Dragnet Girl is quite the surprise even for those of
us familiar with Ozu’s work not just in terms of its Americanisms but also in
terms of the story. There are copious references to US style in cinematic and
boxing terms, “The manly art of self-defence” being a poster in the gym
frequented by the gangsters in the story, next to a poster for King Vidor’s The
Champ (1931). Boxing was also very new to Japan at this point and, along
with the gramophone shop, pool hall, guns and yo-yos, clearly a symbol of the modern,
American-facing Japan Ozu created in the earlier Walk Cheerfully (1930).
But the main surprise is the way the narrative confounds the very conventions
the director was working with this being a Jimmy Cagney film in which his moll
provides the driving force for the characters’ development; Joji Oka makes for
a stylish mobster but it’s Kinuyo Tanaka as his partner in crime Tokiko, who
steals the show. She won’t be getting a grapefruit in the face.
Influenced certainly by Josef von Sternberg’s gangster
films, there’s a faster pace than later period films as well as his earlier,
more homely, silent films, with more action, although some off screen, such as
a beating our main gangster Joji gives out to three challengers, all observed
only through the reactions of the people around, as if reacting to every thump
and crash. It’s high technique from the director throughout and a very mature
film in terms of his control and touch, from fast cutting to performance
direction and dozens of symbolic shots, from the famous coffee pot, as poignant
a household object as ever there was.
Then there’s the moment when Tokiko goes in pursuit of
Kazuko (Sumiko Mizukubo), the woman her man is taking too much interest in, the
sister of one of his protégées at the boxing gym. She has a gun and we’re
uncertain as to whether she’ll use it as she confronts the younger and more
beautiful woman, there’s a pause as the latter’s doe eyes stare innocently back
at her before she lowers her weapon, admits that she understands why Joji would
find her attractive and kisses her on the cheek. We don’t see the kiss only
Kazuko’s reaction and, just like with Mae Clarke, she didn’t see it coming and
nor did we. This is where Tokiko takes us off into unexpected territory, she’s
not attracted to Kazuko but the idea of her and she is inspired to try and
change herself and her life with Joji by the other’s purity and decency.
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| Joji Oka and Nipper |
Ozu wrote the story under his Americanised nom de plume James
Maki and the screenplay was from Tadao Ikeda. As gangsters go Joji is pretty
small time although he does have his little empire centred around the boxing
gym. A former boxer himself he doesn’t want to return to the ring and instead makes
a living from the petty crimes of his men. A young boxer Hiroshi (Kōji Mitsui,
who went on to make over 150 films in an exceptional career), joins the gang
and is desperate to impress his boss so much so that his concerned elder sister
Kazuko. Mizukubo was just 16 at the time, a little young for the role but it
suits her innocence.
Joji’s girlfriend Tokiko works at an office and it’s full
of typewriters much as a Chicago workplace might be but, according to Tony
Rayns commentary, there were no Japanese language typewriters at this point so
perhaps they’re there for effect or maybe the company provides translation services.
Tokiko’s boss, Okazaki (Yasuo Nanjo) has a very soft spot for her and she
considers how to use this to her advantage possibly as a way of getting her man
to go straight; she’s just as concerned for his future as Hiroshi’s sister.
As Hiroshi goes off the rails, stealing from Kazuko’s music
shop where, intriguingly there’s a model of the famous dog Nipper (1884-1895),
the subject of the painting(s) that became part of the brand identity of His
Majesty’s Voice (HMV), RCA and other recording companies. She spend more time
with Joji and is spotted with him by one of the gang’s molls… this leads to
Tokiko’s encounter with the young woman and the search for change which drives
the remainder of the film.
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| Sumiko Mizukubo |
Tanaka is the undoubted star and you can understand how
she ended up with a career lasting over 50 years and which involved over 250
films. She also became only the second Japanese woman to direct a film with
Love Letter (1953) following in the footsteps of Tazuko Sakane
As a pointer to the future, we also get a cameo from Ozu
favourite Chishū Ryū as a policeman. Ryū would later feature in Tokyo Story
and 52 of Ozu’s 54 films, building up from small parts to the lead in so many.
Legend!
This 4k restoration from a 35mm nitrate print looks gorgeous
and is further enhanced by a new score from Ed Hughes who employed “…a
modernist, dislocated musical language… at odds with more lyrical episodes to
reflect the tension between the fractured, conflicted world of the gangsters,
and the regulated world of the office environment.” The technique works in
narratively contrapuntal ways and unsettles just as Ozu’s dynamic symbolism
continually makes us uncertain of the outcome as we search for reassuring clues
and find only dissonance… reflecting the tension between drama and
sentimentality…”.
Dragnet Girl is part of a set is released as part of the
120th anniversary celebration of Yasujirō Ozu’s birth and features three newly
restored films, all presented on Blu-ray in the UK for the first time. The release
follows September’s extensive Ozu retrospective season at BFI Southbank. Also
included are two of the director’s post-war films which have a quite different
flavour.
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| Kinuyo Tanaka |
Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)
Kohei, a boy who has been abandoned by his father, develops
a relationship with a widow, Tane. Although she initially resists the child,
the pair begin to develop a bond amid the turbulence of post-war Tokyo.
A Hen in the Wind (1948)
In a country recently devastated by war, a devoted,
near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay for her son’s medical care
after he falls dangerously ill.
Special features
• Commentaries:
Dragnet Girl by film
historian and critic Tony Rayns
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
by film critic and writer Jasper Sharp
A Hen in the Wind by film
critic and writer Adrian Martin
• First pressing only Illustrated booklet
with film essays by Bryony Dixon, Tony Rayns and Jonathan Rosenbaum; an essay
by composer Ed Hughes; credits
You can order the set direct from the BFI shop online or go
there in person and get expensively distracted by the superb range of Powell
and Pressburger offerings currently on show.
The BFI are really spoiling us right now, long may it
continue!
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| That Ozu Touch... |
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