The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
About The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
In late nineteenth-century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoe, adopted son of a kabuki star, plays women’s roles and hears praise he does not deserve. Otoku, the wet nurse of his infant brother, is the one who tells him the truth. They fall in love. He leaves the house to learn the art on his own, and she stays with him through the hard years. When he is finally cheered, she sends him into the river parade. She dies while that parade, led by her husband, goes past. Shōtarō Hanayagi plays Kikunosuke. Kakuko Mori plays Otoku. Kenji Mizoguchi directed.
Cast & crew
More about The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
Matsutarō Kawaguchi and Yoshikata Yoda adapted Shōfū Muramatsu’s story. Shintarō Shirai produced it at Shochiku’s Kyoto studio. Yozō Fuji and Minoru Miki photographed it. Shirō Fukai wrote the music. Koshi Kawahigashi edited. Hiroshi Mizutani designed the sets. Shochiku released it in Japan on 10 October 1939. Wikipedia times it at 143 minutes. The Japanese Film Database lists 147. It was Mizoguchi’s first film for Shochiku after a short stay at Shinkō Kinema. It placed second on Kinema Junpo’s list for the year and won him an Education Ministry Award.
Themes
Background
The story is set in the Meiji kabuki world. The actor’s family name and the female roles are the inheritance he has to leave.
Making
Mizoguchi held shots for a long time. The Japanese Film Database singles out the scene in which Otoku cuts a watermelon. Mizutani built the kabuki rooms and the river parade.
Reviews
Kinema Junpo ranked it second among the year’s films.
Look
Yozō Fuji and Minoru Miki shot the long takes in the kabuki house and on the road with Otoku.
Music
Shirō Fukai wrote the score.
Preservation
The film survives. Copies are on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Kōkichi Takada, Gonjurō Kawarazaki, and Kinnosuke Takamatsu are billed.
- The Japanese title is Zangiku monogatari.
- It is the first of three Meiji theater films. A Woman of Osaka (1940) is lost. The Life of an Actor followed in 1941.
- Copies are on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Awards
- Education Ministry Award
Scenes
- Otoku tells Kikunosuke that the praise is for his father, not his acting.
- She cuts a watermelon in a long take while they are poor.
- She dies as his parade passes on the river.
Influenced by
- Shōfū Muramatsu’s story Zangiku monogatari
Also available
- Internet Archive (the-story-of-the-last-chrysaanthemum)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939) by Kenji Mizoguchi.webm)
