A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the introduction of his daughter's lover to his wife.
Direction
Ichikawa turns domestic spaces into clinical observation chambers.
Cinematography
Every mirror and doorway becomes a loaded proposition.
Acting
Machiko Kyō's unreadable stillness against Nakamura's desperate theater.
Director
Kon Ichikawa
Machiko Kyō
Ikuko Kenmochi
Ganjirō Nakamura II
Kenji Kenmochi
Junko Kano
Toshiko Kenmochi
Tatsuya Nakadai
Kimura
Tanie Kitabayashi
Hana
Ichirō Sugai
Masseur
Mantarō Ushio
Dr. Kodama
Kyū Sazanka
Curio Dealer
Mayumi Kurata
Koike
Hikaru Hoshi
Police Detective
Saburo Date
Police Detective
Shizuo Chūjō
Police Detective
Jun Hamamura
Dr. Soma
Tatsuo Hanabu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's novel 'The Key,' which was considered unfilmable in Japan due to censorship; Ichikawa got away with it through implication and visual metaphor.
The film's structure—diary entries, multiple unreliable narrators—reflects Tanizaki's fascination with voyeurism and the gaps between Japanese public face (tatemae) and private truth (honne).
JP
