The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine (2018) is an eccentric and moving epic film about Japanese women sumo wrestlers and socialist anarchists. Directed by the prolific Takahisa Zeze, who started out making soft core pink films, The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine is unlike any historical epic you have ever seen. Although it is based on real historical events, Zeze infuses the film with surrealistic touches and characters that seem to exist in a parallel universe.
Set shortly after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine tells the dual stories of a female sumo wrestling troupe and a group of socialist anarchists. The anarchists regularly plot assassination attempts and other violent acts to get their revolutionary messages out. Two members of the anarchist group, Tetsu (Masahiro Higashide) and Daijiro (Kanichiro), befriend two members of the wrestling troupe, Tomoyo (Mai Kiryu) and Tamae (Hanae Kan). Their lives become disrupted by a group of former World War One veterans led by Daigoro (Shima Ohnishi), who continuously try to shut down the troupe’s performances because they view them as subversive.
This plot summary only hints at the unique vision and structure of Zeze’s film. From the beginning to the end of the film, Zeze has his actors perform at an heightened emotional state; this is clearly not a Yasujiro Ozu film. In this way, Zeze’s performances resemble the almost trance-like hysteria of the actors in the films of Andrzej Zulawski and Sion Sono. There are also many quiet and more subdued moments in the film, but they serve only as momentary breaks before the next wave of grand emotion hits.
Although at times this tone can be exhausting, especially at the film’s epic length of 189 minutes, it all leads to a climactic showdown between the sumo wrestlers and the military that is unlike anything you have ever seen. This frantic tone of the film is very much a reflection of the youthful exuberance and energy of Zeze’s characters. Revolutionary activity is the province of the idealism of youth, a concept which Zeze explores in his film.
Thematically, The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine is a neo-feminist defense of female empowerment, although not in an overly obvious Hollywood manner. Many of the members of the women sumo wrestling troupe have escaped from oppressive marriages, and find solace in a sisterhood of strong women whose very existence is a statement against the traditionally male world of sumo wrestling.
When the troupe gives their first performance, the male members of the audience mock them and hope to see them wrestle nude. However, the troupe is able to win over the male spectators with their skill as professional sumo wrestlers. Soon, the troupe becomes a mini-sensation in the many villages they visit, which draws the ire of the group of war veterans, who find any opportunity they can to harass the troupe.
Zeze contrasts the discipline and skill of the female wrestling troupe with the dysfunctional all male socialist anarchist group. Unlike the sumo troupe, the anarchist group is in a constant state of disarray. They carry out bungled assassination attempts, and are never able to draw the wider public to their socialist utopian ideals. Instead, Zeze reveals that many members of the male anarchists group are more interested in sleeping with prostitutes then actually carrying out revolutionary acts. This is a direct foil to the success and determination of the female wrestling troupe.
Ultimately, The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine is about outcasts from society who are able to successfully form their own unique society of sorts. The female wrestling troupe becomes a respite for their members from the overly oppressive and controlling nature of the wider society. The film’s exploration of the battle between the wrestling troupe and the outside forces that threaten to break it apart is cinematically liberating and exhilarating.
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