While certainly best known for Twenty Four Eyes, Keisuke Kinoshita's Phoenix is another effective melodrama telling a story spanning two distinct time-periods, before and after the war. The story of Sayoko, a war widow, living with her husband's family. While most of them are left worrying about Sayoko's mood, Sayoko is surprisingly upbeat, unwilling to live a miserable existence. Much of Phoenix takes place in the past, chronicling Sayoko's early romance with her soon-to-be husband, capturing the trials and tribulations of their romance - most notably her husband's father disapproving of their marriage. Phoneix is a touching, even if slight, drama that beautifully captures the power of optimism and love. Sayoko is an extremely resilient character who suffers more than most, losing her father at a young age and having to raise her sick brother all by herself. Even after the love her life dies in the war she is able to find happiness in the love of those still around her, rising like a phoenix from these emotionally destructive experiences. If there is one thing this film captures is the need for perserverence, with Sayoko going through troublesome experiences that never derail her spirit. The best example of this would have to be her relationship with her husband's stubborn father, a man who Sayoko is eventually able to break. Phoenix isn't incredibly profound but it's a poetic evocation of love, capturing the timelessness it possess and the ability to find happiness in even our memories of love.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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