the water at 70'13" (a 7 " shot).  It is definitely not a pavement
(even a cobblestone one) nor is it simply the reflection of lights in the
water.  This is also apparent as there is a shot of neon lights reflected in
the calm water just before this, beginning at 69'37" (an 8" shot), with the
camera panning slightly upwards to more fully take in the lights; that is,
just before the long-shot showing Ayako on the bridge.

So beyond the formal play of light in the opening credits, I take these
opening shots to be a sort of metaphoric moral comment and announcement or
anticipation of the downward trend of the film, and of Ayako's position at
the end.

Best wishes,

Mark






Sarah and Jonathan,

Sarah's right on the money with the cigarette package. I went back to the
script (_Yoda Yoshikata shinario shu (2)_, Eijinsha 1984 ISBN4-87100-109-1,
p. 5-62) and here's the scene in a rough translation:

"On the bridge, same night
Neon lights in the distance. Passersby. Ayako leans on the railing. She's
taken out her cigarettes, but [the package] is empty. She throws it away. It
floats (lightly) on the dark surface of the water."

(the scene then continues with the doctor passing by and their dialogue, I
think pretty much as in the film--I didn't do a direct comparison but the
dialogue sounds right. None of the scenes are numbered, but this is the
final scene.)

 Here's the relevant part as written:

????????????????????????????????????
(p.61)


hope this helps (hope too that maybe a DVD subtitled copy might be available
some day in the US, but maybe the original print is also pretty "muddy."

This reminds me of something I get asked alot in class: is it clear to
anyone what exactly is the background of the opening credits (after the
initial illustrated title card)? The closest I can guess is that it's the
flickering of neon lights reflected on a wet pavement. Could be reflections
on water, but I don't think so. Yoda's script only has the opening scene
title (roughly): "Osaka. The glistening neon lights of the Dotonbori
district at night"--which I take to be the opening shot.

Joanne
>
> I wonder if Joanne could help us by telling us what the screenplay does,
in
> fact, mention--this only if it is readily accessible to her. . . .
Jonathan

>> Joanne,
>>
>> It looks like a flatter piece of paper but it could be a cigarette
>> package.
 Sarah
>>
>>> I've never thought about this, but could it be her cigarette? I didn't
check
>>> my copy but it looks that way in the script. . . .
>>> Joanne

>>>> From: Sarah Frederick <sfred at bu.edu>
>>>> Subject: Osaka Elegy
 . . .  Does anyone know with any certainty what it is
>>>> that Ayako, the main character of Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy, throws into
the
>>>> water at the end of the film? Or is this a matter of debate?  My print
is
>>>> rather fuzzy.
>