Mayumi Tokunaga

家庭を捨て、新劇女優と同棲するなど、苦悩を抱えながらも自由奔放に生きた放浪の作家・壇一雄の自伝的同名小説を「蒲田行進曲」の深作欣二監督が映画化した人間ドラマ。作家・桂一雄は、先妻に先立たれ後妻としてヨリ子をもらう。ヨリ子は腹違いの一郎をはじめ5人の子どもを育ててきた。が、子どものひとりが日本脳炎にかかり重い障害が残ってしまうと、怪しげな宗教にすがるようになっていく。同じ頃、一雄は新劇女優の恵子の虜になり、やがて家を出て恵子と同棲を始める……。

This story is based on the novel "Jo no mai" by Tomiko Miyao which is based on the life of painter Shōen Uemura (1875–1949), the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. The title refers to the masterpiece bijinga ("picture of a beautiful woman") that Uemura painted at the age of 61. The main character, Tsuya Shimamura, is born in Kyoto as the second daughter of a tea trader who dies before her birth. Tsuya, who loves painting more than anything and is hopeless at housework, attends art school and at age 15 receives the name Shōsui (from the characters for "pine" and "green") from her teacher. The crown prince of England purchases one of her works, propelling her to fame overnight. The novel portrays the remainder of her stormy life, during which she is impregnated by her teacher and raises a fatherless child; through it all she devotes herself to her painting, undaunted.