Elegant Beast

Summary

“I’ve already resigned, so please don’t talk to me that way.”

Yuzo Kawashima’s comedy of manners and sexual politics Elegant Beast has recently received a Blu-ray release from Radiance Films. Radiance Films continues to show their pedigree for releasing unsung gems from all over the world. Like many of their releases, I had not heard of Elegant Beast before its showed up on their release slate. In this case, I had never heard of director Yuzo Kawashima and had only seen a couple films written by screenwriter Kaneto Shindo. Knowing very little about the picture going into it, I watched it last night.

The film is set within a small apartment. A husband and wife, Tokizo and Yoshino Maeda (Yunosuke Ito and Hispano Yamaoka,) begin hiding their television, stereo, and nice ashtray in preparation for company. They need to look shabbier for the company that is arriving. Talent agent Ichiro Katori (Hideo Takamatsu), his jazz singer client Pinosaku, and his female accountant Yukie Mitanni (Ayako Wakao) arrive in the apartment of the Maeda family. Ichiro asks where they can find the couple’s son Minoru (Manamitsu Kawabata). Minoru has not been seen at work in four days. Minoru had stolen 100,000 yen from Pinosaku and had also stolen a 100,000 yen fee from Highlight Productions. Minoru has been skimming from the company. His base pay was less than 12,000 yen. Ichiro asks the family if they had noticed anything? They act surprised. Minoru secretly looks on from the stairway to the apartment as the questioning occurs within. Once they leave, he reenters the apartment. Minoru explains to his parents that he is in the clear, because they are just small timers. He explains that they cheat on their taxes so no police will be involved. Hearing him out, Tokizo requests 100,000 yen from Minoru, because he lost at the horse races. Minoru had quit college to help keep the family affloat. Tokizo at one point was in the military. Minoru’s sister Tomoko arrives. Shuntaro Yoshizawa (Kyu Sazanka,) a novelist, kicked Tomoko out because he simply can’t stand her family. Tomoko was his mistress. The relationship dynamic was such that essentially she was selling herself to provide for her family. In fact, the apartment in which they stay as a family was set up by Yoshizawa in order to keep Tomoko nearby. The father was at one point a commander before they began their life of swindling, and it was a miserable existence of true poverty. While he did not want to do honest work, he also never wanted to be poor ever again. That set in motion their life of continually grifting. The writer Yoshizawa visits as Tomoko is taking a shower. The family scrambles to move things around to look impoverished while complimenting his writing. Yoshizawa explains that the reason he is breaking up with Tomoko is because Minoru went to collect royalty fees from his publisher representing himself as being sent by Yoshizawa. 200,000 yen was stolen. On top of that, Minoru has taken the staff at the publishing house to bars and charged it all back to him. Yoshizawa had lent the family over a million yen on top of that. He asks the parents if they are all in it together. After he leaves, Yukie Mitanni arrives at the apartment. She has come to break up with Minoru. Minoru had embezzled 3 million yen for her and with those funds she had opened an inn. She has a son and wants to provide for him. The plot thickens from there.

I enjoyed Elegant Beast. Like many of Radiance’s releases, the special features lent some insight that helped me to enjoy the film even better. The film is a good precursor in tone to films such as Parasite (even thought it is Korean and Elegant Beast is Japanese) with its clever skewering of the haves and have nots in Japanese society through the gaze of a family of grifters. The film plays out in a similar way to a theatrical performance because the actions of the entire film take place within one cramped Danchi apartment. This is a well shot film, especially considering the constraints of solely focusing on one location that is prominently featured (aside from a couple exterior shots.) The setting is really well rendered by the use of wide angle lenses to allow all the actions of the characters that happen simultaneously to fit within the frame. Kawashima’s directs his cast well with a particularly well rendered performance by Ayako Wakao as the accountant and mistress willing to do whatever it takes to move ahead in life, even if it may destroy those in her orbit. The whole cast does an admirable job, but I felt that Wakao and Yunosuke Ito’s performances stood out the most. I also really got a kicker out of the quiet and nuanced performance by Kyu Sazanka as the bewildered writer. Kawashima does an excellent job of bringing out the very best from his ensemble cast. The pacing of the film is very well managed by the director and his editor.

The script by Kaneto Shindo has a lot of clever moments. For example, a quick highlight to me was when the family talked about wealthy Americans drinking by candlelight which leads to a conversation about lighting. The rhythm of how they talk to each other has a lived-in quality. The script is frequently funny, especially during any moments which feature Yoshizawa, but it stays grounded in tragicomic realism. There is very little music in the film aside from during the opening and closing credits. I wouldn’t say that the film is documentary style realistic because of the lack of music, because the film really feels like a play, but the lack of music helps the actions feel more real than if they had been constantly underscored by music.

Elegant Beast is another enjoyable Japanese film rediscovered by Radiance Films. If you have enjoyed Radiance’s other offerings, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Video

Radiance Films presents Elegant Beast in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The transfer was provided by the Kodokaw Corporation from a 4K scan. Additional color grading work was performed by Radiance. Radiance continues to show their commitment to quality control. They have brought the best out of the materials. Fine detail is solid. The film looks grainy, but that seemed to be inherited from the print itself as opposed to any type of compression issues. This is another job well done by the team at Radiance.

Audio

Radiance Films have provided a restored LPCM mono track. As one might guess, the mono track is limited in how immersive it feels. The film’s score is used very minimalistically, which I appreciated (especially since the sound of drums and screeching singing that opens the film is better left unheard again until the credits.) Dialogue is rendered clearly. I have no real complaints here.

Supplements:

• The Cool Elegance of Yuzo Kawashima – film critic Toshiaki Sato discusses Yuzo Kawashima’s life, career, and struggles with illness. It’s a good discussion.
• Elegant Beast: An Appreciation – director of Blue Spring and Hanging Garden Toshiaki Toyoda discusses his love for the films of Kawashima.
• The Age of Danchi – this piece by Tom Mes focuses on the Danchi style apartment buildings that sprang up after World War II. This is a truly excellent and informative piece that helped me contextualize the  film more fully.
• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.25/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Elegant Beast is a well made tragicomic comedy of manners and sexual politics from Yuzo Kawashima. The film is similar to a theatrical play because the film’s actions all take place in one cramped Danchi apartment. The script is well written and the acting in the picture is across the board top notch. I particularly enjoyed the performances by Ayako Wakao and Yunosuke Ito. Radiance Films has done a good job on the presentation of the film and the supplements are interesting (especially the piece by Tom Mes.) Fans of Radiance Films will probably find a lot to like about Elegant Beast. Recommended.