First seen during high school, “Josee, the Tiger and the Fish” stirred my sensibilities with its moving yet understated story. The film’s mise-en-scène and dramatic structure left a deep impression through the tale of growth told through the love and parting of protagonists Tsuneko and Josee.
I first encountered this film during the winter of my sophomore year of high school. Had any film ever made me cry in front of a computer screen, not in a theater? ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’ captured my heart with its genuine yet understated emotion. I found myself sinking into quiet reflection, unable to control my racing heart, lost in thought for a long while. Unable to forget that emotion, I often find myself lost in nostalgia. In this piece, I want to talk about the film ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish,’ which once stirred my past sensibilities.
What genre is ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’? This film belongs to the drama genre. Its overall elements carry a melodramatic tendency and can be classified as a melodrama. Melodrama originally began with the insertion of music during the play, but as cinema evolved, music became an essential element of film, and melodrama took on more diverse meanings. The combination of melodrama and drama is characteristic of this genre, which dramatically unfolds events arising from family, romantic relationships, and interactions between people.
The plot of this film is as follows. Tsuneko, who works part-time at a mahjong parlor, discovers a mysterious baby carriage on his way home. Inside is Jose, a woman paralyzed from the waist down. Their encounter begins this way. Tsuneko keeps returning to Jose’s house because the meals she prepares are so delicious, and despite already having a pretty girlfriend, he finds himself increasingly drawn to Jose, who cannot use her legs. As time passes, Jose and Tsunéo’s relationship deepens, and they fall in love. They see the tiger Jose always wanted to see together, grow closer through their love, and become intimate. However, as time goes on, their relationship begins to creak. On the way to meet Tsunéo’s parents, the two feel each other’s limitations, and soon after, they face a parting. Their parting was an ordinary ending, no different from any other couple’s. Afterwards, Tsuneko’s monologue signals the film’s beginning.
Introducing the characters of ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’: First, the protagonist Tsuneko is described as a very honest and straightforward person. He is a university student who came to study in the city where Josee lives, an extremely ordinary student. While working a part-time job at a late-night mahjong parlor, he encounters Jose by chance and feels a strong curiosity toward her. While others might view Jose differently due to common prejudices about people with disabilities, Tsunéo approaches her with pure interest. What starts as simple curiosity gradually evolves into something deeper; over time, Tsunéo realizes his feelings and actively expresses his love.
Meanwhile, Jose is a character who strives to live independently while conscious of her disability. Initially passive and sometimes pessimistic about the world, she gradually changes through her love with Tsuneko. Jose thinks of herself as a seashell rolling at the bottom of the sea and calmly prepares for separation. She grows beyond her life as a disabled person into a woman.
The standout mise-en-scène in ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’ is its use of snapshots to depict events and settings. The panoramic-like sequence of photographs early in the film persuasively conveys Josee’s imagination and character through snapshots to the viewer. One of the most memorable scenes is when Tsuneko carries Josee on his back through the winter sea. Using a full shot to show them from a distance, this scene depicts their love very realistically. The winter sea in the background effectively conveys the harshness of reality and Tsuneko’s exhaustion with Jose through imagery.
The structure of ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’ well reflects the characteristics of melodrama. The conflicts the protagonists face in this film stem from the circumstances surrounding them.
Jose’s disability becomes an obstacle to their love, yet the conflicts they face are no different from those of any other couple. Tsuneko and Jose’s love ends tragically, but through this, Jose achieves personal growth and accepts their parting with quiet acceptance. The line from Sagang’s novel appearing early in the film—”Someday you won’t love me, and someday I won’t love you either.
Then we’ll just have a year that passed.” This foreshadows that their love will not end happily. Though Jose and Tsunéo’s love remains unfulfilled, the film unfolds their story honestly and plainly, without emotional excess. Perhaps the very strength that allowed this film to be screened multiple times stems from this quality.
