Enjō


Enjo is a 1958 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa and adapted from the Yukio Mishima novel The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Its English title is Conflagration.

Synopsis

Told in an intricate flashback structure, Enjō dramatizes the psychological collapse of Goichi, a young Buddhist acolyte from a dysfunctional family who arrives at a Kyoto temple - the Golden Pavilion - for further study.
Goichi is haunted by two events - the discovery of his psychologically abusive mother's infidelity, and the effect of the revelation upon his father, who suddenly falls ill and dies shortly thereafter. Shy and idealistic - and hindered by a stuttering problem - Goichi arrives at the temple haunted by his dying father's sentiment that "the Golden Pavilion of the Shukaku Temple is the most beautiful thing in the world."
In the wake of entering into his studies, Goichi is visited by his now-widowed mother, who unexpectedly states her wish that he strive to succeed in his studies, so that he might one day become the head priest at the temple. Under unexpected pressure from his irresponsible surviving parent, Goichi then must face a challenge to his own ideals upon discovery of the head priest's greed and his indiscreet pairings with a local geisha.
A flashback to the funeral of Goichi's father introduces the idea of a cleansing inferno; with an escalating sense of desperation, Goichi sets fire to the pavilion. He is subsequently repudiated by his mother, and ultimately commits suicide before he can be taken to prison.