The Tale of Genji

I had to watch this movie in my class, and I had a hard time getting through it. This is primarily because I wasn't familiarized with the Buddhist concepts throughout the film until after viewing it, which hindered my ability to understand the film, thus also my enjoyment of it. The Tale of Genji is based on 13 chapters of the Japanese epic novel by the same name, a novel that happens to be the first novel ever written (some time around the Seventh Century). Because the story is so old, and the language is so different, the novel becomes something comparable to Shakespeare to contemporary audiences: difficult to understand and almost unrelatable to some. That is why it was modernized into this animated film, with the physical character of the prince modeled after a contemporary rock star and the language updated to contemporary Japanese language.

However, if you are not familiar at all with The Tale of Genji (which is taught in Japanese schools), then the basic story of this film can be difficult (and downright confusing) to get through. It's basically about a young prince who suffers from the Oedipus complex without really knowing the nature of his obsession. He wanders around the film, fornicating with his wife, stepmother, and even lusts after his early-adolescent cousin. The morally twisted, yet slow-to-develop plot, is thematically justified by its Buddhist undertones, which, if is gone unfamiliarized before viewing the movie, can only further one's confusion. A good way to quickly familiarize yourself with this tale beforehand is to read Enchi's classic novel, "Masks." Otherwise, this ends up being a slow, twisted, and confusing film that will make you check your watch throughout its length and surprise you when it finally ends. My rating 6/10 (but only out of ignorance).

I'd looked forward to seeing this film ever since I heard it was coming to Sydney as part of a Japanese animation festival. I'm not particularly interested in animation these days, more so in literature and Japanese cultural history, so I treaded along to only this film, Spirited Away being sold out shortly after tickets went on sale.

The Tale of Genji is, at the least, a difficult work to read. Even translated into our modern English, some passages of the work remain utterly disconnected from our conceptions of society making the world that Murasaki Shikibu lived in unreal, a "floating world", to use a worn cliche. The original work today is incomprehensible to most Japanese people - there are entire university courses focussed solely on interpreting this work.

And I fear, for most viewers unfamiliar with the work, it will be incomprehensible. The narrative is disjointed, giving little to no background on the characters in the film, leaving many members of the audience dozing in their seats (this was one of the films towards the end of the festival, quite late at night). I acted almost like an audio commentator for my brother throughout the film, whispering things like "That lover's the third wife of his father" or "The Emperor who ascends after Genji's father is the son of the former Emperor's second (?) wife, who was always resentful of Genji's mother, because the former Emperor preferred Genji's mother over her, which is why she hates Genji."

But even so, if you have a basic understanding of the work, it can make the film an enjoyable experience. In a way, the animation brings to life the world of the Heian period more effectively than live-action would, as it's so disjointed from our modern world and even our conceptions of the medieval world. And it's beautifully done. Genji is beautiful, as are the women he seduces. The settings are beautiful, with quite detailed animation, such as Genji revolving in a traditional dance during the opening credits.

I don't like what the director did with the cherry blossoms though. That was a subplot that wasn't part of the original tale at all, and I can't see why it was necessary, if perhaps to give some resemblance of a natural narrative in it. However, I loved seeing the exchanges between Genji and his partners, because that's the essence of the book, really. There were even a couple of poems kept, which is quite a few. It really brought the book alive for me.

I would say the film runs through the first quarter to third of the book, one of the more interesting times. I think the best part of the book though is the end of it, when the focus shifts away from Genji to a beautifully detailed love triangle - the first in prose history if I believe. Does anyone know of any movie adaptations of this later part, the so-called 'Uji chapters'?

I don't know why it's rated as high as it is though. There's just a couple of flashes of breasts, just open robes and so on, nothing strong at all.