Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.
Direction
Shinoda's bunraku puppeteers stalk every frame—meta-theater at its most haunting.
Cinematography
Deep shadows and theatrical flatness that trap lovers in二维.
Acting
Shima Iwashita plays both wife and mistress—doppelgänger casting that wrecks you.
Director
Masahiro Shinoda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The bunraku puppeteers were deliberately shot in color while actors remained in stark monochrome—originally. The final print is black-and-white throughout.
Based on Monzaemon Chikamatsu's 1721 play, which invented the 'double suicide' genre for Japanese theater—lovers choosing death over separation became a cultural obsession.
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