Quicksand (Tanizaki novel)

Quicksand
AuthorJuni'chiro Tanizaki
Publication date1931

Quicksand, originally published in Japan as Manji (Japanese: 卍), is a novel by the Japanese author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. It was written in serial format between 1928 and 1930 for the magazine Kaizō. The last of Tanizaki's major novels translated into English, it concerns a four-way bisexual love affair between upper-crust denizens of Osaka.

Title

The Japanese title, Manji, refers to the four-pronged Buddhist swastika, a symbol of the four lovers. The English title refers to the destructive cycle of obsession and jealousy faced by the four main characters.[1]

Plot

The story is narrated by Sonoko Kakiuchi, a young woman from Osaka. At the start of the novel she lives comfortably with her husband Kotaro, and attends art classes at a local women's school. Rumors spread around the school that Sonoko is having a lesbian affair with another student, the beautiful young Mitsuko. Sonoko finds herself drawn to Mitsuko, though she barely knows her, and she proceeds to forge a friendship with her. Soon, she invites Mitsuko to her house to pose nude for her figure drawing. Mitsuko agrees, but insists on covering herself with a sheet. The sexual tension comes to a head when Sonoko rips the sheet away, thus sealing her infatuation. The two begin a fiery affair.

Things are complicated by the arrival of Watanuki Eijiro, Mitsuko's sometime fiancé. The effeminate, impotent Watanuki reveals that Mitsuko had intended to marry him, but now refuses unless he allows her affair with Sonoko to continue. Sonoko begins to sense that Mitsuko has been manipulating them both, but is far too mired in her infatuation – the quicksand of the title – to back out. Meanwhile, Sonoko's husband Kotaro has taken notice of her infatuation with Mitsuko. He attempts to put an end to it, but Sonoko will not be dissuaded. After a few chance meetings, Kotaro falls under Mitsuko's spell as well, and attempts to get closer to her. One evening when all three are sleeping in bed together, Sonoko awakens to find Kotaro having intercourse with Mitsuko. Knowing that their ménage à trois is doomed, Sonoko, Kotaro, and Mitsuko form a suicide pact, in which they will kill themselves with poison-laced sleeping powder. In the event, however, Sonoko wakes up, realizing that Kotaro and Mitsuko have withheld the poison from her dose, a final betrayal.

Development history

The novel was first published serially in the magazine Kaizō between 1928 and 1930. An English translation by Howard Hibbett was published in 1994 by Alfred A. Knopf.[1]

Adaptations

Film

The novel has been adapted to film several times:

Role 1964 1983[2] 1998[2] 2006[3] 2023[4]
Cast
Mitsuko Sido Ayako Wakao Kanako Higuchi Tomoko Mayumi Fujiko Manami Shindo
Sonoko Kakiuchi Kyōko Kishida Haruna Takase Kaori Sakagami Cosmosco Noriko Kijima
Kotaro Kakiuchi Eiji Funakoshi Yoshio Harada Sei Hiraizumi Shima Ônishi
Crew
Screenwriter Kaneto Shindō Masaru Baba Jun Miyamoto Noboru Iguchi[5][6] Kaori Kotani
Director Yasuzo Masumura Hiroto Yokoyama[7] Mitsunori Hattori[8] Kishū Izuchi[9][10]

Games

References

  1. 1 2 Buruma, Ian (February 13, 1994). "Fatal Attractions". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Shamoon, Deborah (2021). "Class S: appropriation of 'lesbian' subculture in modern Japanese literature and New Wave cinema". Cultural Studies. 35 (1): 35. doi:10.1080/09502386.2020.1844259. ISSN 0950-2386. Manji was remade as a film in Japan three times, in 1983 (dir. Yokoyama Hiroto), 1998 (dir. Hattori Mitsunori), and 2006 (dir.Iguchi Noboru).
  3. ↑ "卍 まんじ". Art Port (in Japanese). 2006. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007.
  4. ↑ "卍 Manji". legendpictures.co.jp (in Japanese). 2023. Archived from the original on November 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ Mori, Naoto, ed. (2006). 日本発映画ゼロ世代 : 新しいJムーヴィーの読み方 [The Zero Generation of Japanese Films: How to Read the New J Movie] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Firumu Ātosha. ISBN 978-4845906826. OCLC 68047950.
  6. ↑ also writer
  7. ↑ Buckley, Sandra, ed. (2001). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture (1st ed.). London, England: Routledge. pp. 198, 298, 501. ISBN 978-0415143448.
  8. ↑ Bienati, Luisa; Ruperti, Bonaventura, eds. (2009). "Translating Imaginary into Images: Manji (Maria Roberta Novielli)". The Grand Old Man and the Great Tradition: Essays on Tanizaki Jun'ichiro in Honor of Adriana Boscaro. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan. p. 124. ISBN 978-1929280551. There are four films taken from its tangled plot: the movie with the same title, filmed in 1964 by Masumura Yasuzō; the less interesting (again homonymous) version made in 1983, directed by Yokoyama Hiroto; the free adaptation made in 1985 by Liliana Cavani, titled The Berlin Affair, and a 1997 movie bearing the same title as the book, directed by Hattori Mitsunori (but undoubtedly less effective than the previous three).
  9. ↑ "谷崎潤一郎「卍」新解釈オリジナル脚本で映画化！メインビジュアル・予告編・場面写真一挙解禁" [Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's "Manji" adapted as a film with a new interpretation and original script! Trailer, poster, and stills released]. Cinemas+ (in Japanese). June 16, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  10. ↑ "人妻が美しき小悪魔に惹かれていく…谷崎潤一郎の小説をもとにした映画「卍」公開" [A married woman is attracted to a beautiful little devil... The film "Manji" based on Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's novel is released]. Eiga Natalie (in Japanese). June 16, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ "卍　リバース" [卍 Reverse]. manji-re.com (in Japanese). 2024. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
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