Monzaemon Chikamatsu

Starting with director Gosha Hideo's version in 1992, the puppet theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon has been made into a film on countless occasions. The actor Sakagami Shinobu wrote and directed this version. This new interpretation focuses on a woman who played a minor role in the original version, and features a bold performance from former pin-up model Fujikawa Nozomi. Yohee (Yasuda Shingo), son and heir of the store Kawachiya, runs up huge debts due to his obsession with the prostitute Okiku (Fujikawa). Told by her husband Chizaemon, Okichi (Yamada Kinuwo) goes to condemn Yohee. On her way back home, Okiku laughs and mocks her, which Okichi finds sexually exciting.

The indolent son of an oil vendor becomes a regular customer of a prostitute, racks up a mountain of debt, and is disowned by his parents.

La película se centra en la trágica historia de Gonza, un guapo mujeriego que vive en el período de Tokagawa, momento histórico en el que las apariencias son muy importantes. Gonza compite con Bannojo por el honor de realizar la ceremonia del té con motivo de la celebración del nacimiento del heredero del jefe de su clan.

A bunraku puppet drama of the courtesan Ohatsu and her lover, Tokubei, a soy-sauce merchant whose fortunes have gone awry through the perfidy of a trusted associate. For Tokubei, suicide is the only honorable act left; for Ohatsu, it is the only emotionally viable one.

An adaptation of “The Courier for Hell” (“Meido no Hikyaku”) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725).

Tokubei es un joven comerciante locamente enamorado de una prostituta llamada Ohatsu. Las circunstancias están en contra de la pareja de enamorados, mientras que Ohatsu tiene que terminar de pagar su deuda ejerciendo la prostitución, a Tokubei le quieren concertar un matrimonio de conveniencia.

Adaptación más o menos fiel de la obra de Chikamatsu, preservando todas las convenciones del teatro kabuki y elevando el nivel de artificio con nuevos añadidos: encuadres excéntricos, composiciones hiperestilizadas y un gran uso del blanco y negro. Narra la trágica historia de amor entre una prostituta y un mercader casado.

The adopted son of an Osaka courier falls in love with a prostitute and, discovering that she is about to be purchased by a client, steals money from his employer to redeem her. Hunted criminals, the two young lovers take flight to Yamato, but, as in Chikamatsu's other domestic tragedies of love and duty (known as sewamono), they must be pursued and their passion destroyed by death. Favourite Uchida themes, such as the indenturing of a prostitute (cf. YOSHIWARA; A BLOODY SPEAR AT MT. FUJI), and his characteristic emphasis on performance and theatrical artifice re-emerge here; but the daring device of having Chikamatsu appear as a character - not unlike having Shakespeare interpolated into a film adaptation of one of his plays - is just one of many surprises this remarkable film holds. “Extraordinary” (Donald Richie).

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.

Adaptación de una obra de teatro (kabuki) del siglo XVII de Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Osan vive en Kioto y está casada con Ishun, un rico y tacaño funcionario. Cuando Osan es acusada falsamente de tener una relación con Mohei, ambos huyen rápidamente de la ciudad. Ishun, por su parte, ordena a sus hombres que los encuentren y los separen para evitar el escándalo.