THE SISTERS OF THE GION
Gion No Shimai

A gritty and realistic look look at the life of two geisha sisters in Kyoto's Gion district. The older sister is very strict and wishes to uphold the traditional character of a geisha woman. The younger sister is more modern and, in a complete disregard for tradition,goes from man to man for money.

“Mizoguchi's most famous pre-war film, made at the time when realism was entering Japanese cinema, is full of beautifully composed contrasting scenes, gentle humor and pathos. The director condemns neither woman but the society that exploits them.”—Holt’s Foreign Film Guide.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Script by Kenji Mizoguchi, Yoshitaka Yoda. Photo; Minoru Miki. Cast With Isuu Yamada, Yoke Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya, Eitaro Shi ndo, Taizo Fukami, Fumio Okura.

1936 69 minutes. Subtitled.
ISBN 1-55881-445-0
$29.95

THE LIFE OF OHARU
Saikaku Ichidai Onna

A female member of a samurai court is expected to marry within her social class but she falls in love with a servant. According to tradition he is executed and she and her family are banished from the dan. Her decline, from gentle court lady to cheap whore, is vividly shown through dreamlike flashbacks with beautiful photography. One of the most moving of all Mizoguchi's films and, as Joan Mellen wrote; "Perhaps the finest film made in any country about the oppression of women."

Winner of the International Prize at the Vencie Film festival

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Screenplay by Yoshikata Yoda from a story by Saikaku Ihara. Photography by Ypshimi Hiranmo. Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Hisako Yamane, Toshiro Mifune. Yuriko Hamada.

JAPAN,1952. 136 m. Japanese dialog with English subtitles.
ISBN 1-55881-006-4
$29.95

UGETSU MONOGATARI

A beautifully eerie film of a sixteenth century potter who is led away from his home and family in a search of fortune. He soon runs into the mysterious Lady Wasaka who turns out to be a ghost and he faces an exquisite, terrifying, near death at her hands. Ugetsu was the first film to introduce Mizoguchi to the West and was immediately acclaimed as one of the great masterpieces of the world cinema. The lyrical, haunting and intense images Mizoguchi presents remain with the viewer for a long time. An unforgettable piece of essential cinema.

Voted one of the 10 best films ever made.
Venice Festival winner.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Script; Matsutaro Kawaguchi, Yoshitaka Yoda from Tales Of The Pale And Silvery Moon After The Rain. Photo; Kazuo Miyagawa. Music; Fumio Hayasaka. Cast; Masayuki Mori, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sakae Ozawa, Machiko Kyo.

Japan 1953 96m Subtitled.
ISBN 1-55881-008-0
$29.95

SANSHO THE BAILIFF

An eleventh century aristocratic family is forced from power by a rebellion. In the chaos, their two children are kidnapped by slave traders and sold. The boy and girl struggle to survive. The son attempts to live by his father's high ideals of compassion and equality but gives in when he has an opportunity to become a bailiff. As he progresses, he becomes more and more inhuman. Finally, his sister sacrifices her life to allow him to escape. He makes his way back to find his family, but finds only his mother, crippled and blind after years of forced labor as a prostitute. As he and his mother fall to the ground and cry, he realises that he has lost everything but has regained his humanity.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Screenplay by Fuhi Yahiro and Yoshikata Yoda. Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Kisho Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa, Eitaro Shindo.

JAPAN: 1954, 121 minutes, subtitled version.
ISBN 1-55881-007-2
$29.95

TAIRA CLAN SAGA
New Tales of the Taira Clan / Shin Heike Monogatari

Mizoguchi's last color film was this rich and spectacular epic which examined the conflict between the decadent ruling courts and the exploited warrior class at the end of the twelfth century.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Script by Yoshikata Yoda, Masashige Narusawa and Hisaichi Tsuji from the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. Photo by Kazuo Miyagawa. Music by Fumio Hayasaka. Cast; Raizo Ichikawa, Yoshiko Kuga, Naritoshi Hayashi.

Japan, 1955 110 minute color. Japanese dialog with English subtitles.
ISBN 1-55881-009-9
$29.95