The adopted son of an Osaka courier falls in love with a prostitute and, discovering that she is about to be purchased by a client, steals money from his employer to redeem her. Hunted criminals, the two young lovers take flight to Yamato, but, as in Chikamatsu's other domestic tragedies of love and duty (known as sewamono), they must be pursued and their passion destroyed by death. Favourite Uchida themes, such as the indenturing of a prostitute , and his characteristic emphasis on performance and theatrical artifice re-emerge here; but the daring device of having Chikamatsu appear as a character - not unlike having Shakespeare interpolated into a film adaptation of one of his plays - is just one of many surprises this remarkable film holds. “Extraordinary” (Donald Richie).
Directing | Tomu Uchida | Director |
Writing | Monzaemon Chikamatsu | Novel |
Lighting | Hiroshi Watada | Gaffer |
Art | Takaya Ogawa | Production Design |
Costume & Make-Up | Masanobu Hayashi | Makeup Artist |
Crew | Reijirô Adachi | Choreographer |
Art | Kimiharu Tsujino | Production Design |
Art | Jun'ichirô Tamaki | Production Design |
Costume & Make-Up | Gô Mikami | Costume Design |
Camera | Makoto Tsuboi | Director of Photography |
Sound | Saburo Tominaga | Original Music Composer |
Production | Toshiji Ikeda | Production Supervisor |
Art | Tomizô Uoyama | Set Designer |
Art | Takatoshi Suzuki | Art Direction |
Camera | Hiroshi Ezaki | Still Photographer |
Editing | Shintarō Miyamoto | Editor |
Costume & Make-Up | Ayako Sakurai | Hairstylist |
Production | Hiroshi Ookawa | Executive Producer |
Writing | Masashige Narusawa | Screenplay |