Don't Change Your Husband (Gloria Swanson, 1919)

Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) is known as the director of The Cheat (1915). Among the more than fifty silent films he made—before he moved on to grandiose Biblical and classical epics such as The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra—are several compelling domestic dramas about the problems of modern life. These include six racy bedroom comedies, reflecting the moral freedoms that emerged after World War I.

Five of these films starred Gloria Swanson, which made her a star. These films were known for their lavish costumes and luxurious sets, especially Swanson's dresses, which—although sometimes grotesque to modern viewers—were famous in their day. Gloria Swanson (1899–1983) is best known for her work in silent films. In the late 1910s and 1920s, she became one of the most successful and glamorous stars of the silent film era. Swanson's popularity was fueled by her dramatic roles, extravagant fashions, and turbulent personal life, which included multiple marriages and high-profile affairs. In the early 1930s, with the advent of sound films, her career began to wane, but she remained a compelling figure. Her remarkable comeback in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950), in which she played Norma Desmond, a silent film star who is pure faded glory, earned her an Oscar nomination and cemented her legacy.

DeMille's "marriage films" typically explore relationship dynamics, infidelity, and societal expectations surrounding marriage. Here are the six films often referred to as his "marriage films":
• Old Wives for New (1918): About a man who files for divorce from his unrefined wife to marry a younger, more refined woman.
• Don't Change Your Husband (1919): About a woman who divorces her slovenly husband to marry a more charming man, only to discover that her new marriage is far from perfect. This film is discussed further below.
• For Better, For Worse (1919): Following a couple as they endure the hardships of World War I, the film explores the idea of ​​loyalty and commitment in difficult times.
• Male and Female (1919): Contrasts the societal roles of men and women, using a shipwreck scenario to explore class and gender dynamics and romantic complications.
• Why Change Your Wife? (1920): A man leaves his wife for a younger woman, but later realizes that his ex-wife, after reinventing herself, is the one he truly loves.
• The Affairs of Anatol (1921): A man named Anatol becomes disillusioned with his wife and embarks on a series of romantic adventures, eventually reconciling with her.

These films reflect DeMille's fascination with the institution of marriage as it evolved in the early 20th century. They combine drama, humor, and moral lessons, often presented in the exuberant visual style that is characteristic of DeMille's work.

But now for Don't Change Your Husband! Leila Porter (Gloria Swanson) is fed up with her busy businessman husband, James Denby Porter (Elliott Dexter). While she is romantic, he is downright prosaic. Porter is approaching middle age: his waistline is expanding, he smokes stinking cigars, and he keeps hiding behind his newspaper. Meanwhile, the youthful Leila (Swanson was 20 when she played the role, Dexter 49) yearns not for grand romantic gestures, but just a little attention. When he forgets their wedding anniversary and arrives late for dinner with the minister and his wife, he even tries to pass off the minister’s anniversary gift as his own, only to dive into a plate of scallions (giving his wife smelly kisses in the process). Romance is clearly not on Porter’s agenda, and it’s only a matter of time before the long-suffering Leila’s gaze wanders.

A third guest at the Porters’ anniversary dinner is the handsome womanizer Schuyler Van Sutphen (Lew Cody), a smooth charmer. His thin mustache, curling upward at the ends, is a clear warning that he is not a pure character (and his lustful glances at Leila confirm this), but the love-hungry Leila sees none of this. Sutphen soon lures her away from her husband. There’s a memorable scene, in true DeMille style, in which Cody seduces Swanson with promises of wealth, pleasure, and love. As he whispers these things to her, she fantasizes about the scenes. Pleasure is depicted by Swanson sitting on an elaborate swing and being pushed across a pool by several men. Wealth shows her in an extravagant headdress, haughtily throwing her head back while half-naked black servants offer her jewels and gems. Love is depicted as she and a man dressed in animal skins running through a jungle together. Pure nonsense, but very entertaining, and Swanson looks beautiful. 

Eventually she gives in to temptation and leaves her husband for the new lover.

But after her second marriage, Leila discovers that Van Sutphen has even more irritating habits than her first husband. Moreover, he is having an affair with another woman, a catty lady named Toodles (played by Julia Faye), and has gambled away his fortune, forcing Leila to sell her diamonds to help him out of debt. Meanwhile, Porter pulls himself together: he hires a personal trainer and starts exercising, renews his wardrobe and shaves off his mustache. Soon he is the one who looks attractive, while Leila becomes increasingly disillusioned.

When Leila discovers that her first husband still loves her and would like her back, she decides to divorce again and remarries James. In 1919, divorce was a highly shocking and unusual phenomenon, and audiences would have been surprised by DeMille's nonchalant approach to this then-taboo subject.

Swanson looks radiant as ever and delivers a tremendously likeable performance, despite playing an adulterous wife. Dexter convincingly masters the transformation from dowdy clown to sleek, self-assured man. Yet it is Lew Cody's wily Schuyler Van Sutphen, nicknamed Bingo by his mistress Toodles, who provides the most amusing moments.

Don't Change Your Husband is a highly entertaining comedy about the foibles of love that never takes itself too seriously.

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My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

 

Early German film: The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919)

Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) was a German film director who achieved his greatest successes in Hollywood. His films are characterized by sophisticated humor with sexual undertones and an elegant style so distinctive that the term "Lubitsch touch" was coined to describe it. Among his best-known works are Trouble in Paradise (1932), Design for Living (1933), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), and Heaven Can Wait (1943).

Before Lubitsch moved to Hollywood in 1922, he directed more than 30 films in Germany, many of which he also acted in. Unfortunately, his German films are virtually unknown today, which is a shame. As a director, Lubitsch alternated between comedies and grand historical dramas. While the latter likely contributed most to his international success and eventual invitation to Hollywood, it is his sharp and witty comedies that remain the most enjoyable today. Here are a few examples:

Shoe Palace Pinkus (1916), his first film, is about a Jewish boy (played by Lubitsch) who begins working in a shoe store and, through his business acumen, rises to become a shoe tycoon.

A Merry Prison (1917) is a light comedy based on Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus, following the antics of a wealthy couple and their maid in a lively, party-filled Berlin.

In Meyer from Berlin (1918), Lubitsch plays a sharp young Berliner of Jewish descent who goes on vacation alone (leaving his young wife behind) in search of adventure, though things don’t go as planned.

Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920) adapts the premise of The Taming of the Shrew to 19th-century Bavaria, set against a backdrop of a beautiful snowy landscape.

However, Lubitsch’s best film from this period is The Oyster Princess (1919), a grotesque comedy about the marriage of the spoiled daughter of an American millionaire.

In the late 1910s, after Germany’s defeat in World War I and the establishment of a new democratic republic, the country entered a period of intense social, cultural, and intellectual renewal. With the lifting of the moral censorship imposed under the Kaiser, Berlin became a hotbed of artistic innovation, with cabaret and entertainment thriving as significant economic engines.

It was in this cultural climate, on June 26, 1919, that Ernst Lubitsch released one of the most intriguing films of his silent era, The Oyster Princess. The film was a vehicle for actress Ossi Oswalda (1898–1947), with whom Lubitsch had previously worked in I Don’t Want to Be a Man and The Doll, both also from 1919. Ossi's persona teetered precariously between mischievous ingénue and dissolute nymph—arguably a new "type" for German cinema.

In I Don’t Want to Be a Man, Ossi plays a whiskey-swilling, tobacco-chewing young woman whose world is upended when, frustrated with her cloistered life, she sneaks out dressed as a young man, only to discover that being a man has its own disadvantages. She learns that the treatment she receives as a man is far less gentle than what she’s used to as a woman.

The Doll (1919) is full of fairy-tale-like unreality, with an emphasis on this artificiality for heightened effect. Lubitsch used cardboard sets, reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but here they are bright and colorful, enhancing the film’s playful tone. It’s a delightful and even kinky burlesque, infused with Lubitsch's famous light, witty, and graceful touch. The frothy story follows a young prince who, desperate to avoid marriage, agrees to marry a lifelike mechanical doll (somewhat like a precursor to a modern blow-up sex doll). Of course, things don’t go as planned—the doll turns out to be much more "real" than he expected.

While The Oyster Princess may not have the most radical premise of Ossi Oswalda’s career, it was her raciest role to date. She plays the spoiled, unmarried daughter of an oyster magnate who decides that if the shoeshine boy's daughter can marry a prince, then so can she. The film opens in the vast Berlin palace of Mr. Quaker, the American "Oyster King," puffing on an oversized cigar—a fitting symbol of his fat-cat status. But then the camera pans back to reveal that the cigar is being held by an impeccably dressed Black servant. Another servant holds a cup of tea to Quaker's mouth, while yet another stands ready to wipe any drips from his lips. A fourth servant is on hand to comb Quaker's hair when it becomes tangled, as he sits idly by.

This is the grotesquerie of The Oyster Princess: the exaggeration of its characters to highlight their flaws. In Quaker's palatial mansion, the bright Art Deco design emphasizes the empty spaces between its occupants. The opulent décor is used to full effect as an endless stream of servants pass each other four abreast on the staircase.

Quaker discovers that, in a fit of frustration, his spoiled daughter (Ossi Oswalda) has demolished her room out of sexual agitation, crying for a prince to marry. (In preparation for future motherly duties, she takes a doll out of the bathtub and holds it upside down to dry.) Papa promises to find her a suitable royal. He sends a request to matchmaker Seligson (Max Kronert) to locate an appropriate husband for his brash daughter. The matchmaker’s suitor index—pinned to a wall in a way that seems a precursor to Tinder—finally reveals a match in Prince Nucki (Harry Liedtke), an indebted, down-on-his-luck nobleman who conceals his wealth from his poorer friends and his poverty from his wealthier acquaintances. Seeing an opportunity to restore his fortune, Nucki sends his bald, dim-witted friend Josef (Julius Falkenstein) to assess the bride-to-be, setting the stage for the ensuing misunderstanding. Vulgar luxury, false nobility, and the marriage-swapping trick are all grist for Lubitsch's satirical mill.

When Josef arrives at the Quakers' residence, he mistakenly presents Prince Nucki’s calling card as his own. Ossi is unimpressed with the visitor, but eager to be married, and believing Josef to be the prince, she rushes them to a priest. There, Ossi is immediately wed to Josef under Prince Nucki’s name. A hurried but well-attended wedding reception follows. Though neither Mr. Quaker nor Ossi are fond of her new husband, Josef thoroughly enjoys the raucous celebration, which includes a wildly filmed “Foxtrot epidemic” that causes the entire household, including the staff, to break into dance. Josef eats and drinks as if he’s never eaten or drunk in his life before!

Meanwhile, after a night of carousing with friends, the real Prince Nucki stumbles into a carriage that takes him to a meeting of the Multi-Millionaires’ Daughters Association Against Dipsomania, of which Ossi is a member. There, they meet and are instantly smitten. Not yet knowing each other’s true identities, both are distraught—she, believing herself recently married, and he, believing himself betrothed. Josef soon finds them together and, laughing, asks, “Do you know that you two are married to each other?” The happy couple celebrates with a second, much smaller reception. In the end, Ossi, Prince Nucki, and Mr. Quaker are all pleased with the match.

Finally, when the newlyweds retire to their bedroom, Papa is caught peeping through the keyhole to see if any “fruitful actions” are taking place. The couple is framed in a keyhole iris, with the winking patriarch finally impressed.

Lubitsch skillfully plays on the interdependence between the Nouveau Riche and the impoverished aristocracy of the Old World, mocking both with impeccable wit. The nouveau riche are depicted as crude, spoiled, and lazy, while the aristocracy are portrayed as drunk, immature, and equally indolent. The aristocrats may wear elegant clothes, but they steal money from friends and live off smoked herring—yet their status is something the absurdly wealthy Americans covet.

Like Berlin in 1919, The Oyster Princess portrays a capital city torn from the old world order and reshaped by a new generation, including settler foreigners, whose drunken stupor spills into the streets. Money buys decadence; decadence reflects money. While the non-specific European city of The Oyster Princess lies far from Berlin itself, it inhabits the enchanted globe known as Lubitschland, capturing the vanity, lust, and simmering social climate of its time. These are the qualities Lubitsch would, just a few years later, take abroad, to convert the Hollywood industry to his own mode of expression.

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My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

 

Early Italian Film: Tigre Reale (Pina Menichelli & Giovanni Pastrone, 1916)

Tigre reale is a 1916 Italian silent film, a melodrama directed by Giovanni Pastrone, starring Pina Menichelli. The story revolves around passion, seduction, and destructive love, in which Menichelli shines in her role as the femme fatale.

Giovanni Pastrone (1883–1959) was one of the pioneers of early Italian cinema. He is best known for his monumental film Cabiria (1914), one of the most important works of the silent film era. Pastrone revolutionized filmmaking, particularly by introducing technical innovations such as the camera pan (a movable camera on rails), which had a major impact on the aesthetics of cinema at the time. Cabiria was one of the first films to introduce the epic format and to address major historical themes with elaborate sets and special effects. The film tells a story set during the Punic Wars and set new standards in storytelling and visual effects. Pastrone was also a forerunner in the commercialization of cinema, helping to establish film as an art form and a medium for entertainment. His work inspired many later filmmakers.

 

Lead actress Pina Menichelli (1890–1984) was one of the great stars of Italian silent cinema in the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her intense, passionate roles and her striking charisma, which made her an icon of the femme fatale type.

Menichelli began her film career in 1913, but her breakthrough came in 1915 with her leading role in Il fuoco, directed by Giovanni Pastrone. In this film she played a seductive poetess, and her sensual, expressive acting made her immediately famous. Her roles were often those of seductresses, women who led men to their downfall through their beauty and allure. Menichelli's image of the femme fatale made her popular not only in Italy but also internationally.

In Tigre reale Menichelli plays the role of a Russian countess who embarks on a passionate and obsessive love affair with an Italian diplomat. Their relationship is doomed from the start due to the emotional cruelty and unstable nature of the countess, who is portrayed as both irresistible and dangerous. The film shows her as a mysterious and destructive force, leading both the diplomat and herself into the abyss.

Giorgio La Ferlita falls in love with the Russian Countess Natka at a ball and is injured in a duel with a rival. After his recovery, he receives a letter in which Natka confesses her love, but she leaves. He searches for her without success and finds a new lover. Later he crosses paths with Natka, but she avoids him. She eventually invites him, but again ignores him. Only later does she tell him about her tragic past, in which she had an affair with a Polish revolutionary, Dolski, who committed suicide after their separation. Natka becomes infected with tuberculosis. She continues to reject La Ferlita, despite her feelings. Years later, she asks him to meet her at the Hotel Odeon, where she takes poison. La Ferlita rushes to her, but her husband locks them in while she dies. During a fire, they escape through the window, and Natka miraculously comes back to life.

 

The title, Tigre reale (Royal tigress), refers to the ambiguous nature of the main character: she is at once seductive and ruthless, a woman who uses her animal instincts to manipulate the men around her. It also symbolizes her uncontrollable passion and the threat she poses to her lover.

The film is a typical example of the Italian diva film style, which focuses on strong female characters, often surrounded by intrigue, tragedy and sensuality. Other famous divas from these years were Francesca Bertini and Lyda Borelli. Menichelli's intense acting and her flamboyant appearance gave the film its power and made it a success at the time.

With its beautiful cinematography, dramatic sets and Pina Menichelli's charismatic performance, Tigre reale is one of the most emblematic films of Italian silent film melodrama.

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My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

Early American film: The Cheat (Sessue Hayakawa, 1915)

The Cheat is one of the earliest and most interesting films by Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), one of the founders of American cinema. Between 1914 and 1958, he directed 70 feature films, both silent and sound films. His later work is known for its epic scale and cinematic spectacle, but his early films also include many intimate social dramas, comedies and westerns.

[Sessue Hayakawa]

The Cheat is such a social drama and it has sometimes been called a racist film in reviews, but that is not correct. On the contrary, in The Cheat the role of the sinister Japanese character is not played by a made-up Caucasian (as was for example the case in Broken Blossoms by Griffith from 1919), but by a Japanese actor: Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973). Hayakawa was the first Asian-American male lead in Hollywood and became a sex symbol, especially among women. He was among the highest paid actors in Hollywood for several years, starring in romantic dramas in the 1910s and early 1920s. He also founded his own production company. In the wake of rising anti-Japanese sentiment after World War I, Hayakawa left Hollywood in 1922 to work in Europe and Japan, but returned several times. He is best known for his role as Colonel Saito in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he received an Oscar nomination. His minimalist acting style, in which he conveyed intense emotion through subtle eye movements, was seen as refreshing compared to the exaggerated gestures often used in silent films. In this respect, Fanny Ward, the "star" of The Cheat, goes too far in her silly overacting.

She plays Edith Hardy, a spoiled society woman who, despite the warnings of her husband Richard (Jack Dean), continues to buy expensive clothes. Richard, a stockbroker, tells her that all his money is tied up in a speculation and he cannot pay her bills until the stocks rise. Yet she even postpones her maid's salary to buy a new dress. Note the enormous, ridiculous hat she wears at the beginning of the film. Edith is also treasurer of a local Red Cross fundraiser for Belgian refugees (the film is set in the years that World War I raged in Europe). The gala ball for the fundraiser is held at the home of Hishuru Tori, a wealthy Japanese ivory trader. He is an elegant and dangerously sexy man, to whom Edith is attracted; he shows her his room full of valuables and brands one with a hot mark to show that it is his.

A socialite friend of the Hardys tells Edith that Richard's speculation will not yield any profit and offers her a better investment. He promises to double her money within a day if she trusts it to him. Edith, not wanting to wait for Richard's profit, takes the $10,000 that the Red Cross has collected from her safe and gives it to the friend.

The next day, her shocked friend tells her that his investment failed and that the money is completely lost. The Red Cross ladies expect the next day to hand over the money they have raised. Edith goes to Tori to desperately beg for a loan, and he agrees to write her a check in exchange for her sexual favors the next day. Edith reluctantly agrees, takes the check, and gives the money to the Red Cross. Shortly after, Richard excitedly announces that his investments have been successful and that they are now very wealthy. Edith asks him for $10,000, supposedly for a bridge loan, and he writes her a check without objection.

When she takes the check to Tori, however, he refuses to let her out of their "arrangement." When Edith resists his advances, he takes the brand iron he uses to mark his property and brands her on the shoulder. In the ensuing fight, Edith finds a gun on the ground and shoots him. She runs away, while Richard, having heard the commotion, rushes into the house. There he finds the check he had given to Edith. Tori is only wounded in the shoulder, not killed. When his servants call the police, Richard declares that he was the shooter, and Tori does not deny this.

Edith begs Tori not to press charges, but he refuses to spare Richard. She visits Richard in his cell and confesses everything, but he insists that she tell no one else and let him take the blame. During the crowded trial, both Richard and Tori, who appears with his arm in a sling, testify that Richard was the shooter, but they refuse to say why. The jury finds Richard guilty.

This is too much for Edith, and she rushes to the witness stand, shouting that she shot Tori: "And this is my defense." She exposes her shoulder and shows the brand mark to the courtroom. The male spectators become enraged and rush forward, ready to lynch Tori. The judge protects him and keeps the crowd at bay. He then quashes the verdict and the prosecutor withdraws the charges. Richard lovingly and protectively leads the remorseful Edith out of the courtroom.

The title "The Cheat" of course refers to Edith, who cheats on her husband, on the Red Cross and finally on her Japanese friend. Toru keeps his word and only forces her the do the same - her husband could learn from his example!

When originally released in 1915, the character of Hishuru Tori was described as a Japanese ivory trader. Japanese Americans protested the film because of its negative and sinister portrayal of a Japanese person. When the film was re-released in 1918, the character was renamed "Haka Arakau" and described in the title cards as a "Burmese ivory king." Apparently there were no Burmese in California to protest!

The film contains a major cultural error: Tori is shown using a branding iron to brand his name, in the shape of a Shinto gate, on the art works he has collected, and eventually uses it to mark Edith as his property. In Japan, however, only criminals were branded, and it is unthinkable that a collector would brand his art or other possessions. This mistake probably arose because Japanese collectors did put a red seal with their calligraphed name on paintings, as was also customary in China. Ceramics were not stamped, but stored in wooden boxes to which a paper label with the seal could be attached. But the weird idea of branding a woman as one's possession is in itself an idea that would have been worthy of a writer as Tanizaki Junichiro!

That the American men want to lynch Tori at the end of the film is not, in my opinion, a racist tendency of the film, but a realistic reflection of the racism against Japanese and other Asians that was unfortunately normal in America at that time (even marriage between whites and another race was forbidden - in 1933, large demonstrations were organized against Frank Capra's film The Bitter Tea of General Yen, in which Barbara Stanwyck plays a white woman who is attracted to a Chinese man). 

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My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

Early Film from Russia: Twilight of a Woman's Soul (Evgeni Bauer, 1913)

Evgeni Bauer (1865-1917) was the most important film director of pre-revolutionary Russia. He made comedies, social dramas and especially psychological melodramas about love and death, often with a tragic ending. Between late 1913 and early 1917 Bauer directed more than 80 films, of which less than half have survived. He worked with the greatest actors of Russian silent cinema.

In his short career of four years Bauer made macabre masterpieces. His dramas, obsessed with doomed love and death, are admired for their graceful camera movements, daring themes, opulent sets and chiaroscuro lighting. Bauer used cinematic techniques such as flashbacks, moving cameras, close-ups, dramatic lighting effects and split-screen. He symbolically depicted the inner lives of his characters through dream sequences and dark visions. Tragically, he died in 1917 of pneumonia after breaking a leg.

His first surviving film, Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913), tells the story of a woman who murders her attacker and must build a new life when her husband leaves her. After Death (1915), based on a story by Ivan Turgenev, explores one of Bauer's favorite themes: the psychological hold of the dead on the living. In The Dying Swan (1916), an artist obsessed with the idea of ​​capturing death on canvas becomes fixated on a mute ballerina who dances The Dying Swan.

I opt for Twilight of a Woman's Soul because I am not very fond of supernatural stuff (Turgenev is in reality an ironic story) and even more so because in this film we encounter a strong woman who takes her destiny in her own hands. The film begins with a party in a lavishly decorated garden full of wealthy guests. Vera, the heroine, bored by her luxurious but secluded life, apologizes and retreats. The next day, Vera's mother invites her to go with her to help the poor. Enthusiastically, Vera jumps at the chance to do this charity work. One of the people she helps, a man named Maxim, is enchanted by her beauty. He writes Vera a letter asking her to come back to help with his deteriorating medical condition - which is a complete lie. She goes alone to his apartment, where he violates her. Afterward, he falls into an alcohol-induced sleep. While he is asleep, Vera escapes his grasp and bludgeons him to death. (Interestingly, this murder remains unnoticed by the police - could the poor just be killed off like that?)

Vera returns home, visibly shaken. She is then introduced to Prince Dol'skii. After a month, the prince declares his love for her and they kiss. However, as she kisses him, she has a vision of kissing the man who attacked her, and she runs away. Prince Dol'skii does not give up on her, however, and she eventually agrees to marry him. She decides that she must tell him her secret before the wedding, but both attempts to tell him are thwarted. At first she tries to tell him outright, but he does not let her finish and only says: "No matter what happened in your past, nothing will make my love waver." At the second attempt she writes him a letter, but he is not at home to receive it and so she burns it.

Vera and Prince Dol'skii get married. They are happy, but Vera decides that she must tell him the truth about what happened to her. Her husband reacts very badly to her confession. His love is shocked, so to speak, and he seems to want nothing more to do with her. So Vera leaves him for good and returns to her family. Prince Dol'skii starts drinking and carousing with light women to smother his sorrow. But after living like this for about a year, he can't stand it anymore and goes looking for Vera.

He hires a private detective, who discovers that she lives abroad. She has become a famous actress there. The prince leaves Russia to look for her, but after two years his search yields nothing. He returns to Russia. Sick of his gloomy attitude, a friend of the prince convinces him to go to the opera. Prince Dol'skii agrees and it is in this opera that Vera performs. He sees her on stage and immediately goes to talk to her after the performance. He begs her forgiveness and asks her to come back to him, but Vera refuses. She tells the prince that it is too late now and that she no longer loves him because of his cold reaction to her confession. After hearing this, Dol'skii returns home in mental anguish. In the last scene of the film, Prince Dol'skii commits suicide. (That is overdoing it, but every Russian story seems destined to end in death.)

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My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

An early and fascinating film from Denmark: The Abyss (Asta Nielsen, 1910)

From 1909 until the outbreak of World War I, the Danish film industry enjoyed a brief period of worldwide triumph. This was possible in the silent film era, when there were no barriers between films from different language areas, as intertitles could easily be changed. Denmark briefly became the most important film center in Europe, and Danish films were shown in cities such as Paris, London and New York. However, during World War I, the Danish film industry lost its worldwide influence (as did the entire European film industry), and the USA, with Hollywood, took over the leading role.

By 1910, Denmark had ten film production companies, and that year Nordisk Films Kompagni, under the leadership of director August Blom, became the first major European company to focus entirely on feature films and achieve international success. With the longer films came growing artistic ambition, best illustrated by Afgrunden (The Abyss, 1910), in which the beautiful actress Asta Nielsen (1881-1972) made her breakthrough as Europe’s first major female film star.

Nielsen’s role in The Abyss defined her career, portraying a strong, independent woman who suffered tragic consequences from her own choices. Although she became the first international film star, her work was often censored for its provocative content – ​​her naturalistic portrayal was considered highly erotic. She often played the role of a seductress or femme fatale, such as Lulu in the film Erdgeist of 1923.

The film tells the story of Magda Vang (Asta Nielsen), a piano teacher who meets Knud Svane (Robert Dineen), the son of a vicar, on a tram in Copenhagen. Knud falls in love with her and has his parents invite her to spend the summer with them at the vicarage in Gjerslev. On Sunday, Magda refuses to go to church and convinces Knud to visit a circus instead. There she falls in love with the charismatic circus artist Rudolf Stern (Poul Reumert), who follows her to the rectory. At night, he enters her bedroom via a ladder to roughly take her into his manly arms and kiss her on the lips while she protests unconvincingly. Magda leaves her safe, respectable fiancé and runs away with the circus artist.

She begins the wandering circus life and, under Rudolf's guidance, becomes a gifted member of the troupe. Although this new life initially fascinates her, she eventually becomes disillusioned when she discovers that Rudolf is also pursuing other women. But despite Knud's efforts to win her back, Magda cannot leave Rudolf.

Magda and Rudolf are hired as dancers in a variety theater, where they perform a sensual dance. During the act, Magda lassoes Rudolf and dances seductively around him. However, when Rudolf pays too much attention to a ballet dancer, Magda becomes furious and starts a fight on stage, in front of the audience. This leads to them both being fired.

In order to earn their living, Rudolf forces Magda to play the piano in a band in a garden restaurant. Knud appears and recognizes her. Incognito, he asks her for a private meeting. Magda thinks he wants to pay her for sex and refuses, but Rudolf forces her to go anyway. When Rudolf arrives later and finds Magda with Knud, he becomes furious and starts beating her. In panic, Magda grabs a knife and stabs Rudolf in the chest. He dies, but her love for him remains undiminished, and in her desperation she clings to his dead body. When the police arrive, she has to be taken away by force. At the exit of the restaurant she passes Knud, but she does not notice him - even now, he doesn't exist for her.

Director Urban Gad used naturalistic settings and innovative techniques such as continuity editing. The film's most memorable scenes are Magda's sensual dance with Rudolf and the final confrontation in which she kills him in self-defense. For 1910, The Abyss is a remarkably refined work, typical of the quality films coming out of Denmark at the time, despite their sensational storylines. Although the acting is sometimes overdone and, as in many silent films, there is more running time than story, Asta Nielsen is a joy to watch. Her sultry, erotic dancing remains remarkably daring even today. Unfortunately, the only available prints are badly deteriorated in some places.

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this article are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

Haydn Symphonies for Count Morzin from 1757-1758

Haydn: Symphonies for Count Morzin 1757-1758

Count Morzin was the first to employ Haydn as his music director (1757-1761). Count Karl Joseph of Morzin (1717–1783) was a Bohemian aristocrat from the Morzin family (originally from northeastern Italian region of Friuli), remembered today as the first person to employ the composer Joseph Haydn as his Kapellmeister.

[Dolní Lukavice castle]

In 1759, Haydn was appointed music director to Count Morzin in Vienna, with a salary of two hundred gulden, free room, and board at the staff table. This position provided Haydn with a comfortable and carefree existence, which he thoroughly enjoyed. The winters were spent in Vienna, and the summers at Lukavec Castle near Pilsen (now the Czech Republic). This migratory pattern was typical of the aristocracy in Haydn's day, who spent summers on their hereditary estates and winters in the fashionable capital.

The Count's orchestra consisted of six, possibly eight violins, while in the basso section there were at least one cello, one bassoon, and one double bass (violone). There was also a wind-band sextet (oboes, bassoons, and horns). This ensemble was much smaller than the orchestras Haydn would later write for, which could include up to about 60 musicians.

While in Vienna, the Morzin ensemble was evidently part of a lively musical scene sponsored by the aristocracy. Around this time, the music of Sammartini was introduced to Vienna, where it quickly became fashionable. Aristocratic sponsors competed in bringing musical novelties to their almost daily concerts.

During his tenure with Count Morzin, Haydn married Anna Maria Keller on 17 November 1760, despite his contract forbidding him to marry. The marriage, lasting until Anna Maria's death in 1800, was unhappy. A year passed before Count Morzin learned of Haydn's marriage. However, financial difficulties soon forced the Count to reduce his expenditures, resulting in the dismissal of his musicians and Haydn losing his position as Kapellmeister.

Fortunately, Haydn's growing public reputation and amiable character worked in his favor. Count Morzin, moved to help Haydn, facilitated his next career move. Shortly after losing his post, Haydn was appointed Vicekapellmeister to Prince Anton Esterházy at Eisenstadt, with a salary of 400 florins.

The initial 15 or so symphonies of Haydn's prolific career were composed for Count Morzin. However, the numbering of these early works is uncertain, ranging from 1 to 37, with the possibility of even more compositions from this period. Scholars disagree on the exact chronology, and some of these symphonies may have been written as late as 1760, just before Haydn moved on to his new position.

Typically, these early symphonies were crafted for a modest ensemble consisting of oboes, horns, and strings. While bassoons were often included, their role was usually limited to doubling the bass line. The use of percussion was rare, with timpani seldom employed.

Below I introduce the first 8 symphonies, which probably date from 1757 and 1758.

(1) Symphony No. 1 in D major

Written in 1757 while in the service of Count Morzin at the castle of Dolní Lukavice near Pilsen, the count's summer residence.

It is scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo.

Like most of Haydn's early symphonies, it is in three movements:

(1) Presto in D (sonata form)
(2) Andante in G (sonata form)
(3) Presto in D (sonata form)

This most familiar of Haydn's early symphonies unusually begins with a crescendo that rises in pitch before reaching a forte and an impressive horn fanfare (not to be confused with the much longer so-called "Mannheim crescendo"). Horn fanfares continue to appear at key points. After modulating to A major, the second theme appears in eighth notes. The development is based on the second theme, but is very short, and the recapitulation is preceded by an ostentatious horn fanfare.

As in Haydn's other symphonies of the period, the slow movement is for strings only. The movement establishes the combination of liveliness with profundity so characteristic of Haydn's intimate andantes. It is in sonata form, with a surprise turn to the minor mode and denser counterpoint for the recapitulation of the opening theme. The main theme, which begins with a triplet, features a distinctive exchange between the first and second violins.

The concluding Presto exemplifies Haydn's "short 3/8 finale style". It has a lively theme that begins with an ascending arpeggio and is a simple, monothematic piece.
 

(2) Symphony No. 37 in C major

Although this symphony bears the advanced number of No. 37, it is actually one of Haydn's earliest symphonies, dated 1758 in a manuscript found in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic. Since it usually took about a year for a manuscript to appear after the work was composed, it probably dates from 1757 and was written while Haydn was in the service of Count Morzin in Lukavice (1757-1761).

It is scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo. In some performances, trumpets and drums are added.

The work consists of four movements:

(1) Presto in C (sonata form)
(2) Menuet/trio in C/c
(3) Andante in c (ternary song form)
(4) Presto in C (sonata form)

This symphony exemplifies Haydn's C major style. However, as it does not appear to have originally included trumpets and percussion, it is less festive and more typical of the early symphonies in general.

In the constantly shifting first movement, the key suddenly changes to G minor in the middle of the exposition. After a very short development, there is a recapitulation that differs markedly from the exposition.

This work is one of the few symphonies of the Classical period to place the minuet second. The stately minuet is characterized by a dotted rhythm. The Trio is in C minor and is played by strings only.

The Andante is also for strings only. Unusually, it is also in the tonic minor of C.

The finale, again in Presto 3/8, is rather abrupt and contains many internal contrasts.

(3) Symphony No. 18 in G major

Probably composed between 1757/59, as Haydn's chronological third symphony, during his time working for Count Morzin. Contrary to the usual form, the work begins with the slow movement.

It is scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo.

The work is in 3 movements:

(1) Andate moderato in G (sonata form)

(2) Allegro molto in G (sonata form)

(3) Tempo di Menuet in G (Rondo)

In the first movement, which is serious in tone, the second violin plays a dotted theme over a bass eighth note accompaniment, and the first violin takes over, making it similar to a trio sonata. The wind instruments play a supporting role throughout.

The second movement consists of fast music, even incessant, relentlessly driving quaver rhythms, often with fanfares from the horns. After the first and second themes are heard in the development section, the original key is restored, but unlike true sonata form, the theme is not repeated, only the transitional and concluding sections are repeated.

The third movement is in ternary form, like a normal long and leisurely minuet. The main part of the minuet is a beautiful piece of music using triplets, dotted rhythms, trills, etc. The trio changes to G minor. After returning to the first part, the repetition is omitted, and a 10-bar coda is added at the end, giving it the feel of a final movement.

(4) Symphony No. 2 in C major

Haydn probably composed this C major symphony between 1757 and 1759 while working for Count Morzin. The autograph of the symphony has been lost, but contemporary copies of the parts exist. Its authenticity is assured by an entry in Haydn's own handwritten "Draft Catalogue". A peculiarity of the work is that the movements do not contain the usual repetitions of parts. A short symphony, without repetitions, but with some pleasant themes.

There are three movements:

(1) Allegro in C (sonata form)
(2) Andante in G (ternary song form)
(3) Presto in C (rondo)

According to Robbins Landon, a comparison of the first movements of Symphonies 1 and 2 shows a constant struggle between pure Baroque style and pre-classical elements of the Viennese, Mannheim and Italian schools. Symphony No. 1 leans more toward the Mannheim school, while No. 2 returns to Baroque cadences and long, deliberately archaic sequences. Nevertheless, in terms of general structure and thematic development, No. 2 is clearly more modern. It is hard to believe that the two symphonies were composed within a few years of each other.

Here, the first movement combines homophonic and contrapuntal sections in such a way that the main motif of the homophonic opening becomes one of the contrapuntal motifs, and the large form combines elements of sonata and ritornello form. This symphony disproves once and for all the notion that the young Haydn's instrumental works were 'conventional'. The opening Allegro is unique; it is the subject of a kind of dialogue or confrontation between traditional and modern styles.

In the second movement, the winds are omitted and the violins play in semiquavers from beginning to end (a kind of perpetuum mobile), the pattern often broken by the use of trills. The violas in this slow movement double the bass part throughout at an octave above (e.g., "col basso," which was common at the time).

The last movement is Haydn's first attempt at a symphonic rondo and is characterized by a preoccupation with imitative processes.

(5) Symphony No. 4 in D major

Joseph Haydn composed this symphony between 1757 and 1760, when he was employed by Count Morzin. The symphony is in the common (early classical Italian) three-movement form of the time; the final movement is unusual in having the tempo of a minuet.

The three movements are:

(1) Presto in D (sonata form)
(2) Andante in D (ternary song form)
(3) Tempo di Menuetto in D (sonata form)

The Presto is kept in the spirited character of the then "modern" galant type in the style of the Italian opera overture. Compared to the similarly structured first movement of Symphony No. 1, there is somewhat more thematic work, the middle section ("development") has stronger dynamic contrasts (piano to fortissimo), and the recapitulation is more varied than the exposition.

The second movement has a syncopated second violin part. As in Haydn's other symphonies of this period, the slow movement is played by strings only. The violins are muted, but the first violins play the melody while the second violins repeat the syncopated figure.

The finale is marked Tempo di menuetto, but is not in the 34th beat of a minuet, but in the 3/8th beat typical of Haydn's other early symphonic finales. Also, unlike other minuets, the movement lacks a central trio section.

(6) Symphony No. 27 in G major 

This symphony was composed by Joseph Haydn between 1757 and 1760, while he was employed by Count Morzin. When a copy of the work was found in Romania in 1946, it was mistakenly thought to be a new symphony by Haydn.

There are three movements:

(1) Allegro molto in G (sonata form)

(2) Andante siciliano in C (ternary song form)

(3) Presto in G (sonata form)

Despite the small forces at Haydn's disposal, the symphonic expression is broad and vigorous. The main theme of the opening movement hints at the Mannheim Rocket, although in abbreviated fashion. The second hybrid subject employs a developmental device quite common in Haydn's early works. It starts in the dominant major but concludes in the dominant minor, setting up a bright contrast with the closing refrain of the exposition.

The second movement is a lilting 6/8 siciliano played on muted strings and without winds or horns. Robbins Landon describes the movement "as Italian an andante as was ever composed in Naples or Palermo".

The symphony concludes with a bright, upbeat and brief finale that, like many of his other early works, is developmentally straightforward.

 

 

(7) Symphony No. 10 in D major

Haydn composed this symphony around 1758 to 1760 during his employment with Count Morzin. The symphony corresponds to the (early classical Italian) type with three movements that was common at the time, with the structural emphasis on the first movement, the second movement for strings only and the last movement as a "finale" having a light character. The sudden dynamic changes from forte to piano in the outer movements are remarkable.

There are three movements:

(1) Allegro in D (sonata form)

(2) Andante in G (ternary song form)

(3) Presto in D (sonata form)

The first movement consists of strongly contrasting elements.

The second movement is written for strings only and is characterized by ascending and descending chains of seconds and suspensions ("sigh motifs").

As is typical for a symphony of this period, the last movement is designed as a lightweight "finale". It begins forte with the lively eight-bar theme with embellishments (triplet, trill). This symphony shines in the finale. 

(8) Symphony No. 20 in C major 

This symphony was composed in the group of 15 symphonies within Haydn's tenure with Count Morzin (1757 - March 1761). The early work is in the festive C major style "with timpani and trumpets". Of Haydn's early symphonies, No. 32, No. 33 and No. 37 also belong to this type, although the timpani and trumpets were partly added later and partly were not by Haydn. According to H. C. Robbins Landon, these early C major symphonies for "large" orchestra are characterized by a rather impersonal atmosphere, "reminiscent of the cold elegance of baroque Austrian monasteries".

The symphony is in four movements:

(1) Allegro molto in C (sonata form)

(2) Andante cantabile in G (ternary song form)
(3) Menuet / Trio in C-F major
(4) Presto in C (sonata form)

The symphony begins forte in the entire orchestra as a symmetrically constructed question-answer structure and cadential "appendix" with trills (bars 1 to 12, "first theme").

The slow movement is in an unusual "serenade style" and is marked Andante cantabile alla breve; it has a uniform structure (regular melodic phrases, quarter-note accompaniment and pizzicato bass) and only towards the end of each half is it slightly broadened and accelerated. The winds are silent in the serenade-like second movement with the melody in the first violins, broken chords in the second violins and a pizzicato bassline.

In the festive minuet, which is already reminiscent of Haydn's later style, the upbeat triplets, the sweeping ascending and descending chord breaks and the forte-piano contrasts are striking.

The Presto is designed as a three-part da capo movement (A-B-A structure), with both parts A and B being in three parts. Since the middle sections have a development-like character, both parts are reminiscent of "sonata movements in miniature".

[Includes edited information from the relevant articles in the German, English and Japanese Wikipedia]

Basho - Chrysanthemum under sake cup - Complete Haiku (7), 1675-76

1675-76 (Enpo 3 & 4), 32-33 years old

Basho chose Edo as the stage for a new chapter in his life, that of a haikai master, because there was not much competition - unlike Kyoto, for example, where Kigin and other famous masters ruled. Basho had already befriended several Edo residents, most notably the wealthy fish merchant Sugiyama Sanpu (1647-1722), who probably helped him settle in this new city. He also did some odd jobs, such as working as a scribe for Takano Yuzan, a haikai master originally from Kyoto.

In the late spring of 1675, Yuzan introduced Basho to Nishiyama Soin (1605-82), the founder of the Danrin school, who was visiting Edo at the time. The school was founded in reaction to the "bookishness" and concern for traditional culture of the Teimon school, to which Basho had previously belonged. In fact, it was around 1675 that the Danrin school began to dominate the haikai world by broadening the scope of haikai in both subject matter and diction, making it more plebeian. Instead of formalism and didacticism, the new school looked to humor and low comedy for fresh inspiration. Elegant subjects were parodied or ridiculed, and puns and allusions were used to provide a humorous contrast to a mundane subject, not to display urbane wit. Basho attended a haikai meeting held in Soin's honor and changed his pen name from Sobo to Tosei (green peach) to mark the event.

Basho also made the acquaintance of Naito Yoshimune, a daimyo known for his patronage of literature. His Edo mansion was a sort of salon for literati, and Basho met several poets there. He also began to accept students, such as the aforementioned Sanpu and Takarai Kikaku.

In the spring of 1676, Basho collaborated with Yamaguchi Sodo to write two haikai sequences of one hundred verses each, later published as Edo ryogin shu (Two Poets in Edo). The opening verses honor Soin by alluding to his pseudonym, showing that Basho now firmly considered himself part of the Danrin school.

In the summer of 1676 Basho was - after four years - sufficiently established in Edo to make his first journey home to visit his family in Ueno. In contrast to later visits, Basho did not write a travelogue, but we have a handful of hokku that can be ascribed to this trip. Basho arrived in Ueno around July 30 and stayed until August 11 - so it was a rather short stay. Although Basho's Danrin-style now was different from the Teimon-style still in vogue in Ueno, he took part in several haikai gatherings. On his return to Edo he took his nephew Toin with him, the 16-year old son of his elder sister.

(54)

town doctor: fetched by a horse from the mansion

machi isha ya yashiki-gata yori komamukae

町医師や屋敷がたより駒迎

Basho pokes fun at the low status of city physicians: they were physicians for the common people, considered lower in status than a physician employed by a feudal lord or high-ranking official. "Komamukae" is a historical term referring to the annual acceptance of new horses (komashiki) by the imperial court. 

The season is autumn (kigo: komamukae).

(55)

acupuncturist: pounding my bare shoulder

haritate ya kata no tsuchi utsu karakoromo

針立や肩に槌うつから衣

The word haritate here refers to an acupuncturist's tools (needles and a small hammer), so it can be taken as pars pro toto for the acupuncturist himself. The acupuncturist uses a small hammer to drive the needle into the skin, an activity that is likened to beating on cloth (cloth fulling, to make the cloth soft and shiny, an important process often done in autumn, and often mentioned in classical poetry). Karakoromo is a play on "Chinese robe" and an "empty" or discarded robe, meaning that the patient's shoulder is bare.

The season is autumn (kigo: koromo utsu).

(56)

Musashino Plain: stag call, a mere inch long

Musashino ya issun hodo na shika no koe

武蔵野や一寸ほどな鹿の声

The once wild Musashino Plain is a large plateau between the Arakawa and Tama Rivers west of Edo, now called the Kanto Plain (the largest plain in Japan). The Musashino Plain was a popular subject in the visual arts at the beginning of the early modern period, and it was also famous in Japanese poetry as a place name associated with the moon and autumn grasses.

In the vastness of the Musashino Plain, even the voice of a deer is very small and does not carry far. "Issun", one inch, refers both to the size of the deer when seen from afar and to the weakness of its call when heard from a distance. It is a deliberate exaggeration to show the immensity of the Musashino Plain.

The season is autumn (kigo: shika no koe).

(57)

chrysanthemum afloat beneath my sake cup: Kitsuki tray

sakazuki no shita yuku kiku ya Kitsukibon

盃の下ゆく菊や朽木盆

[A Kutsukibon tray]

"Sakazuki" is a shallow, footed sake cup, often used for ceremonial purposes, that holds no more than two sips of sake. It should be raised to the mouth with two hands, one on the side and one on the bottom.

Kutsukibon is a black lacquered tray from the village of Kutsuki in Shiga Prefecture (on the west side of Lake Biwa). It usually has a simple but bold design of a red chrysanthemum.

Sake spilled from the sake cup onto the tray with the chrysanthemum design reminds Basho of chrysanthemums floating in the water coming from the Yoro Waterfall. The No play Yoro is dedicated to this waterfall, which is considered to be life-enhancing. This is partly because of its association with chrysanthemums - according to a Chinese legend, drops of chrysanthemum water allowed a hermit to live for 800 years - and partly because of its association with sake, which is presented in the No-play as medicinal water. In fact, the water of the Yoro Falls is nothing but beautifully clear sake!

Probably written on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival.

The season is autumn (kigo: kiku).

(58) From here: 1676

weighing spring in Kyoto against Edo on the scale

tenbin ya Kyo Edo kakete chiyo no haru

天びんや京江戸かけて千代の春

If it were possible to weigh Edo and Kyoto on a pair of scales, they would be well balanced, for both are enjoying a beautiful spring - and spring here refers to New Year's Day, which was considered the first day of spring. "Kakete" is a play on words, as it means both "to weigh", "to be in balance", and "covered with". A balance was usually used in a merchant's shop - often to weigh silver, which was used as money.  One critic has remarked: "A surprising comparison typical of the Danrin school." (Basho and His Interpreters, p. 36)

The season is spring, the New Year (kigo: chiyo no haru).

(59)

to these plum blossoms the ox's first moo of the year.

kono ume ni ushi mo hatsune to nakitsubeshi

此梅に牛も初音と鳴きつべし

There are many thousands of shrines dedicated to Tenjin, the historical statesman and poet Sugawara no Michizane, all over Japan. You can recognize them by two symbols: the plum blossom, which is used in a stylized form as the emblem of the shrine, and the ox. Plum trees were also often planted. Plum blossoms were popular with Chinese poets, and Michizane wrote famous poems about this tree, which was considered the symbol of the Confucian gentleman (it emits a delicious but not too strong fragrance when the weather is still cold - like the "virtue" of the gentleman in adverse circumstances).

According to legend, when Michizane went into exile to Dazaifu in Kyushu, he addressed the plum tree in his Kyoto garden as follows

when the east wind blows,
spread your fragrance,
plum blossoms -
even though your master is gone,
don't forget spring.

Legend has it that the plum tree followed its master to Dazaifu, where it still stands today at the Tenmangu Shrine in Dazaifu. Because of this background, it is known as "tobi-ume" (flying plum).

In Shinto, each kami (god) has its own messenger animal: the fox for Inari, the crow for Hachiman, and the monkey for the Hie (Hiyoshi) shrines. In the case of Michizane and the Tenmangu shrines, the animal is the ox, which is not so strange since oxen pulled the carts in which court aristocrats like Michizane rode. Even when Michizane died in exile in Dazaifu in 903, he was entitled to a grand funeral with an ox cart to carry his body. However, when the funeral procession was on its way to the burial ground, the ox pulling the cart sat down halfway and refused to move. This was interpreted to mean that Michizane wished to be buried at that exact spot (where the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine now stands). Since then, the sitting ox has been one of the symbols of Tenjin, the deified Michizane, and you'll find many ox statues in Tenmangu shrines  [quoted from my blog article "Buson and Kitano Tenmangu"]

"Hatsune" is the first song of a bush warbler in the new year, but since it refers to a cow here, it is the first low (moo) of the new year (an expression coined by Basho).

The season is spring (kigo: ume ).

(60)

I, too, gaze upon the god's treasures: plum blossoms above

ware mo kami no hiso ya aogu ume no hana

我も神のひさうやあふぐ梅の花

"Hiso" (hizo) has a double meaning: "treasured" in the sense that the plum blossoms are the treasures of the Tenmangu shrine, and "sky or firmament" based on a poem by Sugawara no Michizane, who, in exile, looked up at the sky, still unable to understand his fate.

The season is spring (kigo: ume no hana).

(61)

rooted in clouds, Fuji resembles a verdant cedar

kumo wo ne ni Fuji wa suginari no shigeri kana

雲を根に富士は杉なりの茂りかな

Mt. Fuji is a high mountain, and the clouds do not rest on its summit, but on its roots. The conical shape of Mt. Fuji rises above the clouds, making it look like a giant cedar tree. In summer, Mt. Fuji is not white with snow, but covered with fresh greenery.

In June 1676, Basho returned to his hometown of Iga-Ueno. This haiku is believed to have been written during his journey from Edo to Iga-Ueno.

The season is summer (kigo: shigeri).

(62)

Mount Fuji: a flea carrying a tea mortar

Fuji no yama nomi ga chausu no ohori kana

富士の山蚤が茶臼の覆かな

A tea mortar is a stone mill for grinding tea leaves, to make powdered green tea (matcha). Compared to a regular stone mill, the upper part (rotating part) is higher than the lower part (fixed part). It has been said since ancient times that Mt. Fuji is shaped like such a tea mortar.

Toshiharu Oseko writes: "When the lid, which is made of tanned paper, is placed on the tea mortar, it looks like Mount Fuji."

There is also a parody here of a children's song about "a flea shouldering a tea mortar jumped over Mt Fuji".

I find this hokku rather far-fetched.

The season is summer (kigo: nomi).

(63)

lifesaver: beneath my bamboo hat a spot of coolness

inochinari wazuka no kasa no shitasuzumi

命なりわづかの笠の下涼み

The preface to this poem says: "At Sayo no Nakayama". Sayo no Nakayama was a dangerous pass on the Tokaido road in Shizuoka and a famous utamakura because of a poem Saigyo wrote about it. Having grown old, Saigyo finds himself once again climbing the pass of Sayo no Nakayama, leading to the exclamation: "How wonderful life is!" Basho's hokku is thus a parody of Saigyo's poem.

The season is summer (kigo: suzumi).

(64)

the summer moon: departing Goyu, already in Akasaka

natsu no tsuki Goyu yori idete Akasaka ya

夏の月ごゆより出て赤阪や

Goyu and Akasaka were two of the 53 post towns on the Tokaido Highway near Toyokawa in Aichi Prefecture. Goyu-shuku (the 35th station) was less than 2 km from Akasaka-juku (the 36th station), making them the closest stations on the entire Tokaido. Goyu is known for its pine colonnade, and Akasaka was popular for its meshimori onna, maidservants who also provided other services.

Like Basho, who walked from Edo to Iga Ueno, the moon walks the short distance from Goyu to Akasaka. "The hokku suggests the brevity of the summer night by a Danrin-type comparison". (Basho and His Interpreters, p. 37)

The season is summer (kigo: natsu no tsuki).

(65)

Fuji's breeze: a keepsake from Edo borne on my fan

Fuji no kaze ya ogi ni nosete Edo miyage

富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産

It was a traditional and elegant custom to present a gift by placing it on a hand fan. Basho has no real gift, so he jokingly offers the cool breeze of Mt. Fuji. (Since fans are often painted, one could even imagine that the fan in question carried a picture of Mt. Fuji).

According to Toshiharu Oseko, this was the hokku of a kasen, a linked sequence of 36 verses, written during a party at the residence of Takahata Shiin in Basho's hometown of Ueno.

The season is summer (kigo: ogi).

(66)

traveled hundreds of miles for the coolness under distant clouds

hyakuri kitari hodo wa kumoi no shitasuzumi

百里来たりほどは雲井の下涼

What I have loosely translated as "miles" are actually "ri", a traditional Japanese unit of distance (about 4 kilometers). "One hundred ri" is not far off the mark, as the distance between Edo and Iga Ueno was 107 ri and 28 cho, or 428 kilometers, according to Toshiharu Oseko.

This was the hokku of a kasen held at the house of Yamagishi Hanzan, also in Basho's hometown. Basho praises his hometown (which is far from Edo), where he can enjoy the cool air under its clouds despite the hot summer weather.

The season is summer (kigo: suzumi).

(67)

gazing long at the moon over mountains unknown in Edo

nagamuru ya Edo ni wa marena yama no tsuki

詠むるや江戸にはまれな山の月

"Edo" is used in a double sense: of course as Edo, the city of the Tokugawa shogun, but also, written with different kanji, in the Buddhist sense as an unclean land where people are entangled in worldly desires. The moon often served as a symbol of enlightenment in classical poetry such as that of Saigyo.

This was a hokku written at another kasen party in Ueno. It is a greeting (aisatsu-ku) to admire the local beauty, by an invited guest.

The season is autumn (kigo: tsuki).

(68)

at last it's here, at long last: year's end

nari ni keri nari ni keri made toshi no kure

成りにけりなりにけり迄年の暮

"Nari ni keri" is an idiomatic phrase used in No plays. The repetition is humorous and also shows Basho's impatience for the end of the year.

The season is winter (kigo: toshi no kure).

Basho - Taros and harvest moon - Complete Haiku (6): Roundup of Early Poems

1661-1672 (Kanbun period), 18-29 years old

A final collection of hokku written by Basho in his hometown of Ueno before he moved to Edo in 1672. These hokku are generally simpler than the dated hokku in the previous chapters. Compared to Basho's later, philosophical works, these are no great hokku, but the technical handling is impressive.

(44)

more loathed by flowers than human mouths: the mouth of the wind

hana ni iya yo seken-guchi yori kaze no kuchi

花にいやよ世間口より風のくち

Iya yo, hateful (worse) is an expression from a popular song. For the rest, this poem is very straightforward.

The season is spring (kigo: hana).

(45)

starry-eyed from gazing at the weeping cherry

me no hoshi ya hana wo negai no itozakura

目の星や花をねがひの糸桜

You get "stars in your eyes" from reading too long or looking at something too intently.

The season is spring (kigo: itozakura).

 

(46)

taros my life's debt, today harvest moon once more

inochi koso imodane yo mata kyo no tsuki

命こそ芋種よ又今日の月

[Simmered taros]

Tsukimi, "moon viewing," is a Japanese festival honoring the autumn moon, typically held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar, known as Jugoya (fifteenth night). Tsukimi traditions include displaying decorations made of Japanese pampas grass (susuki) and serving white rice dumplings (known as tsukimi dango), taro, and chestnuts, as well as sake, as offerings to the moon to pray for a bountiful harvest.

Sato-imo or taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a small, round, light gray tuber. It is not a potato, but a member of the arum family. Taro is grown in swampy fields and is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world - taro has been grown in Asia for thousands of years. The tubers are boiled, roasted, baked or fried. After peeling and boiling for a long time, taro looks quite creamy. They are often cut into beautiful hexagons and have a good taste due to their high sugar content. Taro is mainly used in kenchin-jiru, miso soup and stewed dishes, but also in osechi-ryori. Taro is indeed a delicacy, and as Basho says in this hokku (somewhat ironically, in a haikai manner), "He owes his life to taro".

The season is autumn (kigo: kyo no tsuki).

(47)

swept into the fire not letters but colored leaves!

fumi naranu iroha mo kakite kachu kana

文ならぬいろはもかきて火中哉

Love letters were often burned after being read, but here the red autumn leaves are raked into the fire. The hokku is full of related words: fumi (letter), iroha (both red leaves and a term for the traditional Japanese syllabary), kachu (in the fire, but also a technical term for letter writing), and kaku (to write, but also to rake).

The season is autumn (kigo: iroha).

(48)

in every mouth red tongues and red leaves

hitogoto no kuchi ni arunari shita-momiji

人毎の口に有也した栬

In the fall everyone talks about the red leaves, so they are "in everyone's mouth". But our tongue is also red (and also in our mouth), and here it is jokingly compared to the red leaves. "Shita-momiji" are literally "the lower red leaves," but here "shita" is also a pun on "tongue".

The season is autumn (kigo: shita-momiji).

(49)

when planting, nurture like a child, the baby cherry!

uuru koto ko no gotoku seyo chigozakura

植うる事子のごとくせよ児桜

A simple hokku based on the association between "baby cherry tree" and a human child: treat the tree as importantly as a human child. A baby cherry is a wild cherry tree with small blossoms.

The season is spring (kigo: chigozakura).

(50)

grown with dew drooled by bamboo grass: a bamboo shoot!

takeuna ya shizuku mo yoyo no sasa no tsuyu

たけうなや雫もよよの篠の露

This hokku is not as simple as it looks. "Yoyo" means "falling", but also "bamboo shoots", "generation after generation" and "night after night". In other words, new generations of bamboo (bamboo shoots) are nourished by dew drops falling from the bamboo grass at night. Moreover, this is a parody of an expression from The Tale of Genji: "Grabbing a piece of bamboo shoot, Kaoru eats it with slaver falling down" (takauna wo tsuto nigirimochite shizuku mo yoyo to kuinurashi) [from Toshiharu Oseko, Basho's Haiku Vol. 2, p. 30] The dew dripping from the bamboo grass is compared to Kaoru (the antihero of the last ten books of The Tale of Genji) eating a bamboo shoot while drooling. So this is a very Teimon school type of hokku.

The season is summer (kigo: takeuna)

(51)

their sight almost makes me snap: golden lace flowers

miru ni ga mo oreru bakari zo ominaeshi

見るに我もおれる計ぞ女郎花

[Ominaeshi]

Ominaeshi is a small and delicate yellow flower (Patrinia scabiosifolia), also known as eastern valerian or golden lace. In Japan, the name is interestingly written with the kanji for "flower of the courtesan (joro)". This is based on a 9th century waka by the priest Henjo: "I've cut you off just because of your name: 'Flower of the Courtesan,' don't tell anyone that I've been corrupted!"

Basho also uses the word "snap," "oreru," but he is not talking about the flowers, but about himself in the sense of "being impressed".

For more about the priest Henjo, see my translation of his waka in One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each.

The season is autumn (kigo: ominaeshi)

(52)

tonight no time to sleep: moon viewing party!

kyo no koyoi neru toki mo naki tsukimi kana

けふの今宵寝る時もなき月見哉

A poem about the Tsukimi or Moon-viewing festival of the 15th day of the 8th month.

The season is autumn (kigo: tsukimi)

(53)

its shape still youthful: new moon at evening

miru kage ya mada katanari mo yoi-zukiyo

見る影やまだ片なりも宵月夜

This is a play on a passage from The Tale of Genji (Tamakazura) where the term "mada katanari" ("immature") is used about a young and beautiful princess. Basho humorously applies it to the new moon, which can only be seen in the evening and then disappears.

The season is autumn (kigo: yoi-zukiyo)


Basho Complete Haiku