Misuzu (2001) Reviews

• Biopic of Misuzu Kakeko, a young woman who writes poems for kids.

  frankielafferty2015-04-21

  A mild mannered period drama set in 1920's provincial Japan. This biopic revolves about a young woman, Misuzu Kaneko, who works in her family book store and writes poems that are mostly for children. We meet her at the start as a mildly eccentric or silly teenager who is very fond of her younger brother. She is urged to marry but unfortunately the man she marries turns out to be a "bad man". They have a child but end up separating. The ending is really an ending. The film is appropriately slow paced, sometimes with no background music and scattered through are readings of her poems. The interesting thing for me is the comparison of the lively Misuzu at the start compared to the sad Misuzu towards the finish. It is filmed in the area where the real Misuzu Kaneko lived.