During WW II there were no Japanese films ever shown in the United States and this

was the first film presented to the American Public in 1954. It is outstanding in its color presentation of the country of Japan and the photography and character studies received great awards and acknowledgment The story involves a married woman, Machiko Kyo, (Lady Kesa),who is a very beautiful lady who is desired and lusted after by another man. This man does not care about her being married and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. However, there is more to the story, and it depicts conditions in Japanese households and their way of living and thinking. Machiko Kyo appeared in "The Teahouse of the August Moon",'56 and starred with Marlon Brando. This is a worthwhile film to watch and enjoy. A truly great Classic Film.

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.

Despite my love for Japanese films, I felt very underwhelmed by this picture. The plot was interesting (about a man who MUST have a married woman and demands her hand when he is offered ANY reward for his service to the Shogun),and the color cinematography is great BUT overall, the film felt a little too sterile--as if the actors were over-restrained in their performance. This is really a shame, as despite a great ending and an interesting premise, just doesn't elevate itself to greatness. I gave my videotape to a friend and asked his opinion and he, too, felt the film was a bit dull and sterile at times. This seemed to be an attempt to make a great film that just needed more polish to raise it above mediocrity.