The Flesh is Weak / 美徳のよろめき / Bitoku no yoromeki (‘Faltering Virtue’, 1957)

Obscure Japanese Film #174

Yumeji Tsukioka
 

28-year-old Setsuko(Yumeji Tsukioka), a former member of the aristocracy, has come down in theworld somewhat after the war and ended up marrying below her class to Ichiro (RentaroMikuni), whose uncouth table manners appal her. 

 

Rentaro Mikuni
 

Despite being a wife andmother, she’s unable to forget her first love, Tsuchiya (Ryoji Hayama),especially as she keeps running into him (small place, Tokyo!). When her motherdies, Tsuchiya attends the funeral and, while paying his respects, whispers inSetsuko’s ear that he will be waiting for her the following day at 3 pm at ashrine. They start seeing each other on the sly, but he seems like such a niceguy that she believes it will remain platonic and her conscience will be clear.However, he has a weird fixation with eating breakfast naked… 

 

Ryoji Hayama
 

When Setsuko’s bestfriend, Yoshiko (Chikako Miyagi) – who is cheating on her own husband –arranges an excuse for Setsuko and Tsuchiya to sneak off to a hotel in Izutogether, Setsuko freaks out when her uncle turns up at the hotel with somegolfing buddies, stretching this film’s coincidence quota to the limit.Furthermore, Tsuchiya starts having non-platonic thoughts and tries to act onthem, but finds himself rebuffed by Setsuko, who feels that she must remainfaithful to her husband and certainly doesn’t want to eat breakfast naked withanyone…

 

 

This Nikkatsuproduction was adapted by Kaneto Shindo from a newly-published bestselling novelby Yukio Mishima (yet to be translated into English, but available in Chineseand Italian). The opening narration by actor Masaya Takahashi goes on for over10 minutes and betrays the film’s literary origins. However, while the endingis apparently close to that of the novel, what happens in between is quitedifferent, and it appears that Mishima’s original had Setsuko carrying on anextended sexual affair with Tsuchiya which results in two pregnancies, both ofwhich are aborted. They also eat breakfast naked together, but I guess you couldn’tshow that in a film in 1957 (so why have them talk about it, you may well ask).Anyway, although Mishima himself did not regard the novel as one of his seriousliterary efforts, he was not impressed and wrote in his diary that he could notimagine a more stupid movie. 

 

 

It doesn’t help thatSetsuko is a self-pitying snob who is unnecessarily stern to her good-humouredmaid, making it hard to feel much sympathy for her. Nikkatsu’s biggest femalestar at the time, Yumeji Tsukioka, does as well as can be expected under thecircumstances, but Rentaro Mikuni is wasted in a role with little substance andRyoji Hayama fails to make much impression as Tsuchiya. 

 

Chikako Miyagi
 

Chikako Miyagi faresbetter as the cheerfully amoral and flashily-dressed Yoshiko, and it’s nice tosee Koreya Senda – who had just played a rare leading role in director Ko Nakahira’sTemptation – pop up again here asSetsuko’s dad. 

 Koreya Senda

Nakahira also seemed to have a fondness for his namesake, actorKo Nishimura, who appeared in at least half a dozen of his films, includingthis one in which he has a small part as a blind masseur who sees things hisclient (Setsuko) can’t. If only Nakahira could have seen the defects in thescript… 

 

Ko Nishimura
 

Thanks to A.K.