Osaka Elegy (1936)
"Naniwa erejî" (original title)

Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss, Mr. Asai, so she can pay her father's debt, and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement. She also sends money to her brother Hiroshi to pay... See full summary »

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Tadashi Fujiwara (dialogue), Kenji Mizoguchi (story),

Stars:

Isuzu Yamada, Seiichi Takegawa, Chiyoko Ôkura

Cast

Credited cast:
Isuzu Yamada	...	Ayako Murai
Seiichi Takegawa	...	Junzo Murai
Chiyoko Ôkura	...	Sachiko Murai
Shinpachirô Asaka	...	Hiroshi Murai
Benkei Shiganoya	...	Sonosuke Asai
Yôko Umemura	...	Sumiko Asai
Kensaku Hara	...	Susumu Nishimura
Shizuko Takizawa	...	Mine Fukuda, the maid
Eitarô Shindô	...	Yoshizo Fujino
Kunio Tamura	...	Dr. Yoko
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kasuke Koizumi
Takashi Shimura	...	Inspector
Mitsuzo Tachibana	...	Famizaburo Matsushita

Storyline

Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss, Mr. Asai, so she can pay her father's debt, and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement. She also sends money to her brother Hiroshi to pay his university tuition, but her father intercepts it. She tricks Mr. Fujino into giving her money so that she can marry her boyfriend Nishimura, but Fujino calls in the police.

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Plot Keywords:

money | mistress | prostitution | adultery | family honor | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

31 January 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Naniwa Elegy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiichi Eiga

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

Lamentations of a poet

It was this film alone that drove me into an intense obsession with cinema. Mizoguchi is the great Japanese master, and Osaka Elegy reveals his genius. From his long take compositions that are taxed with complexity and tension, to his ambigious depictions of character, I felt like I had grown after I had seen this film. Notice the national allegory at the film's conclusion, a confused and lonely Japan. And his inconclusive final shot taken many years before the well known 400 Blows. The devastating melodrama is not undercut by any cinematic manipulation. I highly recommend this to any lover of the cinematic medium. Also, I am a sucker for self-reflexive Kabuki theater sequences...