Humor is also a rather widely used topic in Asian cinematography. The kinds of humor observed in it differ substantially depending on the director and his or her view of reality and cinematography. The focus of this paper is the consideration of the functions humor fulfills in the two famous Japanese films – “Branded to Kill” by Seijun Suzuki and “Double Suicide” by Masahiro Shinoda.
To begin with, neither film can be called a comedy in its essence. The first one is a traditional Japanese gangster thriller, while the second one presents a reproduction of the 18th-century story picturing the life of the Japanese samurais. Nevertheless, there are numerous funny episodes in both films which make it easier for the watchers to catch the ideas of the films. For example, “Branded to Kill” presents examples of the director’s quick-witted and often seemingly strange humor from the very background of the story it tells. The main hero of the movie, a skillful killer Hanada, is pictured as a person who can get sexually excited only after sniffing a bit of boiled rice (Branded to Kill, 1976). Moreover, the film is filled with other minor funny episodes including Hanada’s treatment of his wife who is seen naked in the film more often than dressed, the scene of Hanada’s apartment where the walls are covered with dead butterflies, etc (Branded to Kill, 1976).
The film by Shinoda also has certain humoristic, and sometimes cynical, episodes that reflect both the black humor of the film director and his attitude towards life and the troubles he discusses in the film. For example, the very idea of a respectable man, Jihei, falling in love with a prostitute, Koharu, and being ready to destroy his family for her sake seems rather ironic. Moreover, the episode when Osan, Jihei’s spouse, offers him to sell her clothes to buy Koharu out of her sex slavery is also a manifestation of the black and cynical humor of Shinoda. Finally, the climax of the black humor in this film is the scene of Jihei and Koharu making love at the graveyard before deciding to commit double suicide (Double Suicide, 1969).
Accordingly, the functions performed by the above-considered humor scenes in both films are somewhat different. In “Branded to Kill”, the very plot of the story is built around the ironic background, i. e. around the fact that Hanada is addicted to sniffing boiled rice. This element of humor, however, serves not only an entertaining purpose but is also an allusion to the issue of drug trafficking and consumption in Japan. So, being difficult to understand to numerous critics and watchers, the humor of Suzuki has a purely social basis and makes people aware of the problems it raises (Branded to Kill, 1976).
In “Double Suicide” the function of humor lies in attempts of the author to make the picture he draws not so dark and hopeless. Also, the humor, especially black, is used by the author to make fun of the social system which he considers to be obsolete and absurd. Moreover, the very relationships between people are the subjects of the director’s humor (Double Suicide, 1969). For example, the final scene at the graveyard is cynically pictured by Shinoda so that to express his attitude towards the culture he is a part of and towards certain actions that people do is affected by love, obsession, etc.
Thus, humor in both films can be viewed as the logical continuation of their major topics. “Branded to Kill”, as a gangster story, is developed with the help of humor which the director uses not to overemphasize the criminal situation in the society. Instead, Suzuki resorts to humor as a means of both attracting people’s attention to the problem of criminality and making the film easier for the watchers to comprehend. Even Hollywood resorts to this technique nowadays, for example producing “Scary Movie” and other parody films that exaggerate some phenomena to attract public attention to them. In “Double Suicide”, the focus of the director’s humor is more general – it touches the personal relations between human beings and the whole process of social interaction. Moreover, in both films, humor serves as a means of adding ironic details to reduce the degree of tension the topics of death, killing, and suicide would produce alone.
To conclude, humor in cinema is a valuable instrument for developing the major topics of films and adding certain distinguishing details to them. In “Branded to Kill” humor Suzuki helps develop the topic of Japanese criminality and the need for social attention to it. “Double Suicide” also uses humor to attract public attention to such vital issues as stereotypes and interpersonal relations. However, in both films, humor is also a means of entertainment that increases the audience of Japanese cinema.
Works Cited
Branded to Kill. Dir. Seijun Suzuki. With Jo Shishido, Mariko Ogawa. Second Sight Films Ltd.,1976.
Double Suicide. Dir. Masahiro Shinoda. With Kichiemon Nakamura, Shima Iwashita. Criterion, 1969.