Kenji Mizoguchi — Director (16)
Song of Home (1925) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
ふるさとの歌
other title: La Chanson du pays natal / ふるさとの歌
Mizoguchi’s 30th film is the earliest surviving example of his work, and his only film of the 1920s to survive complete. Song of Home finds the director already concerning himself with the collision of traditional and modern values. The film is structured around the contrast of two country-bred boys: a coach driver who has never left his home, and a student who returns from Tokyo with city-slicker affectations and Western jazz records. Produced by the Ministry of Education, the film has a simplistic lesson-plan at its heart, but what lingers in the mind after viewing are its more ineffable qualities: The dulcet, lyric, evocation of a disappeared rural past.
Poppy (1935) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
虞美人草
other title: Les Coquelicots / 虞美人草
Fujio is beautiful, talented, well-heeled, and engaged to up-and-coming diplomat Munechika. She has promised him a gold watch, a family heirloom, as an emblem of their engagement. However, she becomes enamoured with Ono, a student employed to tutor her in English, who is attracted by her beauty and wealth. Ono himself is bound by an engagement to Sayoko, daughter of his mentor, Professor Inoue.
Victory of Women (1946) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
女性の勝利
other title: La Victoire des femmes / 女性の勝利
Representing a destitute mother in an infanticide trial, a female lawyer attempts to convince a conservative prosecutor of the benefits of Japan's democratized post-war legal system.
Miyamoto Musashi (1944) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
宮本武蔵
other title: L'Histoire de Musashi Miyamoto / 宮本武蔵
Shinobu and her brother Genichiro plead with famous swordsman Musashi Miyamoto to teach them to avenge their father's death. The perpetrators of their father's demise see the siblings practicing, and so enlist the help of another revered swordsman, Kojiro Sasaki, giving the latter an excuse to battle Miyamoto.
The Downfall of Osen (1935) [Movie] IMDb WikiData TMDB
折鶴お千
other title: O-Sen delle cicogne di carta / La Cigogne en papier
In Tokyo, Osen is the servant girl of an unscrupulous antiques dealer, Kumazawa, who takes in the penniless Sokichi Hata. Kumazawa mistreats Sokichi and Osen, while swindling some Buddhist monks out of their temple treasures. When Kumazawa is arrested, Osen agrees to help Sokichi finance his dream of going to medical school. They live in a humble room, and eventually the only way Osen can find enough money for them is to prostitute herself during the day, without Sokichi knowing. (Will Gilbert)
Flame of My Love (1949) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
わが恋は燃えぬ
director: Kenji Mizoguchi actor: Kinuyo Tanaka / Mitsuko Mito
other title: Il mio amore brucia / Flamme de mon amour
In 1880s Japan, women's struggle for equality rages on. Eiko Hirayama leaves Okayama for Tokyo, where she helps the fledgling Liberal Party and falls in love with its leader Kentaro Omoi, just as the party is being disbanded by the government.
The Lady of Musashino (1951) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
武蔵野夫人
other title: La signora Musashino / La Dame de Musashino
In post-war Japan, Michiko, a disillusioned young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, confides in her younger cousin, Tsutomo, and the two become close, but decide not to consummate their affair. He instead becomes involved with the flirtatious Tomiko, who is also conducting an affair with Michiko's husband. When Michiko finds that her husband has abandoned her, she decides to take her fate into her own hands.
Princess Yang Kwei-fei (1955) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
楊貴妃
director: Kenji Mizoguchi actor: Machiko Kyō / Masayuki Mori
other title: L'imperatrice Yang-Kwei-Fei / A Imperatriz Yang Kwei Fei
In 8th-century China, the Emperor grieves the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their court influence. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen, whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets.
Oyuki the Virgin (1935) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
マリヤのお雪
director: Kenji Mizoguchi actor: Isuzu Yamada / Komako Hara
other title: Oyuki la vierge / Oyuki, la virgen
When a civil war threatens to break out, two geishas flee from their village with aristocrats. During the long journey, the socially inferior women prove to be morally superior to their betters.
Sisters of the Gion (1936) [Movie] IMDb WikiData TMDB
祇園の姉妹
director: Kenji Mizoguchi actor: Isuzu Yamada / Yōko Umemura
other title: Le sorelle di Gion / As Irmãs de Gion
A geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto feels obliged to help her lover when he asks to stay with her after going bankrupt and leaving his wife. However, her younger sister opposes this, thinking that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them.
The Love of the Actress Sumako (1947) [Movie] IMDb TMDB
女優須磨子の恋
director: Kenji Mizoguchi actor: Kinuyo Tanaka / So Yamamura
other title: L'Amour de l'actrice Sumako / El amor de la actriz Sumako
Stage director Shimamura, who is bringing western theatre to Japan, falls in love with outspoken actress Sumako Matsui, and leaves his family to be with her, while trying to keep his Art Theatre solvent.