Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • 1954 • Japan
When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi's dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.
Up Next in Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa
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A Story from Chikamatsu
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • 1954 • Japan
Starring Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyoko KagawaOne 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 ...
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Street of Shame
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • 1956 • Japan
For his final film, Mizoguchi brought a lifetime of experience to bear on the heartbreaking tale of a brothel full of women whose dreams are constantly being shattered by the socioeconomic realities surrounding them. Set in Tokyo's Red Light District (t...
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Conflagration
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1958 • Japan
Starring Raizo Ichikawa, Tatsuya NakadaiAdapted from a novel by Yukio Mishima and told in an intricate flashback structure, CONFLAGRATION dramatizes the psychological collapse of Goichi (Raizo Ichikawa), a young Buddhist acolyte from a dysfunctional f...
