浪华悲歌

As Emily and Nicolas have made very detailed analysis on the clothing aspect of the mise-en-scene, I will briefly discuss some elements about the backgrounds or the setting part of the mise-en-scene.

The differentiated setting or background used in different scenes clearly distinguish Ayako’s emotion regarding Asai and her emotion regarding Susumu. The movie opens with a night scene with neon on, showing “Kao soap” as advertising board. (I am also wondering whether this is an intentional advertisement bought by Kao company.) This modernity and fanciness repetitively appear in the setting when Asai and Ayako meet, mostly in indoors setting. For example, from 26:43, they met in a tearoom with fancy decorations behind. There is a fine hanging roll painting on the wall. When they moved to another side of the room (maybe the kitchen), the audiences could see many delicate glass vessels displayed on the shelf in the foreground. Later, the puppet theatre is also a place with pleasure and joy. The materialism and the sense of the floating world is embedded in these scenes when Asai and Ayako meet. Although Asai’s wife criticized this space as low-class when she caught their meeting in 39:20, this place still contains these elements.

On the other hand, around 13:20, Ayako and Susumu met in Naniwa Bridge. Audiences could only detect many chaotic arrangements of wield pillars around the background. There are ships behind. There are also many common and shabby wooden banisters as the settings. The meeting place for Ayako and Susumu seems to exclude the influence of the materialism and modernity. This may persuade the audiences to accept the more real emotion or love exist between them, compared to the relationship between Asai and Ayako. Although Ayako and Susumu also met in a nice dining place when Ayako is in fancy dressing (around 35:57), the setting’s materialism atmosphere is diminished by Susumu’s intention of marriage, which could be regarded as a sign of true love. The setting in the foreground also create certain atmospheres. Towards the end of the film, before Susumu arrives the condo, the mise-en-scene seems to be covered by a soft curtain. The audiences are still able to capture Ayako’s movement behind, but the overall sense is blurred and ambiguous. This paves the road for the later development of the complexity and struggles.