A Story from Chikamatsu (The Crucified Lovers) (Japan's Golden Age of Cinema)

In collaboration with the Japan Foundation and the Japanese Embassy in Luxembourg

A Story from Chikamatsu (The Crucified Lovers)

Chikamatsu monogatari Japon 1954 | Kenji Mizoguchi | vostEN | 102' | digital | Cast : Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyoko Kagawa, Yoko Minamida, Eitaro Shindo

► Compétition, Festival de Cannes 1955

► 4k Restoration

In Edo-period Japan, Ishun flourishes in business but remains stingy and cruel, often mistreating his wife, Osan. When her brother desperately needs money, Osan teams up with Ishun’s employee, Mohei, and steals the sum from her husband. After Ishun learns of the theft, he accuses Osan and Mohei of having an affair – an act then punishable by crucifixion. Ironically, the pair flee together and become lovers on the lam. But Ishun's men aren’t far behind…

« Condenses a vast array of injustices – as well as an extraordinary romantic power – into its teeming action. Mizoguchi builds the drama on such underlying pathologies as the sexual harassment of a female worker, the martial cruelty of the samurai class, and a repressive moralism that treats women like property. The tale morphs into a hectic, passionate flight for freedom as the protagonists try to save their own lives and, in the process, discover their love for each other; Mizoguchi films their devotion unto death with a fiercely defiant exaltation. » (The New Yorker)

« Here is the rare Japanese period film of its era that also explicitly recognizes the double standards of sexual morality between the sexes. » (The Retro Set)