The Crucified Lovers

The Crucified Lovers

Film poster
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Written by Yoshikata Yoda
Matsutarō Kawaguchi
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (story)
Starring Kazuo Hasegawa
Kyōko Kagawa
Yōko Minamida
Eitarō Shindō
Music by Fumio Hayasaka
Tamezō Mochizuki
Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa
Edited by Kanji Sugawara
Distributed by Daiei Film
Release dates
 November 23, 1954
Running time
 102 min.
Country Japan
Language Japanese

The Crucified Lovers (近松物語 Chikamatsu Monogatari, literally, "A Story From Chikamatsu") is a 1954 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was adapted from Chikamatsu Monzaemon's 1715 jōruri play Daikyōji Mukashi Goyomi (大経師昔暦).[1]

Synopsis

Ishun (Shindo) is a wealthy but miserly scroll-maker in Kyoto, especially regarding his younger wife Osan (Kagawa), who was from an impoverished family, and married Ishun for money.

When Osan's brother asks for a loan, he is refused. Osan then seeks help from Mohei (Hasegawa) - one of Ishun's top apprentices, who forges a receipt in an attempt at obtaining the money from Ishun, but is caught. Ishun threatens to summon the authorities, but a maid (Minamida) asks him to forgive the act, claiming that she had asked for the money. Ishun has made advances toward the maid, who has refused him. Ishun then assumes the maid (who is secretly in love with Mohei) is sleeping with Mohei, and Ishun orders Mohei locked up in the attic.

When Osan thanks the maid for attempting to help, she discovers her husband's attempted infidelities. Hoping to confront him, she sleeps in the maid's room that night. To her surprise, Mohei, who has escaped, sneaks into the room, in an attempt as saying goodbye to the maid before fleeing. Osan attempts to persuade Mohei into staying, but the two are interrupted when the shop clerk enters the room, and immediately assumes the two to be having an affair.

Mohei is chased away, and Ishun - after being alerted to the incident - concludes that his wife is having an affair. Angered and insulted, Osan leaves the house, only to again encounter Mohei. They later discover that Ishun has alerted the police, and Mohei is now wanted for forgery and adultery (a capital offense). Rather than face such unjust accusations the two decide to commit suicide together. They change their minds, however, when Mohei confesses his love for Osan.

They continue to flee on foot, their now mutual love growing, while Ishun's men and the police continue to pursue them. They reach the home of Mohei's father where he reluctantly gives them food and shelter. By this time a traveling chestnut salesman has inadvertently notified Ishun's house of the whereabouts of the two lovers. Ishun's men arrive at Mohei's father's where the two are captured. Mohei is bound and left for the police to find the next day while Osan is taken to her family home en route to Ishun.

As Osan refuses to return to Ishun's house, Mohei arrives at her family home, having been freed by his father. Osan's mother tries to convince Mohei to turn himself in while her brother goes to fetch Ishun and his men. Just as Ishun arrives, the lovers escape one last time. In the film's final sequence it is revealed Mohei and Osan have turned themselves into the police and confessed to adultery. As Ishun did not report his wife's misdeeds, only Mohei's forgery, he has been found guilty of deceiving the authorities and - as Osan and Mohei are paraded through the streets en route to their crucifixion – all Ishun's property and wealth are being seized. The other servants watch the parade and note that Mohei and Osan look happier than ever before.

Cast

Impact

Nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival,[2] The Crucified Lovers was one of several of late-career films (Life of Oharu, Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff) that brought Mizoguchi to the attention of non-Japanese audiences.

Photographed by Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon, Floating Weeds, Tokyo Olympiad), The Crucified Lovers features Mizoguchi's sequence shot aesthetic, recalling Japanese woodcuts and scroll paintings.

References

  1. ↑ "大経師昔暦". Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: The Crucified Lovers". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
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