A Story from Chikamatsu
Brief Synopsis
After being wrongly accused of adultery, a married woman and her husband's apprentice fall in love.
Cast & Crew
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Kenji Mizoguchi
Director
Kazuo Hasegawa
Mohei
Kyoko Kagawa
Osan
Eitaro Shindo
Ishun
Yoko Minamida
Otama
Sakae Ozawa
Sukeyemon
Film Details
Also Known As
Chikamatsu Monogatari, Chikamatzu Monogatari, Crucified Lovers, The, Story From Chikamatsu, Story From Chikamatzu, A, Tale From Chikamatsu
Genre
Romance
Drama
Foreign
Period
Release Date
1955
Distribution Company
New Line Cinema
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 40m
Synopsis
During Japan's 17th century Feudal Period, a clerk and a merchant's wife, illicit lovers, try to flee the Shoguns and find freedom to express their love.
Director
Kenji Mizoguchi
Director
Cast
Kazuo Hasegawa
Mohei
Kyoko Kagawa
Osan
Eitaro Shindo
Ishun
Yoko Minamida
Otama
Sakae Ozawa
Sukeyemon
Chieko Naniwa
Oko
Ichiro Sugai
Genbei
Haruo Tanaka
Doki
Tatsuya Ishiguro
Isan
Kimiko Tachibana
Eitaro Ozawa
Crew
Monzaemon Chikamatsu
Play As Source Material ("The Legend Of The Grand Scroll Makers")
Fumio Hayasaka
Music
Matsutaro Kawaguchi
Screenwriter
Kazuo Miyagawa
Director Of Photography
Hiroshi Mizutani
Art Direction
Tamezo Mochizuki
Music (Japanese)
Masaichi Nagata
Producer
Eijiro Toyosawa
Music (Japanese)
Yoshikata Yoda
Screenwriter
Film Details
Also Known As
Chikamatsu Monogatari, Chikamatzu Monogatari, Crucified Lovers, The, Story From Chikamatsu, Story From Chikamatzu, A, Tale From Chikamatsu
Genre
Romance
Drama
Foreign
Period
Release Date
1955
Distribution Company
New Line Cinema
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 40m
Articles
A Story from Chikamatsu
Before the 1950s no Japanese film had been given an American release other than in specialized theaters in a few Japanese-American neighborhoods. The international success of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) prompted the art house release of work by a few more Japanese directors. Prominent among them was Kenji Mizoguchi, whose filmmaking career had begun early in the silent era. His sweeping costume dramas Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954) saw bookings stateside, but not most of his movies on his recurring theme, the suffering of women. Mizoguchi's 1954 A Story from Chikamatsu, also known as Chikamatsu monogatari and The Crucified Lovers did not win a U.S. release when new. Adapted from a 17th century puppet play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, it is the story of Osan (Kyoko Kagawa), who is sold into marriage to the elderly Ishun (Eitaro Shindo), a maker of Almanac scrolls. Although secretly in love with her husband's clerk Mohei (Kazuo Hasegawa), Osan has honored her wedding vow. Everything falls apart when, to rescue the good name of her family, she borrows money for her dissolute brother. When Ishun unjustly accuses Osan and Mohei of adultery, they acknowledge their love and go on the run. Osan and Mohei know what to expect when caught, as a frightening early scene depicts another couple suffering the punishment for infidelity - crucifixion. Mizoguchi's movies defended oppressed women of all social classes, and Osan accepts her fate with dignity. Ironically, the societal rules are so unyielding that when Ishun tries to hide the crime, the authorities treat him as an accessory. Both leading players were popular Japanese stars. Kazuo Hasegawa was also known for Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953) and Kon Ichikawa's An Actor's Revenge (1963), while Kyoko Kagawa featured in the Kurosawa classics The Bad Sleep Well (1960) and High and Low (1963), as well as Yasujiro Ozu's famed Tokyo Story (1953). Catching A Story from Chikamatsu at a Museum of Modern Art screening in 1955, Variety decided that it would not appeal to American audiences because its cultural context was too unfamiliar. Yet the review praised the beautiful images in a formal procession scene, and the lovers' cross-country escape attempt. When finally released in 1970, the L.A. Times' Kevin Thomas compared the film's desperate outlaw lovers to Bonnie and Clyde.
A Story from Chikamatsu
Before the 1950s no Japanese film had been given an American release other than in specialized theaters in a few Japanese-American neighborhoods. The international success of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) prompted the art house release of work by a few more Japanese directors. Prominent among them was Kenji Mizoguchi, whose filmmaking career had begun early in the silent era. His sweeping costume dramas Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954) saw bookings stateside, but not most of his movies on his recurring theme, the suffering of women. Mizoguchi's 1954 A Story from Chikamatsu, also known as Chikamatsu monogatari and The Crucified Lovers did not win a U.S. release when new. Adapted from a 17th century puppet play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, it is the story of Osan (Kyoko Kagawa), who is sold into marriage to the elderly Ishun (Eitaro Shindo), a maker of Almanac scrolls. Although secretly in love with her husband's clerk Mohei (Kazuo Hasegawa), Osan has honored her wedding vow. Everything falls apart when, to rescue the good name of her family, she borrows money for her dissolute brother. When Ishun unjustly accuses Osan and Mohei of adultery, they acknowledge their love and go on the run. Osan and Mohei know what to expect when caught, as a frightening early scene depicts another couple suffering the punishment for infidelity - crucifixion. Mizoguchi's movies defended oppressed women of all social classes, and Osan accepts her fate with dignity. Ironically, the societal rules are so unyielding that when Ishun tries to hide the crime, the authorities treat him as an accessory. Both leading players were popular Japanese stars. Kazuo Hasegawa was also known for Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953) and Kon Ichikawa's An Actor's Revenge (1963), while Kyoko Kagawa featured in the Kurosawa classics The Bad Sleep Well (1960) and High and Low (1963), as well as Yasujiro Ozu's famed Tokyo Story (1953). Catching A Story from Chikamatsu at a Museum of Modern Art screening in 1955, Variety decided that it would not appeal to American audiences because its cultural context was too unfamiliar. Yet the review praised the beautiful images in a formal procession scene, and the lovers' cross-country escape attempt. When finally released in 1970, the L.A. Times' Kevin Thomas compared the film's desperate outlaw lovers to Bonnie and Clyde.
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1955
Released in United States September 13, 1970
Released in United States 1996
Shown at 1955 Venice Film Festival.
Shown at New York Film Festival September 13, 1970.
Released in United States 1955 (Shown at 1955 Venice Film Festival.)
Released in United States September 13, 1970 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 13, 1970.)
Released in United States 1996 (Shown in Berkeley, CA (Pacific Film Archive) as part of program "Mizoguchi" September 6 - October 20, 1996.)
Released in United States 1996 (Shown in New York City (Film Forum) as part of program "Mizoguchi" September 20 - October 24, 1996.)
