Golden Demon the Movie (1954)

Golden Demon (1954)

          Golden Demon, a Japanese film made in 1954 directed by Koji Shima, is based on a novel "Golden Demon [金色夜叉]" written by Ozaki Koyo. Some of the main actors are as follows:

• Kanichi: Jun Negami
• Miya: Fujiko Yamamoto
• Tomiyama: Eiji Funakoshi
• Akagashi: Mitsuko Mito

Plot [SPOILER ALERT!]

        In Tokyo, 1890, Kanichi, a student, and Miya, the daughter of Kanichi's debtor, are in love, yet this relationship faces a brutal ending at the hands of Tomiyama, a wealthy man in town, who expresses his interests in Miya. Although Miya tries to stay faithful to Kanichi, her parents convince her with words that do not actually represent Kanichi's mind. Eventually, Miya and Tomiyama meet at Atami, and Tomiyama shows his love towards Miya. He also gives her many gifts to earn her heart. Later on, Kanichi goes to Atami to know what Miya really wants. Many misunderstandings arise here between Miya and Kanichi. In the end, Kanichi leaves Miya, and Miya marries Tomiyama. However, Tomiyama and Miya's marriage is not a happy one, and Miya and her parents regret their decisions for the marriage. For a few years, no one hears from Kanichi, but he comes back as a clerk of money lender. Akagashi, a well-known money lender in town, becomes interested in Kanichi, but he refuses her feelings. Kanichi, now known as a merciless money lender, is only interested in earning money. After going through many episodes due to his business, Kanichi is attacked by some people, and his house is set on fire. Miya visits him and apologizes, but Kanichi doesn't accept it. She walks into the water to commit suicide, yet Kanichi saves her. 

Novel vs. Movie

It is natural for people to have different experiences from novels and movies, yet this work has a significant difference: the ending. Unlike the ambiguous ending of the original novel, the film ends with a happy ending (though it could be "unhappy" depending on your perspective). Given the ambiguity, it may have been an inevitable decision for the playwright to give a certain ending to the film. However, I thought this was a very interesting, since it diverges from the novel.

Moreover, in my opinion, the film set a better example for the genre of melodrama. There are two key features I would like to explain more about regarding my opinion: Music and Gender Roles. Music is an element that the director effectively uses to develop the film, and gender roles are one of the features that were handled well throughout the movie.

Music

In this film, "music" is a key element; it shows the highlight of characters' emotions, explains the story better, and strongly set the genre as melodrama.

In the beginning of the film, while people are playing card games, there is a guy, who sings in front of everyone. Although no one focuses on his song, the lyrics of song seems to hint what happen in the story. While the lyrics contain a very emotional story, the tone and melody of the song is very calm and relaxed. Irony is also shown in the scene, as there is a very slow song sung by a singer (or chanter), whereas everyone else is busy shouting out to win the game.

In addition, there is a scene in which Kanichi goes to Atami to talk to Miya. Here, as Kanichi's emotion develops, music also becomes louder and higher in pitch. Thus, the background music surely adds to the dynamic of the story. This also makes easier for audience to understand when the highlight of the story is.

Later in the film, Miya plays a traditional instrument in front of everyone. In my opinion, in this scene, the tempo and melody played by Miya represents Miya's feelings in the scene. At the end of her performance, she cries; this clearly shows that Miya couldn't control her feelings and end up with the explosion of emotions.

Like these examples, music is very well used in the film to explain and further many parts of the film. Thus, the film seems more melodramatic than the novel, since reading the novel without any sound effects could make the emotions rather mild.

Gender Roles

In this film, gender roles can be clearly seen through many filming techniques. Unlike reading the novel, you can see the clothes and the backgrounds in the film.

Women in the film are wearing traditional kimono throughout the film, (in very early scenes Miya is briefly wearing hakama that indicates she is going to women's higher school or college, but this is underplayed). Also, in most of the scenes, in which women appear, the background is a room of a house. This shows that at this period, women were expected to stay home and take care of all the happenings at home. Also, it is interesting how they don't go to schools in any of the scenes, but rather learn how to play instruments and what not at home.

On the other hand, male characters wear a variety of clothes depending on the scene; they wear school uniforms at school, baseball uniforms after school during the practice, or traditional kimono when they meet outside the school or activity area. It shows how men are involved in more activities outside the home than women. This again takes us back to the discussion of space. Men are usually outside, working, learning, or playing. Also, they are expected to go to college to become more educated. 

As you can see there are clear differences between what is expected from men and women. This is more easily understood through films because they are naturally implied in it.

Food for Thought

• What is your opinion on the difference in the ending of the novel and the film? Do you think it is a fair adaptation?
• After watching the film, did you think that any of the characters were portrayed differently than in novel?
• What are your favorite film techniques that the director used to increase the emotional level of the movie?
• Do you agree that the film is more effective in terms of setting the genre of melodrama than the novel?