Abstract
In Mizoguchi’s biopic of the historical ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Utamaro, the long take’s sense of duration and connection is vital to the film’s analysis of the role and function of the artist and art. Mizoguchi’s long takes are means by which the on-screen artist and the audience alike can watch women, but the chapter argues that their blend of impartial observation and passionate engagement helps to challenge the notion that the gaze is necessarily objectifying, and clarifies a vision of art which is not purely aesthetic, but is directly engaged with, and helping to shape, lived experience.
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Jacoby, A. (2017). Looking and Touching: The Long Take in Five Women Around Utamaro (Mizoguchi Kenji 1946). In: Gibbs, J., Pye, D. (eds) The Long Take. Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58573-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58573-8_5
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Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58573-8
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