Portrait of Madame Yuki | |
Director: | Kenji Mizoguchi |
Producer: | Kazuo Takimura |
Music: | Fumio Hayasaka |
Cinematography: | Jōji Ohara |
Editing: | Toshio Goto |
Distributor: | Shintoho |
Runtime: | 88 minutes |
Country: | Japan |
Language: | Japanese |
, also titled A Picture of Madame Yuki, is a 1950 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.[1]
Yuki Shinano, a descendant of the once powerful Shinano family, is living in an unhappy marriage with her husband Naoyuki. Although he treats her disdainfully and has a candid affair with his mistress Ayako, whom he even brings to Yuki's residence in Atami, she is tied to him through sexual dependency. Yuki and koto teacher Masaya share a mutual affection since childhood, but are both too weak-willed to change the situation. In an attempt to gain autonomy, Yuki opens an inn in her residence, but Naoyuki makes Ayako the head of the business, only to find out later that he himself has been bought out by Ayako and his lawyer Tateoka. Yuki, pregnant from her husband but suspected of adultery through a scheme contrived by Tateoka, drowns herself in the lake.