The dividing line between poverty and morals

A Hen in the Wind

Author: D. A. Rajakaruna
A Godage publication

Reviewed by R. S. Karunaratne

Ozu Yasujiro's A Hen in the Wind is a Japanese film rarely screened in this part of the world. It is perhaps one of Ozu's least discussed postwar films. The story seems close to a Mizoguchi idea, one that might have formed a subplot in Women of the Night. It also seems an ‘occupation film’ dealing explicitly with the social problems of a conquered country and projecting optimism for future rebuilding.

The film echoes the moralistic endings of many works of its time, such as Kinochita's Morning for the Osone Family and Akira Kurosawa's One Wonderful Sunday. A Hen in the Wind deserves recognition for its unusual treatment of its conventional material and how it deals with the artistic choice.

Authentic

A Hen in the Wind is authentic as it has been translated from the Japanese screenplay by no less a person than Prof D. A. Rajakaruna, a former professor at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Peradeniya. He is singularly qualified to translate the Japanese screenplay as he holds a postgraduate degree in drama, theatre and cinema from the University of Waseda.

He has carried out research in the field of classical Japanese drama and theatre at the same university. He still serves as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Peradeniya.A Hen in the Wind is a wonderful story of a poor Japanese family.

The husband is away. The wife and son lead a miserable life. When the son falls ill, he is hospitalised. The hospital authorities demand payment but the poor woman finds it difficult to do so. As she is beautiful she decides to sleep with a man and earn some money to settle the hospital bill.

Confession

When the husband returns, she makes a clean breast of herself. At first he is furious. However, after some time he decides to pardon her ‘grave mistake.’ The story inter alia shows that desperate situations need desperate solutions. We need morals but there may be situations where human beings are unable to stick to them. The book also has another screenplay of Kaze No Naka No Mendori. However, it is in Japanese and only a reader familiar with the language could enjoy it.Prof Rajakaruna's A Hen in the Wind will serve as a model to local film-makers. Besides, the book itself provides the reader with food for thought.