Elegie in Naniwa (1936)

Elegie in Naniwa: Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. With Isuzu Yamada, Seiichi Takegawa, Chiyoko Ôkura, Shinpachirô Asaka. A young woman becomes a mistress of her boss in order to support her family.

“The first film included in the Criterion Collewctionu0026#39;s u0026quot;Mizoguchiu0026#39;s Fallen Womenu0026quot;, this is the story of Ayako (a pretty great Isuzu Yamada who, according to this website, is still wonderfully with us), who is a switchboard operator who needs 300 yen to prevent her father getting in major trouble. To get the money, she spends time with her boss. This is, of course, little more than being a companion. One of Mizoguchiu0026#39;s gifts as a director (he also wrote the story) is that in many of his films his characters were not sympathetic yet he does not wholly judge the. The key is, what would you do? The film could never be in color, it is a noirish, gray film. The story is compelling, the acting is uniformly good, with Ms. Yamada really standing out, and the direction is, of course, flawless. Iu0026#39;ve also seen u0026quot;Sisters Of The Gionu0026quot; and u0026quot;Streets Of Shameu0026quot; from this collection. Buy it! Mizoguchi was one of the giants of 20th century cinema from any country. This film is highly recommended.”