GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Keechie Mizoguchi's "classy" compositions, living tableaux and indiscernible camera movements shape the contrivances of the story into a solemn criticism of social conventions proliferating hypocrisy and greed. By juxtaposing the most definitive shot-crucified lovers in twilight-with the final proud parade, he avoids the fashionable misery/martyrdom obsession of theses days, so important for a story this tragic and brimming with human cruelty. But what makes this film truly memorable is the unexpected and genuine passion between the two main actors/characters when they decide to live, breaking through the reserved mise-en-scène.Oh, How delirious Mohei kisses Osan's sore calf and holds her tight! It's awesome!

Robert J. Maxwell An adult tragedy of two pursued lovers during Japan's feudal period. It was a rigid society divided by class and gender. Mohei, a talented and decent scroll maker with a promising future, belongs to the servant class. A relatively minor infraction on his part is turned into a major offense by his nasty employer, and when the Master throws Mohei out and has charges brought against him, the Master's wife happens to discover that the Master has been having "illicit adulterous affairs" on the side.The punishment is literal crucifixion for Mohai, so the Master's wife helps him escape and runs away with him. The unyielding Master Scrollmaker sics the authorities on both of them. The wife is on the verge of suicide, but recovers her desire to live when she discovers that she and Mohai have secretly loved each other for years. She willingly joins Mohai in their journey up hill and down dale and for this she too is charged and faces crucifixion.It's a story for grown up sensibilities because the emotional bonds involved -- not just between the pair of illicit lovers but their friends and relatives -- are intricate. The parents don't want them around because if they're caught hiding the fugitives, they face the same punishment. Everyone is ready to squeal on them because what the lovers are doing is "against the law." The performances are adequate once you accept and get past the Japanese filigrees. The fugitive couple are both fine but some of the supporting players are reaching for the stars.I won't spell out the bittersweet ending. The movie itself is worth catching, filled with tension, intrigue, and action.

futures-1 "Chikamatsu Monogatari" (Crucified Lovers) (Japanese, 1954): Set in 17th century Japan, a series of honorable gestures begins to go terribly wrong, and takes victims with them. Did you know that adulterers at that time were crucified in Japan? This and many more traditions of the Old Way were up for reexamination by the Japanese culture soon after their defeat in World War II. This must have been a time of great doubt for them – after all, wasn't it their past that lead them to their current condition? "Chikamatsu Monogatari" is an elegant, methodical story with tragic twists and turns that never the less head straight into inflexible Fate.

Kalaman I never heard of Mizoguchi's "Chikamatsu monogatari" before until a friend of mine who loves Mizoguchi's films showed it to me recently. It is a beautiful, haunting, and emotionally involving study of forbidden love between a rigid merchant's wife, Osan, and her devoted servant, Mohei, in 17th century Kyoto. The lovers are unfairly punished for having an affair; Osan escapes her husband's home while Mohei is forced into exile. "Chikamatsu" is a highly charged work, but I'm not entirely sure if I would call it a masterpiece on par with "Zangiku monogatari", "The Life of Oharu", "Ugetsu", "Sansho dayu", and "Princess Yang Kwei Fei" - Mizoguchi's richest and most beautiful films. The photography is extraordinarily ravishing and evocative, with Mizoguchi's masterful fluid camera. Also, the sound quality of "Chikamatsu" is interestingly rich and astounding, but the film doesn't stay with you for a while like those aforementioned films. Overall, this is a minor Mizoguchi: beautiful and haunting at times, but inferior to his renowned masterpieces.