Directed by:
Yasuzo MasumuraScreenplay:
Kaneto ShindōCinematography:
Setsuo KobayashiComposer:
Tadashi YamauchiPlots(1)
Incredibly daring and ahead of its time, the first of Masumura's three adaptations of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s stories is an explicit lesbian-themed drama that had no parallel either in Hollywood or in much of the wider world at the time. Kyōko Kishida is the childless, unhappy wife Sonoko, who falls under the spell of the beguiling art pupil Mitsuko (Masumura’s muse Ayako Wakao), much to the chagrin of the former’s husband and the latter’s fiancé and secret lover. Part chic erotica, part study of the conflict of blinding desire and domesticity, Masumura conjures up this sensationalistic tale in warm colors, lending the story a deceptive sheen reflective of a time and place governed by appearances. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
Kyōko Kishida
Japan
Best movies:
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
Woman of the Dunes (1964)
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
Ayako Wakao
Japan
Best movies:
Red Angel (1966)
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
A Cheerful Girl (1957)
Eiji Funakoshi
Japan
Best movies:
Fires on the Plain (1959)
Blind Beast (1969)
The Black Test Car (1962)
山茶花究
Japan
Best movies:
High and Low (1963)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
Yojimbo (1961)
Yûsuke Kawazu
Japan
Best movies:
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
Red Angel (1966)
Ken Mitsuda
Japan
Best movies:
All Mixed Up (1964)
Yûzô Hayakawa
Japan
Best movies:
All Mixed Up (1964)