Yumeji (1991) User Reviews (6)

The Trilogy Ends

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 26 July 2017]

Painter and poet Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934) gets involved with a beautiful widow, becoming a rival of her dead husband's ghost and the jealous lover who murdered him.

Co-star Kenji Sawada's best-known roles include playing in Paul Schrader's biopic movie about Yukio Mishima, "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" and playing in Takashi Miike's horror-comedy musical "The Happiness of the Katakuris". Yoshio Harada, on the other hand, was a Suzuki regular and appeared in all three parts of the so-called Taisho trilogy.

Rarely seen in America, Arrow Video brings the title to Blu-ray along with the first two parts of the trilogy, and it looks simply fantastic. If only Seijun Suzuki had lived a few months longer, he could have appreciate the love and devotion given to his career.

Seijun Suzuki's Taisho trilogy:Part 3.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 22 July 2020]

When I decided that in July 2020 I would view every Arrow Blu-Ray dedicated to auteur film maker Seijun Suzuki by starting with Eight Hours of Terror (1957-also reviewed),I looked forward to ending with the first Suzuki box set I had purchased.

View on the film:

Ending their first box set dedicated to the film maker on a strong note, Arrow present a terrific transfer with a clean image, a smooth soundtrack and detailed extras on the title.

Taking a decade after the second to be filmed due to the producer having money trouble, and the last full solo feature the film maker would make for a whole decade, ( Pistol Opera (2001) being what broke the silence) directing auteur Seijun Suzuki reveals that he used the gap between both parts, to create new methods to expand his distinctive surrealist motifs, as Suzuki & cinematographer Jun'ichi Fujisawa draw Yumeji Takehisa's painting with incredibly fluid tracking shots swinging through the icy dream-logic atmosphere going upwards to wide crane shots across the outdoor dour Gothic landscape.

Reuniting with his long-term editor Akira Suzuki, Seijun Suzuki continues to spread Japanese New Wave jump-cuts scattering paintings across the walls,and elegantly framed dissolves bringing a ghostly presence into Takehisa's paintings.

Marking a huge departure from the vibrant colours of his other features, Suzuki strips the walls bare white,and hang the camera at floor level precisely centered, straight-on framed shots, held in long takes by the Suzuki's that brush into the distortion of Takehisa.

Joining with the Suzuki's to complete the trilogy, the screenplay by Yozo Tanaka blends a loose examination of Yumeji Takehisa's paintings, with a thoughtful conclusion to the doppelgänger psychological doubts, unshakeable ghosts keeping Tskehisa haunted by the past, and sensual paintings running red to a glittering final shot drawing a end to the Taisho era.

Cinema Omnivore - Yumeji (1991) 7.6/10

[lasttimeisaw · 8/10 · 4 March 2021]

"Fairly speaking, Suzuki's male protagonists are made up by cowards, Aochi is too retiring and prim to acknowledge his feelings for geisha O-Ine (Ôtani) and her doppelgänger Sono (Ôtani again), Nakasago's ill-treated wife; Shunko is a spooky fool who is none the wiser in the parlous game of temptation and sadomasochism; whereas Yumeji (rocker Sawada) is reduced to a skirt chaser whose raffish charm is lost on audience. Meantime, Suzuki and his scribe Yôzô Tanaka concoct a counterbalance in the person of Yoshio Harada, who appears in all three pictures (although in KAGERO-ZA, his role is a minor one), and basically plays the same character, the fickle, macho, irresponsible type, who is both attracted and repelled by pretty women, a standpoint streams across the trilogy."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Outstanding landscape of surreal plot

[figueroafernando · 9/10 · 20 June 2021]

And that is where dramatic poetry flows, from suspense to heartbreak and the warm sweat of crying a hedonist like Yumeji who collapses into the decline of the poetry of the bodies whose banquet had been urgent as impossible, until now, to deprive himself.

A caricature of himself, Yumeji saw the multiplicity of his "I" shot up in the foolish personalities that soon displaced him.

What sublime scenes in the Wakiya mansion; first, the demon Matsu, prowling him, then his indomitable muse or model, Tomoyo the self-sacrificing wife who, despite her stubborn reluctance to the intruder, ends up giving him not one but both sleeves of the marriage kimono; inside, the secrets: a Mr. Wakiya hunter who gives up and with a code reminiscent of samurai prefers suicide by failing to kill him; a jealous husband more disappeared than truly dead; a refined aesthetic of kitsch-peppered suspense where the Colts of the western and the unusual feminine background exhaust the cameo pursued by the game of gazes along with the mysterious soundtrack, the humiliating slowdown of the painter as precious her indifference, ah! And the expectant crow.

Narrative at times elevated and surreal as in a David Lynch story, and then the theatrical baroque of a well-crafted farce.

Along with Kagero-za AKA Heat shimmer theater, one of my Suzuki favorites.

Torture

[ockiemilkwood · 1/10 · 15 June 2018]

Unwatchable. Thought at first this was some '60s stoner trash, but, after checking, saw that it was made in '91 (when they should have known better). First shot is a double-exposure of chicks hitting underinflated beach balls into the air. "Why am I watching this?" I wondered (and kept wondering throughout). Involuted plot of infidelity, jealousy and murder is talked about in the past tense, but never fleshed out in the present. This detachment and disconnect deflates the movie like those beach balls. "Ghosts" come and go, in-between unappealing, asthenic nudity and sex, and meaningless, introverted dialogue and still shots. So much artsy-fartsy posturing, so little time. Someone, somewhere, sometime must have thought this was "hip."

The End of the Dream is the Start of the Journey

[kluseba · 6/10 · 19 April 2024]

Yumeji is the third and final part of director Suzuki Seijun's Taisho Roman Trilogy. It comes around a whopping ten years after its predecessor Kagerô-za that didn't achieve the same critical and financial success as first instalment Zigeunerweisen. Just like its two predecessors, this final entry in the trilogy combines a romantic drama with mysterious supernatural elements.

The story is a semi-faithful biography of painter and poet Takehisa Yumeji. The movie tells how he leaves his best female friend behind to meet a mysterious lover he has only been contacting by mail. The strange lady is however getting sick and faces oppression from her family to join the painter and poet. The protagonist is stuck alone in an inn in the countryside and starts falling in love with the widow who runs it. She is looking for the body of her murdered husband on a nearby lake. He was murdered for desiring a married woman and was thus killed by her violent husband who has since been hiding from the police in the nearby mountains. Things get complicated when the murdered husband turns out to be alive and well and wants to win his wife over again. The unsuccessful murderer however also makes an appearance and wants to finish his tale of vengeance. The protagonist ends up feeling overwhelmed by these drastic changes in his life and starts losing his sanity.

This movie deserves praise for several elements. The settings are absolutely magnificent as the Japanese countryside evokes a magical atmosphere that makes viewers want to visit these locations. The calm, melodic and mysterious soundtrack blends in splendidly to enhance this atmosphere. The plot comes around with a few surprises, many of which are so absurd that this film has an almost humorous touch at times. This unpredictability of events will keep viewers watching until the very end.

However, this movie isn't without several notable flaws. Even though ten years have passed between this film and its predecessor, this movie feels so old-fashioned that it might have been made about a decade earlier. The story features numerous similarities to its two predecessors. The camera techniques haven't evolved one iota in a decade as the director never attempts to try out any new creative turns. This stagnant stability makes it difficult to even consider him a genuine artist and such a lack of development can't be defended by the idea of consistency either. Another issue present throughout the trilogy is yet again the film's slow middle section and its challenging length of one hundred twenty-eight minutes.

At the end of the day, viewers who have been enjoying this film's predecessors Zigeunerweisen and Kagerô-za are also going to be appreciating the concluding Yumeji. This movie convinces with mysterious atmosphere, intriguing plot and stunning settings. However, this third entry suffers from uninspired camera work, slow pace and repetitive themes. Despite a few memorable sequences such as the film's surreal opening that could come straight from a progressive rock music video or the hilarious hunting sequence between the dangerous failed murderer and his cowardly target, this movie is overall the weakest entry in the Taisho Roman Trilogy. It's only recommended to those familiar with its two predecessors and cineasts who appreciate the combination of tragical romantic dramas and atmospheric supernatural elements. In the end, Suzuki Seijun's Taisho Roman Trilogy can be described as an acquired taste that needs much empathy, patience and time to be fully enjoyed. Personally, I'm glad to have watched all three movies but won't be revisiting them for quite a while.