Based on the first novel, Spring Snow, of Mishima Yukio's Sea of Fertility tetralogy, it follows the troubled and illicit affair between two youngsters amongst the aristocracy and rich of early twentieth century Japan.
Cinematography
Every frame looks like a hand-tinted postcard from 1912
Costume
Western-meets-waifu fashion that screams dying aristocracy
Writing
Mishima's prose translated to aching, formal melodrama
Director
Isao Yukisada
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Taisho period (1912-1926) was Japan's brief, decadent fling with Western modernism before militarism crushed everything. The film captures that fragile in-between moment perfectly.
Mishima structured the entire Sea of Fertility around reincarnation; Spring Snow's lovers are doomed because this is only the first of four cycles. The tragedy deepens across 1,400 pages.
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