Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna = Utamaro and his five women

The legendary 18th century woodblock print artist Utamaro Kitagawa was famous for his dynamic drawings of women which upset traditional aesthetics. The film shows how the artist’s contact with one man and five women leads to experiences illustrating the value of self-fulfilment. The portrayal of Utamaro also reflects Mizoguchi’s democratic view of the artist as craftsman. Utamaro’s refusal of compromise in his art is paralleled by the self-emancipation of the women although their case histories tend to obscure the unifying theme: Utamaro’s moral and artistic dilemmas as an artist. The film contains a number of instances of Mizoguchi’s deployment of the one-scene, one shot method. The oblique message of the equality of women was appropriate for the democratic ethos favoured by the postwar occupying forces. Also available on 16mm.

Credits: Director, Kenji Mizoguchi ; photography, Shigeto Miki ; script, Yoshikata Yoda, Kanji Kunieda ; music, Hisato Osawa.
Cast: Kinnosuke Takamatsu, Junnosuke Hayama, Masao Hori.