Gion Bayashi is a remake of Mizoguchi’s own Gion no shimai from 1936, but is set in the post-war Japanese society. Protagonists are two geishas: the old and experienced Miyoharu and the young orphan Eiko who with the aid of Miyoharu finds her way in the big city of Kyoto. Eiko rebels against her surroundings and is supported by Miyoharu, who is convinced that she herself is too old to change her way of life. However she resists in her own way and for instance refuses to become a common prostitute – a fate that many geishas faced after World War Two. Mizoguchi uses the theme of mutual sacrifices to criticise harshly the Japanese geisha tradition. Mizoguchi Kenji (1898, Tokyo – 1956) grew up in poverty and left school at the age of 13 to work in a hospital. Before he became an actor at the age of 20, he had studied at art school and was active as poet and commercial designer. Mizoguchi is regarded, certainly in a stylistic sense, as one of Japan’s most important film directors. His career spans 34 years and more than 70 films.
