The Lady from Musashino (1951)
"Musashino fujin" (original title)

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Shohei Ooka (novel), Yoshikata Yoda

Stars:

Kinuyo Tanaka, Yukiko Todoroki, Masayuki Mori

Cast

Credited cast:
Kinuyo Tanaka	...	Michiko Akiyama
Yukiko Todoroki	...	Tomiko Ono
Masayuki Mori	...	Tadao Akiyama
Akihiko Katayama	...	Tsutomu Miyaji
Sô Yamamura	...	Eiji Ono
Eitarô Shindô	...	Shinzaburo Miyaji
Kiyoko Hirai	...	Tamiko Miyaji
Minako Nakamura	...	Yukiko Ono
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Satoshi Nishida	...	Narita
Reiko Otani	...	Takako Sasamoto
Noriko Sengoku	...	Maid in the Ono house
Michiko Tsuyama	...	Eiko

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

adultery | suicide | world war two | love affair | cousin cousin relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

May 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lady Musashino

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975)

User Reviews

Amazing!

Two years after the foundation of Musashino city, alongside a war almost about to end, Akiyama Michiko, descendant of an old samurai, and therefore rooted in traditional values, is an unhappy woman married to an opportunist, cold and extremely selfish intellectual man who doesn't even love her and would take advantage of her if necessary.

The story might be somewhat simple and boring to those not used to Japanese cinema, but the exceptional thing here is the outstanding camera work. Mizoguchi was one of the pioneering Japanese directors of Japanese cinema and his filmmaking style was ahead of its time.

The many sequence shots throughout the entire film are to be taken into account when watching this film, they point out Mizoguchi's amazing skills in filmmaking. It really looks like a modern film, or at least it seemed that way to me, I would have never thought this was from 1951.

For filmmaking students or film buffs this is a hidden gem, just as the entire Mizoguchi filmography is. It is really a shame that he's so underrated.

My score: 9.3/10