A 1937 Japanese melodrama where 'ordinary' husbands die suspiciously and best friends become romantic rivals.
Kayo and Kuniko graduated from girls' school together and are as close as sisters. Kuniko's fiancé, Minakami, feels something that attracts him deeply towards Kayo. On the other hand, Kayo prays for the happiness of her best friend and marries a very ordinary man. However, at one point, this mediocre but increasingly ferocious husband died in an accident ... A triangular love story develops depicting a woman's heart that sways between love and morals.
Acting
Takako Irie's restrained suffering — a masterclass in silent emotion.
Direction
Yamamoto builds unbearable tension through what's left unsaid.
Director
Kajirō Yamamoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This film captures the 'good wife, wise mother' ideology of 1930s Japan, where female self-denial was literally national policy.
Director Kajirō Yamamoto mentored a young Akira Kurosawa as assistant director — this is the melodrama DNA that Kurosawa would later explode.
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