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Ishun is a wealthy, but unsympathetic, master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
Kenji Mizoguchi stages this harrowing and heart-wrenching tragedy with a superb cast and beautiful black-and-white cinematography.
Maltin***1/2: "Superior performances, stunning direction..."
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In eighth-century China, the emperor mourns the loss of his wife. The opportunistic Yang family offers a distant cousin as a concubine in hopes of gaining influence at court.
Sumptuous, beautifully set and photographed period drama is a love tragedy of truly Shakespearean dimensions; but maybe not quite as stirring as it could have been.
Maltin***: "Breathtakingly beautiful, poetic love story/fable/tragedy."
A tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
This Japanese classic by Kenji Mizuguchi is a carefully crafted and photographed fable and morality play seamlessly mixing genres (melodrama, samurai, ghost story), but always focused on its topic of warning about the dangers of seeking wealth and fame for its sake.
Halliwell*: "Unique mixture of action, comedy and the supernatural, with strong, believable characters participating and a delightfully delicate touch in script and direction."
Maltin***1/2: "Eerie ghost story..."
