Chikamatsu Monogatari

A film set in seventeenth-century Japan. Ishun is a wealthy maker of calendars. He does the court's work and his position is secure. His wife Osan is much younger and the marriage is an arrangement. Osan's family is short of money. She asks her husband for a loan and he refuses. She then goes to Mohei, who works in the shop, and to help her he forges a document. The forgery comes out and Mohei is accused. He runs. At the same time another misunderstanding occurs and it is claimed that Osan and Mohei are lovers. Under the law of the period the penalty is death, crucifixion as a pair. The two have to flee together. In flight, without having done what they are accused of, they draw close to each other. What the film is interested in is not love but the rules of a society: nobody investigates the truth, because once the accusation is made the outcome is settled. The source is a play Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote for the puppet theatre. Kyoko Kagawa plays Osan and Kazuo Hasegawa plays Mohei. Kenji Mizoguchi directed. Kazuo Miyagawa photographed it; the scenes on the lake and the night passages are its most remembered images. A strong production for anyone who likes Japanese classics and period drama. For a viewer wanting a happy ending, the narrative announces its close from the start.