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The Life of Oharu

Original title: Saikaku ichidai onna
  • 1952
  • Not Rated
  • 2h 13m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
7.3K
YOUR RATING
The Life of Oharu (1952)
Drama

Follows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.Follows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.Follows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.

  • Director
    • Kenji Mizoguchi
  • Writers
    • Saikaku Ihara
    • Kenji Mizoguchi
    • Yoshikata Yoda
  • Stars
    • Kinuyo Tanaka
    • Tsukie Matsuura
    • Ichirô Sugai
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    7.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Kenji Mizoguchi
    • Writers
      • Saikaku Ihara
      • Kenji Mizoguchi
      • Yoshikata Yoda
    • Stars
      • Kinuyo Tanaka
      • Tsukie Matsuura
      • Ichirô Sugai
    • 32User reviews
    • 59Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 1 nomination

    Photos18

    Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    Daisuke Katô, Toshiaki Konoe, and Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    Toshirô Mifune and Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    Toshirô Mifune and Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)
    The Life of Oharu (1952)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kinuyo Tanaka
    Kinuyo Tanaka
    • Oharu
    Tsukie Matsuura
    • Tomo, Oharu's Mother
    Ichirô Sugai
    Ichirô Sugai
    • Shinzaemon, Oharu's Father
    Toshirô Mifune
    Toshirô Mifune
    • Katsunosuke
    Toshiaki Konoe
    • Lord Harutaka Matsudaira
    Kiyoko Tsuji
    Kiyoko Tsuji
    • Landlady
    Hisako Yamane
    • Lady Matsudaira
    Jûkichi Uno
    • Yakichi Ogiya
    Eitarô Shindô
    Eitarô Shindô
    • Kahe Sasaya
    Akira Ôizumi
    Akira Ôizumi
    • Fumikichi, Sasaya's Friend
    Kyôko Kusajima
    Kyôko Kusajima
    • Sodegaki
    Masao Shimizu
    Masao Shimizu
    • Kikuoji
    Daisuke Katô
    Daisuke Katô
    • Tasaburo Hishiya
    Toranosuke Ogawa
    Toranosuke Ogawa
    • Yoshioka
    Hiroshi Oizumi
    • Manager Bunkichi
    Haruyo Ichikawa
    • Lady-in-waiting Iwabashi
    Hiroshi Mizuno
    • Servant Shinozaki Kumon
    Yuriko Hamada
    • Otsubone Yoshioka
    • Director
      • Kenji Mizoguchi
    • Writers
      • Saikaku Ihara
      • Kenji Mizoguchi
      • Yoshikata Yoda
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This film, which was director Kenji Mizoguchi's dream project, was severely under-financed, and the production was forced to use a warehouse instead of a regular sound stage. This warehouse happened to be located near railways, and each time a train passed by, they had to stop shooting, which made the shooting of the film even more difficult with the director's obsessive use of long, continuous, uninterrupted takes. The same warehouse was also used for Josef Von Sternberg's film 'The Saga of Anatahan'.
    • Quotes

      Katsunosuke: Lady Oharu, a human being - no, woman - can only be happy if she marries for love. Rank and money don't mean happiness.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits shown over Japanese artwork/water-colors.
    • Connections
      Featured in See Here My Love (1978)

    User reviews32

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    ***** Well worth seeing
    Kenji Mizoguchi's stunning masterpiece is a heartbreaking tale of purity in a world of corruption. Based on a seventeenth-century novel by Saikaku Ihara called The Woman Who Loved Love, the film tells the story of Oharu, a young woman who in her younger days worked as a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Palace of Kyoto, but having fallen in love with a man below her rank is expelled from the palace, and she and her parents are forced to live in exile. Try as she might to find love in her relationships, she is constantly thwarted by her society's low expectations for a woman's heart and her father's ambitions for respectability, and soon descends to being a concubine, later a streetwalking prostitute. Mizoguchi's tones are so gentle and poetic that every frame works its way into your heart, and in such a delicate manner. Kinuyo Tanaka's performance as Oharu is beautiful as well, abandoning the melodramatic gestures common to Japanese film acting and going straight for the heart. Sumptuous production design and a decidedly feminist message make a film well worth seeing.
    helpful•42
    0
    • Bil-3
    • Feb 22, 2000

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 20, 1964 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Diary of Oharu
    • Filming locations
      • Japan
    • Production companies
      • Koi Productions
      • Shintoho Film Distribution Committee
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,921
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 13 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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