Orizuru Osen

(The Downfall of Osen) is a 1935 black and white Japanese silent film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Isuzu Yamada. It is based on Kyōka Izumi's novel Baishoku Kamo Nanban.

Like most Japanese silent films, it played with benshi accompaniment. The film centers on the theme of the strength of a woman who gives everything to the man she loves; a theme which Mizoguchi explored his whole life. The moving camera technique and bold retrospective scenes greatly reflect Mizoguchi's experimental approach.

Cast
 Isuzu Yamada as Osen
 Daijiro Natsukawa as Sokichi Hata
 Ichiro Yoshizawa as Ukiki
 Shin Shibata as Kumazawa
 Genichi Fujii as Matsuda
 Eiji Nakano as the Professor

Reception
Japanese film scholar Chika Kinoshita noted that the film occupies a special place within the critical reception of Kenji Mizoguchi's oeuvre and it has been singled out as one of the earliest embodiments of his style in the late 1930s.

References

External links

Category:1935 films
Category:Films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Category:Japanese films
Category:Japanese silent films
Category:Japanese black-and-white films
Category:Japanese drama films
Category:1930s drama films