Chikamatsu Monogatari
In 17th century Kyoto, Osan is married to Ishun, a wealthy miserly scroll-maker. When Osan is falsely accused of having an affair with the best worker, Mohei, the pair flee the city and declare their love for each other. Ishun orders his men to find them, and separate them to avoid public humiliation. Written by Will Gilbert
One of a string of late-career masterworks made by Kenji Mizoguchi in the first half of the 1950s, A Story from Chikamatsu (a.k.a. The Crucified Lovers) is an exquisitely moving tale of forbidden love struggling to survive in the face of persecution. Based on a classic of eighteenth-century Japanese drama, the film traces the injustices that befall a Kyoto scroll maker’s wife and his apprentice after each is unfairly accused of wrongdoing. Bound by fate in an illicit, star-crossed romance, they go on the run in search of refuge from the punishment prescribed them: death. Shot in gorgeous, painterly style by master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, this delicately delivered indictment of societal oppression was heralded by Akira Kurosawa as a “great masterpiece that could only have been made by Mizoguchi.”
A Story from Chikamatsu was restored by Kadokawa Corporation and The Film Foundation with the cooperation of the Japan Foundation.
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Kazuo Hasegawa | Mohei |
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Kyôko Kagawa | Osan |
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Yôko Minamida | Otama |
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Eitaro Shindo | Ishun |
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Eitarô Ozawa | Sukeemon |
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Ichirô Sugai | Gembei |
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Haruo Tanaka | Gifuya Dôki |
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Tatsuya Ishiguro | Isan |
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Chieko Naniwa | Okô |
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Hisao Toake | Morinokôji |
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Shinobu Araki | Courtier |
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Ryonosuke Azuma | Umetatsu Akamatsu |
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Kôichi Katsuragi | Priest |
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Hiroshi Mizuno | Kuroki |
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Ichirô Amano | Blind Musician |
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Kimiko Tachibana | Ochô |
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Reiko Kongo | Inn Maid |
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Midori Komatsu | Old Lady in Tea House |
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Kanae Kobayashi | Otatsu |
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Sayako Nakagami | Osono |
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Keiko Koyanagi | Okaya |
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Saburo Date | Katada Public Official |
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Sumao Ishihara | Inn Head Clerk |
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Fumihiko Yokoyama | Village Headman |
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Jun Fujikawa | Village Officer |
| Director | Kenji Mizoguchi |
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| Writer | Kyuichi Tsuji, Monzaemon Chikamatsu, Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda | |
| Producer | Masaichi Nagata | |
| Musician | Fumio Hayasaka, Tamezô Mochizuki | |
| Photography | Kazuo Miyagawa | |
| Edition | Criterion |
|---|---|
| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Distributor | Criterion Collection |
| Regions | A |