Yuki Fujin Ezu

[Machine Translation] The melancholy of a lady who is so wrapped up in her writing, and the skin of a white snake writhing in love and hate at night. This masterpiece, which is unique among Kenji Mizoguchi's works, has been remastered in HD! Master filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi adapted Seiichi Funabashi's novel of the same title into an aesthetic work of intense eroticism. The screenplay was jointly written by Mizoguchi's one-hand man, Yoshiken Yoda, and Kazuo Funabashi, the youngest brother of Seiichi Funabashi. The film was shot by Yuzuru Obara, the director of "Souhou Sisters," and sophisticated music by Fumio Hayasaka pervades the entire film. The film's sensual performance by Sanechiyo Kigure portrays the conflict and anguish of being tormented by a domineering husband, while Ken Uehara, Yoshiko Kuga, Yuriko Hamada, Satoshi Yamamura, and Eijiro Yanagi add gravitas to the story. The long takes and moving shots that are synonymous with Mizoguchi can be seen throughout the film, and one can even sense traces of his experimentation with the Mizoguchi style of direction that he would later establish. Many of the scenes were shot at the Kiunkaku Inn in Atami. At the time of filming, it was operating as a ryokan (Japanese inn), and it was here that Seiichi Funabashi wrote the original story. The film was also shot at the Yama-no-Hotel in Ashinoko, Hakone, just after its opening (the current building was rebuilt in 1978). --Hamako arrives at the villa of the Shinano family, a former noble family, to work as a maid for Mrs. Yuki, whom she admires. At a bad time, Snow's father suddenly dies, and Hamako is forced to accompany a man named Kikunaka Kataya to the main residence in Tokyo. Kikunaka's father was a koto (Japanese harp) master in the Shinano family, and he and Yuki had grown up together as childhood friends. Snow loves Kazuya, but she cannot make up her mind to divorce her husband Naoyuki, and every time she brings up the subject of separation, she is swept away in a storm of Naoyuki's tyrannical lust. Fangya has also loved Yuki since she was a child, but has never had the strength to take her away from him. Naoyuki leaves Yuki at his villa in Atami and lives with his mistress, Ayako, in the family mansion in a state of debauchery and recklessness. Hamako and Seitaro, a calligrapher, watch this strange scheme of lust with puzzled and irritated eyes. The night of the funeral. It turns out that the Shinano family has no other satisfactory property than their villa in Atami. Snow decides to turn the villa into a ryokan (Japanese inn) at the urging of Fusaya, while Naoyuki expresses his dissatisfaction. One day, Naoyuki shows up with Ayako and her cronies and says that he will leave the ryokan to Ayako.

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書は身ずくろう貴婦人の憂愁 夜は愛憎に身悶える白蛇の肌。溝口健二作品の中でも異彩を放つ傑作をHDリマスター化! 舟橋聖一の同名小説を名匠・溝口健二が濃密なエロティシズムが漂う耽美な作品として映画化した。脚本は溝口の片腕とも言われる依田義賢と舟橋望一の末弟の舟橋和郎の共同。撮影を『宗方姉妹』の小原讓治が担当し、早坂文雄の洗練した音楽が全編に漂う。傍若無人な夫に苦しめられながらも求め続けてしまう葛藤と苦悩を木暮実千代が官能的に演じ、上原謙を始め、久我美子、浜田百合子、山村聰、柳永二郎が物語に重厚さを加えている。溝口の代名詞とも言える長回しや移動撮影が随所で見られ、後に確立する溝口演出を試していた痕跡を感じることもできる作品。シーンの多くを熱海の起雲閣で撮影している。撮影当時は旅館として営業していて、舟橋聖一はこの場所で本原作を執筆したという。開業直後の箱根芦の湖「山のホテル」でも撮影が行われている (現建屋は1978年に建て替えされたもの)。 ――憧れの雪夫人に女中として仕えるべく、旧華族信濃家の別荘へやってきた浜子。折悪く雪の父が急逝し、菊中方哉という男を同道して東京の本邸へ向かうことに。方哉の父は信濃家出入りの琴の師匠で、雪とは幼馴染同然に育っていた。雪は方哉を愛していたが、夫・直之と離婚する決心がつかず、別れ話を持ち出す度に直之の暴虐な肉欲の嵐に流されてしまう。方哉も幼い頃より雪を愛していたが、奪い取るだけの強さを持てないでいた。そして直之は雪を熱海の別荘へ泊め置き、愛人・綾子と本邸で放蕩無頼に暮すのだった。そんな不思議な愛欲図を戸惑いと苛立ちの目で見る浜子と書生の誠太郎。葬儀の夜。信濃家には、熱海の別荘以外に満足な財産が無いことが判明。不満を表す直之を他所に、方哉の強い勧めもあった別荘を旅館にすることを決意する雪。苦労しながらも旅館経営が軌道に乗り出したある日、直之が綾子と取り巻きを連れて現れ、旅館を綾子に任せると言い出す。