The Crucified Lovers

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The Crucified Lovers

Directed by	Kenji Mizoguchi
Produced by	Masaichi Nagata
Written by	Yoshitaka Yoda Matsutarō Kawaguchi Chikamatsu Monzaemon (story)
Starring	Kazuo Hasegawa Kyoko Kagawa Yoko Minamida Eitaro Shindo
Music by	Fumio Hayasaka Tamezō Mochizuki
Cinematography	Kazuo Miyagawa
Editing by	Kanji Sugawara
Distributed by	Daiei
Release date(s)	November 23, 1954
Running time	102 min
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

The Crucified Lovers (近松物語, Chikamatsu Monogatari^?, literally, "A Story From Chikamatsu") is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was adapted from Monzaemon Chikamatsu's 17th century play Daikyoji sekireki, hence the title.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 her brother asks for a loan, he is refused. Osan 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 made 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.

Bound together as fugitives, a romantic relationship develops between them. Shortly thereafter, the two are caught. Mohei escapes again, but Osan is taken to her family home, refusing to return to Ishun's house. Leaving again, she finds Mohei. The two are again caught. Ishun did not report his wife's adultery, but as she has confessed to infidelity, Ishun has become guilty of lying to the authorities, and - as Osan and Mohei are paraded through the streets en route to their crucification, Ishun's property and wealth are seized.

[edit] Impact

Nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, 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 trademark long take aesthetic, recalling Japanese woodcuts and scroll paintings.