In 18th Century in Japan, the paper merchant Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) falls in love for the courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), but he can not afford to redeem her from her master and owner of the brothel, since he spent all his money in the place with Koharu. Jihei's wife Osan tries to keep her husband with his two children and asks Koharu to leave him. The two lovers make a pact of double suicide to escape from the rigid rules of the Japanese society of 1720 and stay together after death.
Kind of a Romeo & Juliett story set in 18th century Japan. What impressed me most about the film was it seemed to be acted out as a play. The action would sometimes pause momentarily and a character would fill the crowd in to what was going on. I definitely need to view this again before I send it back because I'm sure I missed a lot. Also, the hooded figures were quite mysterious. Were they just stage hands moving scenary around or did they have some deeper meaning (angels of death perhaps)?
