Direction: Kenji Mizoguchi
The best movies, series, and documentaries directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Explore exceptional titles that showcase a unique filmmaking vision.
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 · Movie · 123 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Yoshiaki Hanayaki · Kyôko Kagawa · Eitarô Shindô
Plot 'Sansho Dayu' reaches back to a Japanese folk tale of the 12th century to depict the barbarism of a dark age, when people didn't know how to be human. When...
8.3
5K votes
8.3
5K votes
Tales of Ugetsu
1953 · Movie · 96 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Machiko Kyô · Mitsuko Mito · Kinuyo Tanaka · Masayuki Mori
Plot In the civil wars of 16th century Japan, two ambitious peasants want to make their fortunes. The potter Genjuro intends to sell his wares for vast profits in the local...
8.2
9K votes
8.2
9K votes
The Crucified Lovers
1954 · Movie · 102 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kazuo Hasegawa · Kyôko Kagawa · Yôko Minamida · Eitarô Shindô
Plot Set in 17th century Kyoto, Osan is married to Ishun, a wealthy miserly scroll-maker. When Osan is falsely accused of having an affair with the Ishun’s most trusted servant, Mohei,...
8.1
2K votes
8.1
2K votes
The Life of Oharu
1952 · Movie · 148 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Tsukie Matsuura · Ichiro Sugai · Toshirô Mifune
Plot It tells the story of Oharu, a 50-year-old woman who suffers the strict conventions of 17th century Feudal Japan. She becomes the lover of a man, but when they are...
8.1
2K votes
8.1
2K votes
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
1939 · Movie · 143 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Shotaro Hanayagi · Kakuko Mori · Kôkichi Takada · Yôko Umemura
Plot Tokyo, 1885. Kikunosuke, son of the famous actor Kikugoro, is openly praised for his performance on the stage. His success is actually due to his name; only Otoku, the wet-nurse...
8.0
2K votes
8.0
2K votes
Street of Shame
1956 · Movie · 85 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Machiko Kyô · Aiko Mimasu · Ayako Wakao · Michiyo Kogure
Plot Five prostitutes work at Dreamland, in Tokyo's Yoshiwara district. As the Diet considers a ban on prostitution, the women's daily dramas play out. Each has dreams and motivations. Hanae is...
7.9
2K votes
7.9
2K votes
A Geisha (Gion bayashi)
1953 · Movie · 85 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Michiyo Kogure · Ayako Wakao · Seizaburô Kawazu · Saburo Date
Plot In the post-war Gion district of Kyoto, the geisha Miyoharu agrees to apprentice the 16 year-old Eiko, whose mother was a former geisha who had just died. After a year...
7.7
964 votes
7.7
964 votes
Miss Oyu (Oyû-sama)
1951 · Movie · 94 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Nobuko Otowa · Yuji Hori · Kiyoko Hirai
Plot Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective marriage partner, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise...
7.7
860 votes
7.7
860 votes
Princess Yang Kwei-fei
1955 · Movie · 98 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Machiko Kyô · Masayuki Mori · Sô Yamamura · Eitarô Shindô
Plot In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate...
7.6
1K votes
7.6
1K votes
Portrait of Madame Yuki
1950 · Movie · 88 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Michiyo Kogure · Yoshiko Kuga · Ken Uehara · Yuriko Hamada
7.4
249 votes
7.4
249 votes
The Crucified Woman (Uwasa no onna)
1954 · Movie · 83 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Tomoemon Otani · Yoshiko Kuga · Eitarô Shindô
7.4
705 votes
7.4
705 votes
Women of the Night
1948 · Movie · 73 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Sanae Takasugi · Tomie Tsunoda · Mitsuo Nagata
Plot Fusako Owada, a young woman in postwar Japan, is the mistress of a notorious drug dealer. Fusako's tenuous grasp on meaningful life is shaken when she learns that her lover...
7.2
339 votes
7.2
339 votes
Sisters of the Gion
1936 · Movie · 69 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Isuzu Yamada · Yôko Umemura · Benkei Shiganoya · Eitarô Shindô
Plot Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife....
7.2
731 votes
7.2
731 votes
The Taira Clan Saga
1955 · Movie · 108 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Narutoshi Hayashi · Raizô Ichikawa · Tatsuya Ishiguro · Akitake Kôno
Plot Set in 12th Century Japan against a rich social and political background, TALES OF THE TAIRA CLAN is an epic tale of power struggles, family drama, and human frailty. Special...
7.2
242 votes
7.2
242 votes
The Loyal 47 Ronin
1941 · Movie · 241 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Yoshizaburo Arashi · Utaemon Ichikawa · Chojuro Kawarasaki · Tokusaburo Arashi
Plot Lord Asano resists a bribery attempt by a member of the Shogun's court. His honesty, however, is useless against the corruption of the administration, and he is forced to commit...
7.2
621 votes
7.2
621 votes
The Water Magician
1933 · Movie · 110 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Takako Irie · Tokihiko Okada · Nobuo Kosaka · Bontarô Miake
7.2
59 votes
7.2
59 votes
The Victory of Women
1946 · Movie · 84 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Michiko Kuwano · Mitsuko Miura · Shin Tokudaiji
7.0
58 votes
7.0
58 votes
Osaka Elegy
1936 · Movie · 71 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Isuzu Yamada · Seiichi Takegawa · Chiyoko Okura · Shinpachiro Asaka
Plot Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss, Mr. Asai, so she can pay her father's debt, and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement. She also sends money to...
7.0
497 votes
7.0
497 votes
The Lady from Musashino
1951 · Movie · 88 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Yukiko Todoroki · Masayuki Mori · Akihiko Katayama
Plot Near the end of the War, Michiko, a middle-aged woman of samurai blood, flees Tokyo for her ancestral home in Musashino, accompanied by her husband Akiyama, a university professor of...
6.9
123 votes
6.9
123 votes
The Downfall of Osen
1935 · Movie · 87 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Isuzu Yamada · Daijirô Natsukawa · Mitsusaburô Ramon · Genichi Fuji
Plot Sokichi Hata moves to Tokyo hoping to get into medical school, but he doesn't have the means to survive. There, he meets Osen, the servant girl of an unscrupulous antiques...
6.9
61 votes
6.9
61 votes