A geisha marries a meek maker of bamboo dolls, but he won't have sex with her. Lonely and desperate, she sleeps with a former client and becomes pregnant. This haunting film is filled with repressed emotions and guilt in the best Japanese sense. Ayako Wakao carries the film and is supported by equally good performances from the great Ko Nishimura and Junichiro Yamashita. Director Yoshimura also made the sublime THE BALL AT THE ANJO HOUSE just after the war. Based on a novel by Tsutomu Minakami, who also wrote 'The Temple of Wild Geese.' This is an obscure, forgotten masterpiece. It's possible Yoshishige Yoshida and Akio Jissoji learned a lot from the style.

Japanese cinema is celebrated for its refined minimalist dramas and avant-garde experimentation; it also introduced popular genres like jidaigeki (samurai epics), kaiju, and anime. Across both high art and mass entertainment, it often explores morality, impermanence, and the pressures of modern life.

Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021)

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The romance genre features the theme of romantic relationships and emotional connections between characters. These stories focus on the development of love, desire, and intimacy between protagonists, often exploring the challenges, conflicts, and triumphs that arise in their relationships.

Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)

Haunting melodrama focuses on a young bamboo worker who takes his father's prostitute as his wife.

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Kyôko Kishida and Ayako Wakao in Swastika (1964)

Raizô Ichikawa, Hideko Takamine, and Ayako Wakao in The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka (1967)

Raizô Ichikawa in A Certain Killer (1967)

Victor Mature and Virginia Leith in Violent Saturday (1955)

Bamboo Doll of Echizen

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