Yoshiwara (1937)
6/10
Geisha blues
11 August 2007
Although Max Ophuls' works of that era are not highly praised ("Werther" "Sans Lendemain" "De Mayerling A Sarajevo") ,they nevertheless bear the stamp of the director.These are all romantic stories with doomed lovers,be they fictitious (the two first movies) or historic (the latter)."Yoshiwara " was made in the studio and reportedly in the Japanese Garden of the Porte de Saint-Cloud in Paris(it was first intended to be filmed in Japan),and the lack of means is obvious.

Rather listless in its first part ,this story of love between a geisha and a Russian lieutenant features at least a great scene in the second one: "the night at the opera" .There is a similar scene in "letters from an unknown woman" when the lovers pretend they are traveling on a magic train.Another equivalent is Edwige Feuillère's pilgrimage at the ski resort in "Sans Lendemain".

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"Sayonara" Joshua Logan 1957
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