Kenji Mizoguchi directs Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi and Kyōko Kagawa in this adaptation of a Japanese folktale where two aristocratic children are sold into slavery.

Ripples in the water. A humanist epic. Every scene has a powerful emotional effect but with seemingly minimal editorial prodding. It is a big movie that sneaks up on you. Once the second half starts taking form, and we drill down to the eponymous protagonist, it starts justifying its “Greatest Film Of All Time” status.

8

Perfect Double Bill: A Geisha (1953)

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