Kenji Mizoguchi

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Machiko Kyō, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyōko Kagawa

In late 19th-century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that the praise he receives is only due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully joins him.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Shōtarō Hanayagi, Kakuko Mori, Kōkichi Takada

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyōko Kagawa, Eitarō Shindō

During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Kinuyo Tanaka, Tsukie Matsuura, Ichirō Sugai

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · With Machiko Kyō, Ayako Wakao, Michiyo Kogure