Manji

Plot

Based on a novel by Junichiro Tanizaki, this tongue-in-cheek melodrama by Japanese director Yasuzo Masumura tells the story of Sonoko (Kyoko Kishida), a housewife who becomes obsessed with another woman. Told in a series of flashbacks as she relates her tale to a novelist, the plot follows her entanglement with the young, beautiful Mitsuko (Ayako Wakao), who she meets at an art school for women. After convincing Mitsuko to pose nude for her they embark on an affair that leads to a number of double crosses and deceptions between the two women, Sonoko's husband (Eiji Funakoshi) and Mitsuko's fiancé (Yusuke Kawazu). ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

Review

Indulging in one of his favorite subjects, sexual obsession, Yasuzo Masumura pulls out all the stops in this absurdist melodrama made at the mid-1960s peak of this career. The plot features more twists and turns than a whole season of an average soap opera as the four main characters engage in a round robin of deception and romantic intrigue. There are poisonings, fake pregnancies, and contracts signed in blood. Kyoko Kishida is fantastic as the heroine Sonoko. Best known for her role in Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Woman in the Dunes, she has a very distinctive face with large pleading eyes perfectly suited for gazing with lustful longing at Ayako Wakao's Mitsuko, the object of her obsession. As with Masumura's other films, plausibility plays a minor role in this one. Plot holes and improbable behavior simply do not concern him, making the film even more of a giddy pleasure. Like his mentor Kon Ichikawa, who directed a similarly perverse adaptation of a Tanizaki novel, Odd Obsession, Masumura knows how to mold the material to his directorial strengths. Also like Ichikawa, the wide screen, Technicolor compositions that contain this wacky tale are exquisite. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

Cast

• Ayako Wakao - Mitsuko
• Kyoko Kishida - Sonoko Kakiuchi
• Eiji Funakoshi - Kotaro Kakiuchi
• Yasuke Kawazu - Eijiro Watanuki

Credit

Yasuzo Masumura - Director, Tadashi Yamauchi - Composer (Music Score), Setsuo Kobayashi - Cinematographer, Kaneto Shindo - Screenwriter, Junichiro Tanizaki - Short Story Author

Previous:	Manja Valewska (1936 Film), Manito (2002 Film)
Next:	Mankillers (1987 Film), Mankolangal (2001 Film)