Ukikusa monogatari (1934) 7.7
A kabuki actor's mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover's son. Director:Yasujirô Ozu |
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Ukikusa monogatari (1934) 7.7
A kabuki actor's mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover's son. Director:Yasujirô Ozu |
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| Credited cast: | |||
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Takeshi Sakamoto | ... |
Kihachi
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Chôko Iida | ... |
Otsune, Ka-yan
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Kôji Mitsui | ... |
Shinkichi
(as Hideo Mitsui)
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Rieko Yagumo | ... |
Otaka
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Yoshiko Tsubouchi | ... |
Otoki
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Tomio Aoki | ... |
Tomi-boh
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Reikô Tani | ... |
Tomibo's father
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Kiyoshi Aono | ... |
Sword trainer
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Mariko Aoyama | ... |
Barber's landlady
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Mitsumura Ikebe | ... |
Villager
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Seiji Nishimura | ... |
Kichi, an actor
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Mitsuru Wakamiya | ... |
Station attendant
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Emiko Yagumo |
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Nagamasa Yamada | ... |
Maako, an actor
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Munenobu Yui |
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A troupe of actors comes to town, short on funds and bedeviled by bad weather, so they can't put on shows. Kihachi is the troupe's leader. He steals off every day to visit Otsune (an ex-lover) and their son, Shinkichi, who believes his father is a long-dead civil servant. Kihachi has been paying Shinkichi's tuition, and he's now at university. Kihachi's lover, Otaka, the troupe's lead actress, learns Kihachi's secret and plots to ruin Shinkichi and humiliate Kihachi: she offers money to Otoki, the troupe's ingénue, to seduce Shinkichi. Soon the boy is head over heels, and Otoki finds herself with feelings for him. Can this end well or is tragedy at hand? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
This is one of the earliest Ozu films widely available, and the Criterion version is outstanding in quality.
Its a perfect example of Ozu at his best. Its a gem of a film - beautifully shot, a perfect structure, funny, sad and fascinating. The story is simple enough - a traveling troupe arrive at a town, not realizing the reason the chief actor picked the town is because an old flame of his lives here with his son. His current girlfriend in her jealousy tries to stir things up, but things don't turn out as either expect.
What is most striking about the film is just how modern it seems. The characters are believable and funny, the female characters are strong and willful, while even the minor characters are nicely sketched out. The acting is nothing short of brilliant, which makes the whole film very entertaining - this is no period piece of academic interest only, its a great work of art and a wonderful film - a masterpiece really.