Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai

The time: 1814. The place: Edo, now known as Tokyo.

One of the highest populated cities in the world, teeming with peasants, samurai, townsmen, merchants, nobles, artists, courtesans, and perhaps even supernatural things.

A much accomplished artist of his time and now in his mid-fifties, Tetsuzo can boast clients from all over Japan, and tirelessly works in the garbage-loaded chaos of his house-atelier. He spends his days creating astounding pieces of art, from a giant-size Bodhidharma portrayed on a 180 square meter-wide sheet of paper, to a pair of sparrows painted on a tiny rice grain. Short-tempered, utterly sarcastic, with no passion for sake or money, he would charge a fortune for any job he is not really interested in.

Third of Tetsuzo's four daughters and born out of his second marriage, outspoken 23-year-old O-Ei has inherited her father's talent and stubbornness, and very often she would paint instead of him, though uncredited. Her art is so powerful that sometimes leads to trouble. "We're father and daughter; with two brushes and four chopsticks, I guess we can always manage, in a way or another."

Decades later, Europe was going to discover the immense talent of Tetsuzo. He was to become best known by one of his many names: Katsushika Hokusai. He would mesmerize Renoir and van Gogh, Monet and Klimt.

However, very few today are even aware of the woman who assisted him all his life, and greatly contributed to his art while remaining uncredited. This is the untold story of O-Ei, Master Hokusai's daughter: a lively portrayal of a free-spirited woman overshadowed by her larger-than-life father, unfolding through the changing seasons.

(Source: Production I.G)

Oei Main

Watanabe, Anne Japanese

Katsushika, Hokusai Main

Matsushige, Yutaka Japanese

Kichiya Supporting

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Onao Supporting

Shimizu, Shion Japanese

Ikeda, Zenjirou Supporting

Hamada, Gaku Japanese

Sayogoromo Supporting

Aso, Kumiko Japanese

Koto Supporting

Miho, Jun Japanese

Utagawa, Kuninao Supporting

Koura, Kengo Japanese

Bird Seller Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Samurai Envoy Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Matsushita, Keiko Producer

Hara, Keiichi Director, Storyboard

Maruo, Miho Script

Sheena, Ringo Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Aug 9, 2023

onespankman

Recommended

One of the more impressive animation productions I've yet seen. A particular strength is its subtle character animation, but it succeeds at all it attempts. That makes sense, a film about the great Japanese painter Oei and those in her orbit demands detailed artwork.

Sarusuberi doesn't have great narrative ambitions. It portrays a series of vignettes covering a small portion of the protagonist's life, and doesn't conclude any of the narrative arcs it alludes to. This blunts emotional impact, but focuses the viewer on its themes. It's a reflection on the artistic process, though it has little to say about art itself.

Oei never has any great ... epiphanies, the film instead subtly conveys how her experiences influence her art. She can't draw women in sex scenes convincingly, and the people around her imply it's because of her sexual inexperience. So she goes out to a brothel, and when we next see her drawing erotic art, the woman in it resembles the sex worker she met that day. Most experiences Oei has tie into her art like this, and it provides otherwise disparately connected scenes clear narrative purpose.

The film has some interesting things to say about how a lack of technical proficiency can enhance a work's impact.

Oei's painter kohai Zenjirou's lack of technical skill gives his sex scenes an allure she cannot capture. She’s sure her art is technically superior, so this frustrates her, and to resolve the cognitive dissonance she further invests in her feeling of superiority. She works hard to improve anyway though.

That’s a surprisingly accurate reflection of what visual artists are like. Technically skilled artists are a dime a dozen, as are creatively inspired ones. People who have only technical skill often feel superior to those who only have creative inspiration, vice versa. But a great artist needs both, and regardless of how self-critical they are, they can get better with practice and study.

The dialogue has a satisfying pace that wordlessly informs the viewer as to the personalities and relationships of the characters. The way Oei pauses before answering Zenjirou's questions, but immediately answers Hatsugoro's questions informs us as to her disposition towards them.

Likewise, the editing and sound design inform us as to the thoughts and emotions of Oei's little sister Onao. She's blind, and her mood is different on a summer morning, rich with audible and olfactory stimuli, than on a winter morning, where snow absorbs most sound. This is communicated through careful camerawork and editing, often changing angles to signal that she's picked up on something we expect to be received through visual stimuli.

Explicit symbolism is layered throughout the visual tapestry. This is an East Asian film, so of course flowers are a primary symbolic tool. Many of the backgrounds, effects, and locations replicate the work of the historical Hokusai and Oei. It’s a nice atmospheric touch that works regardless of the viewer’s familiarity with their work.

I greatly appreciate the film's attitude towards sex, sex workers, and erotic art. Sex is generally treated casually throughout the piece, and sex workers are regarded with appropriate respect. Homosexuality is not treated as exceptional or aberrant. Erotic art is considered to be of equal value to all other art, a view I particularly enjoy living in a society that very much looks down on erotic art. I should moderate my praise somewhat, as this is largely reflective of the society it portrays rather than a moral stance of the film, but I still found it refreshing.

The narrative and characters may have only the barest traces of arcs, but this is a carefully constructed film, and it pays off in every important way. It isn't intensely emotional, but it paints an enthralling picture that keeps the viewer engaged throughout its run.

It is a meaningful, worthwhile experience. I recommend.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 8, 2019

Thedude3445

Mixed Feelings

(Review originally from Letterboxd)

The animation is lovely and I really like the main character, but that's about all there is to Miss Hokusai. It's a story about some Tokugawa-period layabout artists going around Edo doing art stuff, kind of vague slice-of-life material and inspiration for real-life art done by these characters. It's a bit like the 1988 movie The Moderns in that way, though that movie mostly consisted of fictional characters. The plot has a lot of nice moments, mostly to do with O-Ei's interesting disposition, but...... ehhhhh to the rest of it.

The movie plays up a lot of stale dramatic moments you'll see coming ... a mile away and that have no relevancy to what you actually wanted to see, and the characters never really progress in any meaningful way. If this were a live-action film I would have hated it, I can be sure of that. So it's a pretty big disappointment for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 10, 2020

lethargilistic

Not Recommended

I don't have an interesting angle from which to talk about Miss Hokusai. It's too slow. The stories aren't connected well enough to maintain interest throughout. The art is quite good, especially the main character's expressive facial design, but it's not great overall. Most of the men look the same, in a bad way. The musical choices are sometimes baffling.

The movie is only about an hour and a half and I watched it a piece at a time over multiple weeks, if that gives an impression of what a slog it can be if you're not totally sold on its presentation. I remember liking Oei ... from the beginning, but I lost interest at some point early on. Nonetheless, I still felt that continuing it would be worth it, and the last few stories were the best. I think I was right to keep going.

It has a lot of pathos on its side. Oei isn't sure what her life is going to turn out to be, and neither are we. Is it going to really matter at all? Who knows? But she was there, and she was at least a small part of the history of city where she lived. Now she's at least a small part of mine. And I suppose that's all we can ask for.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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