Echizen take-ningyô

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.

The best I've seen from her since A Wife Confesses at least. The other actors and especially actresses are good too (Tamao Nakamura in particular), but they seem more tapestry compared to the incredible acting and presence of Ayako Wakao than anything else. It does not hurt the presence of a good direction overall too. Highly recommended.

Having recently lost his father, a young man by the name of "Kisuke" (Junichiro Yamashita) continues to work in the same trade involving making objects out of bamboo. To his surprise, not long after commencing his work he gets an attractive female visitor named "Tamae" (Ayako Wakao) who comes to pay her respects. Naturally, being the polite young man that he is he takes her to his father's grave after which she continues back to her home located in another village. Intrigued and wanting to see her again, Kisuke decides to visit her a little while later and discovers that she is a prostitute who apparently had sexual relations with her father after Kisuke's mother had passed away. It's then that he decides to purchase her contract and take her as his wife. However, after taking her back to his small village they both discover that things aren't nearly as simple as they thought. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting film which definitely follows the Japanese style of drama quite well. On that note, while I liked the acting of both Junichiro Yamashita and Ayako Wakao, I didn't especially care for the manner in which the plot unfolded and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.