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| ‘A Hen in the Wind’ |
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Author: D. A. Rajakaruna
A Godage publication
Heartwarming story of a Japanese family
Title: ‘A Hen in the Wind’
Author: Ozu Yasujiro
Translator: D.A. Rajakaruna
I feel greatly honoured to review a new book published by Professor Don Ariyaratna Rajakaruna, an internationally renowned academic, a scholar in drama, theatre and cinema, former senior professor of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya and also an accomplished Japanese translator. ‘A Hen in the Wind’ as is it titled is an English translation of a popular Japanese screenplay named ‘Kaze no Naka no Mendori’ (1948) by Ozu Yasujiro, one of Japan’s greatest film directors.
Prof. Rajakaruna, the author of this book is no ordinary scholar who translates Japanese literature into Sinhala or English which is why he was duly recognized by the government of Japan in November 2003 and was conferred ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette’, a Japanese Order under the Japanese regular decoration system to foreigners.
Immense contributions
In conferring this prestigious honour upon him the government of Japan recognized and acknowledged his immense contributions in promoting Japan-Sri Lanka relations particularly in the field of Japanese literature and also serving as Editor-in-Chief of the committee of Sri Lankan and Japanese scholars in compiling the Sinhala translation of the Japan Foundation's Basic Japanese/English Dictionary which was published in 2002.
Prior to receiving this honour in 2003 Prof. Rajakaruna was given due recognition by the Foreign Minister of Japan in 1999 and was awarded a Certificate of Commendation and a commemorative Silver Cup. Prof. Rajakaruna holds a postgraduate degree in Drama, Theatre and Cinema which he had obtained in 1965 from a prestigious Japanese University, namely the University of Waseda where he also carried out extensive research in the field of classical Japanese drama and theatre such as Kabuki, Kyogen and Noh as well as Japanese cinema. He was also a recipient of several Fellowships awarded by the Japan Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This explains why I say that this book must be seen as a work of a renowned scholar and an expert on the subject of Japanese screenplay.
Prof. Rajakaruna’s extensive work as a Japanese translator includes translations of Japanese publications into Sinhala which is approximately around 17 such works and about four or five in English. These include Akutagawa Ryunoshuke’s ‘Rashomon’ and ‘Gate of Hell’, ‘An Anthology of Japanese short Stories’, Tanizaki Junichiro’s ‘A portrait of Shunkin’, the great Akira Kurosawa’s ‘One Wonderful Sunday’ which were translated into Sinhala and ‘Classic Japanese Screenplays’ featuring Mizoguchi Kenji’s ‘Red light District or Street of Shame’, ‘Japanese Classic Screenplays’ featuring Ozu Yasujiro’s two post war films ‘Late Spring’ and ‘Early Summer’ and ‘Japanese Classic Silent Films’ featuring Kinugasa Teinosuke’s ‘A Crazy Page and Crossroads’ which were translated into English. And that’s quite a number to say the least. A number of these publications earned him the Best Translation of the Year awards of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Sri Lanka. And now Prof. Rajakaruna has come up with yet another English translation of Ozu Yasujiro’s ‘Hen in the Wind’ a postwar film.
Ozu Yasujiro is undoubtedly one of Japan’s greatest Japanese film directors. Ozu’s reputation as being the most typically Japanese filmmaker is based upon his exceptional talent in portraying the essence of the traditional Japanese family in all his productions. Ozu’s screenplay ‘Hen in the Wind’ is a one such heartwarming story of a traditional Japanese family facing a crisis in post war Japan. Post war Japan with its spiraling cost of living made life extremely difficult for an average family. Ozu prepares the background for the story by constantly referring to the high cost of living and the difficulties faced by an average family to make ends meet.
In his preface the author admits that even though Ozu Yasujiro is generally recognized as one of the greatest Japanese film directors, ‘Hen in the Wind’ is not regarded as one of Ozu’s important postwar films and is in fact ‘one of his least-discussed or almost forgotten postwar films’. If so, why did the author consider this screenplay important enough to be translated into English would be anybody’s query. Was it the special kind of story that attracted his attention? If so, what is so special about the story? It is my view that the author saw in this tragic situation of family life in post war Japan a common occurrence in most poverty stricken countries where poverty and destitution compels women in particular to seek possible employment locally or even abroad as is the case in Sri Lanka, or be forced into the oldest known profession in society in a bid to keep the home fires burning.
If one were to ask a street prostitute anywhere in the world as to why she engages in this profession, her answer would certainly be ‘to find money to bring up my children and educate them’ or because her husband is jobless and a good-for-nothing drunkard or gambler who cares less for the family. Ozu shares these sentiments when he purposefully makes Fusako the young prostitute in the house of ill fame admit that she was compelled to take up this profession due to the difficult times she faces and because there was no other choice.
Medical treatment
In this film, poverty stricken Tokiko a lone parent whose husband Amemiya Shuichi has been serving in the Japanese Imperial Army away at war, sells her prize kimonos including the last ‘saleable one’ and then succumbs to prostitution as the only means of finding money to get urgent medical treatment for her only son who falls seriously ill and is hospitalized. She had no other choice either. Her primary concern is to save the life of her only son no matter what the cost.
poverty and destitution
Knowing very well that she may not be able to repay a loan from a lender, she seeks self-employment as the only means of finding the money she needed to pay the hospital bill. Another reason why I believe the author chose this screenplay for translation is because it has an important message for the menfolk whose wives have been unfortunate victims of circumstances such as poverty and destitution just like Tokiko and to make them feel partly responsible for the predicament of their spouses and therefore to be more tolerant, considerate and forgiving and also to make it their responsibility in society to ensure that their women do not become victimized. What this tragedy exposed more importantly was that while society would be quick to label a woman for engaging in prostitution it nevertheless fails to offer any kind of support to such unfortunate women in society. In the case of Tokiko, was her husband to be blamed for this?
Certainly not! He has obligations towards the country he serves and which had been at war and that too on the losing side. His duty to the nation came first and his family took second place. Being at the warfront he was unaware of his son’s illness and his spouse’s predicament. The joy which surrounded his return home shows how much he cared for his family.
Ozu made it a point to show us that Shuichi cared for his family when during his conversation with Tokiko he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket which had the tiny palm imprints of his little boy; a souvenir he carried with him to the war front and frequently gazed at it whenever he remembered his home. A drama of this nature would certainly pull the heart strings of the menfolk who care much for their families but are separated by distances of many a kind. On the other hand the exemplary honesty of Tokiko in telling her husband the whole truth no matter what the consequences is indeed praiseworthy. Her own friend Akiko was of the view that Tokiko was foolish to have disclosed her unfaithfulness to her husband and made him more and more angry and suffer in his mind owing to her confessed infidelity.
Nevertheless, she too sees the positive side of the confession, one which would determine the final happy ending of the story where the husband forgives and forgets and resolves together to make a new beginning. Shuichi’s change of mind to forgive and forget is motivated by his own visit to the same house of ill fame which Tokiko was supposed to have gone to at night and his meeting with Fusako a young prostitute who convinces Shuichi that she does not like her profession but had no choice.
Shuichi then understands what went through Tokiko’s mind when she was desperate and in need of money to save her child and had no other means of paying for the hospital bills. The main protagonists of the screenplay are the husband and wife while the other characters play a supporting role. The little son is almost a neglected character though being the centre of the family crisis.
In a review of Prof Rajakaruna’s earlier book ‘Red Light district’ published in the Japan Times Donald Richie says ‘Rajakaruna is scrupulous’ in that he has not only translated the full script but has also included a translation into ‘romaji’, that is Japanese text in Roman scripts.
Japanese language
One shortcoming in this translation, in my view, is the omission of some parts of the conversations which are only dotted lines and may have been purposely omitted by the author when he censored parts of the conversation which may have been slang words or expressions unsuitable for publishing in a book.
These omissions do not seem to have mattered much or affected the storyline as the conversations prior to each of these missing lines make it possible for the reader to imagine what may have been said by the respective characters in those dotted lines.
‘Hen in the Wind’ is a book that will interest any film scholar or other interested reader who wishes to appreciate a film in a foreign language and become familiar with its culture and lifestyle of the people portrayed in the film. Japanese language students in Sri Lanka and other film enthusiasts could well benefit by reading this book. It would also enable our local foreign film enthusiasts who flock to foreign film festivals held in Sri Lanka to gain a broader perspective of global film making and productions and thereby become intelligent film enthusiasts or film critics instead of being passive audiences.
- Trevor Ludowyke
(The writer is attached Japanese Embassy’s cultural section)
Daily News 17.04.2013
...............................................................................................................................................
The dividing line between poverty and morals A Hen in the Wind
Reviewed by R. S. Karunaratne
Ozu Yasujiro's A Hen in the Wind is a Japanese film rarely screened in this part of the world. It is perhaps one of Ozu's least discussed postwar films. The story seems close to a Mizoguchi idea, one that might have formed a subplot in Women of the Night. It also seems an ‘occupation film’ dealing explicitly with the social problems of a conquered country and projecting optimism for future rebuilding.
The film echoes the moralistic endings of many works of its time, such as Kinochita's Morning for the Osone Family and Akira Kurosawa's One Wonderful Sunday. A Hen in the Wind deserves recognition for its unusual treatment of its conventional material and how it deals with the artistic choice.
Authentic
A Hen in the Wind is authentic as it has been translated from the Japanese screenplay by no less a person than Prof D. A. Rajakaruna, a former professor at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Peradeniya. He is singularly qualified to translate the Japanese screenplay as he holds a postgraduate degree in drama, theatre and cinema from the University of Waseda.
He has carried out research in the field of classical Japanese drama and theatre at the same university. He still serves as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Peradeniya.A Hen in the Wind is a wonderful story of a poor Japanese family.
The husband is away. The wife and son lead a miserable life. When the son falls ill, he is hospitalised. The hospital authorities demand payment but the poor woman finds it difficult to do so. As she is beautiful she decides to sleep with a man and earn some money to settle the hospital bill.
Confession
When the husband returns, she makes a clean breast of herself. At first he is furious. However, after some time he decides to pardon her ‘grave mistake.’ The story inter alia shows that desperate situations need desperate solutions. We need morals but there may be situations where human beings are unable to stick to them. The book also has another screenplay of Kaze No Naka No Mendori. However, it is in Japanese and only a reader familiar with the language could enjoy it.Prof Rajakaruna's A Hen in the Wind will serve as a model to local film-makers. Besides, the book itself provides the reader with food for thought.
Sunday Observer 2013.04.07 |
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