One of Mizoguchi Kenji’s latest films, Chikamatsu Monogatari (“Story from Chikamatsu,” the famous playwright from whose work the film was derived) has long been overshadowed by The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu Monogatari, and Sansho the Bailiff, all prize-winners at the Venice film festival and often thought of as a sort of trilogy. When I finally got a chance to see Chikamatsu Monogatari in a 35mm screening, I was surprised that it was not considered alongside the earlier films. I suspect that the original American release title, The Crucified Lovers, suggesting a sensational film not associated usually associated with Mizoguchi. Like his more famous films, however, it deals with the cruelties, particularly against women, in earlier eras of Japanese history. Set in 1700, when adulterers were paraded through the streets and crucified, a faithful and sympathetic worker in a printing firm is falsely accused of having an affair with his wealthy boss’s wife. The two are forced to flee, and the rest of the film focuses on their growing love and the ruthless pursuit that drives them onward. The beauty of the cinematography and the rest of the film’s style are similar to those of the more famous films, and it deserves to be considered a comparable masterpiece. – Kristin Thompson