Chikamatsu Monogatari

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william d @acsdoug 07/17/2021 A very good romantic tragedy about two lovers willing to pay the ultimate price. Eitaro Ozawa is excellent as the cruel husband and Yoko Minamida is absolutely beautiful. See more spencer p @s_plewe 11/09/2019 While it seems more of a run-of-the-mill production for Kenji Mizoguchi, "A Story From Chikamatsu" has a surprisingly timeless premise mixed with the terrifying repercussions it would've had in a past age. See more 05/09/2018 Strong in drama-level, as well as emotionally tragic, Kenji Mizoguchi's love story posses a great production value an strong performances to sustain a harsh romance, benefit from a passionate script, great direction and strong-thought-provoking subjects for us, the audience, to hold on to, especially considering the time period in which this raw flick came, becoming a memorable but almost forgotten entry in Japanese cinema. See more 06/20/2017 Set in 17th century Japan, and based on a 1715 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (hence the title, 'A Story From Chikamatsu'), this film starts with a rich scroll-maker (Eitaro Shindo) refusing to give his wife (Kyoko Kagawa) money. When she turns to one of his top apprentices (Kazuo Hasegawa), she sets in motion of a chain of events that ultimately have them fleeing together, because the apprentice, normally a virtuous man, intended to take the money from the scroll-maker and was caught. The story reveals emotion and desire that is both on the surface, such as the scroll-maker sexually harassing a young servant (Yoko Minamida), as well as that which is concealed. It shows us the randomness of events which may cause everything to suddenly change in one's life; as the wife puts it at one point, "Nothing is more unpredictable than a person's fate. In just one day, all of this has happened to us." If you've ever had your life flip suddenly because of love, you'll identify. The film also shows the all-too-common fate of women; the advice given to the young servant being harassed is to "Just take it. That's the duty of an employee." Adultery is also blamed first and foremost on the women ("It's frightening what women are capable of"), and it's ominous when a couple of adulterers are being led through the town to be crucified early on in the film. It's a solid film throughout - the cast is strong, the story is well told, and there are some gorgeous scenes, one of which is in a bamboo forest. I don't think it's going to blow you away, but it's a good one. See more s r @ScottR 03/26/2017 Romantic drama that shows the Japanese feudalistic issues surrounding adultery. See more 03/05/2014 This well acted melodramatic tale of star crossed lovers is splendidly photographed by Kazuo Miyagawa and features Mizoguchi's glorious sequence shot aesthetic, recalling the scroll paintings and woodcuts of 17th century Japan. See more Read all reviews

Chikamatsu Monogatari

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