The castle is being attacked, so married lady-in-waiting Machiko Kyô pretends to be the chatelaine. But low-class samurai Kazuo Hasegawa develops a yen for her. After a great deed, he is offered his choice of rewards, and not knowing the situation asks for her. As others laugh at him for his lack of savoir-faire, his desires grow stronger.
This is and was an acclaimed film, winning the Best Foreign Movie Oscar. I can understand why. The recent restoration shows off the fine photography and Eastmancolor to good effect. Yet I find it peculiarly bloodless. Part of it is due to this being one of those old stories that everyone knows, so it is relatively underplayed in the midst of a society drama during the rise of the Samurai class in the 12th century. This is not aided by the formal compositions of cinematographer Kôhei Sugiyama and the extreme Dutch angles director Teinosuke Kinugasa employed so often in his career. It's as if no one really cares, but they're pretending to, and Kingusa is straining to put some life into the movie.
Kingusa started off playing female roles. By 1922, he had switched to directing. He made the transition to sound in the 1930s, directing more than 125 movies through 1966, then retired. He died in 1982, aged 86.
This is and was an acclaimed film, winning the Best Foreign Movie Oscar. I can understand why. The recent restoration shows off the fine photography and Eastmancolor to good effect. Yet I find it peculiarly bloodless. Part of it is due to this being one of those old stories that everyone knows, so it is relatively underplayed in the midst of a society drama during the rise of the Samurai class in the 12th century. This is not aided by the formal compositions of cinematographer Kôhei Sugiyama and the extreme Dutch angles director Teinosuke Kinugasa employed so often in his career. It's as if no one really cares, but they're pretending to, and Kingusa is straining to put some life into the movie.
Kingusa started off playing female roles. By 1922, he had switched to directing. He made the transition to sound in the 1930s, directing more than 125 movies through 1966, then retired. He died in 1982, aged 86.