A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness

Summary

“Stop taking these pictures. Women always ruin their training to take photos.”

Radiance Films has recently released the 1977 drama A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness on Blu-ray. This film was directed by Seijun Suzuki. It was his first film to direct after being black listed for a decade due to a legal battle with Nikkatsu. This film, based on a manga by Ikki Kajiwara, showcased Suzuki’s unique visual sensibility and his ability to direct numerous different film genres. The film’s script by Atsushi Yamatoya is nearly as schizophrenic as Suzuki’s directing styles, so this project was a good match for the great Japanese auteur. I have been a fan of Suzuki’s work since stumbling across Tokyo Drifter about fifteen years ago, so I was more than happy to watch the film on Radiance’s excellent Blu-ray release.

Famous gymnast Cybulski, the flower of Eastern Europe, became a model for Far East Fabrics when she retired. In the offices of Nichiei Fabrics, the marketing men are looking for a model who can compete with Cybulski. Realizing they are beaten on the gymnastics front, they decide to look for someone talented locally that they can build into their next star. Reiko Sakuraba (Yoko Shiraki) is naturally talented at golf and very attractive, but she is not yet a star. The marketing men settle on her as their next best way to sell products. They create her catchphrase and get to work. They need her to win the Japanese Women’s Tournament a month later. She will need to improve significantly if she can surprise the leading female players in that tournament. They approach her domineering boyfriend Miyake (Yoshio Harade) and offer him 3 million yen in advance to get the ball rolling. Reiko will get a 30 million yen contract if she wins. Her boyfriend enlists trainer Takagi to perform intensive training with her for a month. This training includes hitting over a thousand balls a day. Meanwhile, her image starts to be controlled by the marketing department as well as they schedule photo shoots and appearances. After her hard work, she finds success at the tournament and becomes a celebrity. When she proves successful, she struggles to be part of the life of her younger brother Jun who is in her care. She also hardly ever sees Miyake. A hit and run incident spins the film in another unique direction involving an obsessed fan and the trappings of celebrity.

A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness is a really interesting and enjoyable picture. That said – it has so many different things going on, that it will not prove to be a pure crowd pleaser. Watching A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness is almost like watching three movies. The first third of the film is about the making of a sports star, the second third is about her exploitation and an incident that leads to an obsessed fan entering her life, and the final third is the downward spiral that is littered with insane, absurd, and surreal moments. This schizophrenic script by Atsushi Yamatoya works very well for me in the first two thirds. The final third drags slightly narratively (for me) but finishes with a strong finale. Regardless of how audiences react to each part of the film, it is obvious that Suzuki was the right man for the job. The direction by Seijun Suzuki is beautiful, with so many clever touches. The way he frames cityscapes; the way he captures sports moments; the use of color and interior architecture – all of these things point towards the wonderful eye Suzuki had. Cinematographer Masaru Mori largely worked on erotic pictures aside from this film, and that shows in the moments where Suzuki turns the camera’s gaze towards the striking actress Yoko Shiraki. When Yoko is in states of undress in the film, she is posed and shot very well. Suzuki and Mori proved to be a good pairing for this film, although they never worked with each other again.

I felt the acting in the film was capably rendered. In the interview featured on the disc with Kuniko Ukai, it was revealed that Yoko Shiraki was hired because she was the mistress of the producer. This was extremely interesting to me, because I really enjoyed her performance. I thought that the superficialities in the performance were deliberate until I learned otherwise. The details of the difficulties that Suzuki had drawing that performance out of her were fascinating. This also explains why her career completely stalled out after this film. Yoshio Harada plays the role of the exploitative boyfriend well. Masumi Okada plays a fan who becomes overly attached to Reiko, and she almost runs away with the film with her unhinged performance. Koji Wada and Shuji Sano are also well cast.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness. I like the way that the film pokes subtle fun at suburban malaise, corporate exploitation, and media, while also dabbling in numerous genres. The film has a good sense of humor at times. There’s a scene where two men play golf that have no idea what they are doing that was very funny to me. The music by Keitaro Miho and Ichiro Tomita has a truly Seventies swing to it that I liked a lot. This is another great find by Radiance Films! 

Video

Radiance Films presents A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The transfer was provided by Shochiku to Radiance, and I am happy to report that it is in great shape. Fine detail is pretty good. Grain is handled well and it retains its filmic look. Suzuki’s use of color looks great on the Blu-ray format. There is some softness occasionally, but that seems to be more of a stylistic choice than an issue with the transfer. Overall, I think fans will be really happy with how this looks.

Audio

Radiance Films have provided a restored LPCM 2.0 mono track. As one might guess, the mono track’s immersion is limited, but I thought the track sounded really good. The music by Keitaro Miho and Ichiro Tomita is enjoyable and very much a product of its time. From the opening song to the finale, I really enjoyed the music. Dialogue is rendered clearly, and I did not notice anything too distracting in terms of hiss. I have no complaints here.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary by Samm Deighan – Samm Deighan is obviously a fan of Suzuki and gives an enthusiastic commentary that touches on numerous aspects of his career.
• Kuniko Ukai – in this interview with the film’s assistant editor, Kuniko reminisces about working with Suzuki, his admiration for the Director, the real reasons why Yoko Shiraki was cast, and much more. This is an enjoyable interview that gives some great background information.
• This release comes with an excellent booklet featuring writings by film historian Jasper Sharp and screenwriter Atsushi Yamatoya
• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.25/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.25/5

A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness was Seijun Suzuki’s first film back in the Director chair after a decade long blacklisting. Suzuki was an absolutely brilliant filmmaker, and this film plays to his numerous strengths. The picture dabbles in numerous genres – psychological thriller, corporate satire, sports film – and its schizophrenic nature may hurt its chances of pleasing some who watch the film. That said, I had a great time watching the picture. The picture quality and audio quality are solid with some insightful features and a great booklet. Fans of Seijun Suzuki will absolutely want to grab this release.