Drama, by Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1951.
Bachelor Shinnosuke falls in love with Miss Oyu, the companion of his younger sister Shizu who visits him as a future bride. The family taboo prevents Shinnosuke from marrying Oyu. He marries Shizu without consummating their marriage so that Shinnosuke can remain faithful to the unconscious Oyu. However, the couple's commitment to appearances has a cost. The lack of sexuality and the malicious rumors about the ménage-a-trois lead to recrimination, separation and further pain. Miss Oyu is a radical reworking by Mizoguchi and his screenwriter Yoshikata Yoda of Junichiro Tanizaki's novel The Reed Cutter (1932). Miss Oyu moves in the aura of high art and good taste: opening credits beyond paintings of clouds, compositions of Chinese and Japanese art masterpieces, interiors decorated with refined furnishings and art objects, Japanese classical music recitals and songs derived from Japanese poetry, references to Heian costume, history and literature, historical and natural beauties; Japanese rituals such as ikebana, bonsai and tea ceremonies. A grand depiction of exotic and picturesque Japanese culture, Ms. Oyu was the first of the 1950s costume dramas that would make Mizoguchi famous outside of Japan.

LANGUAGE: Japanese language
SUBTITLES: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese