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...

Max

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

7.4

249 votes

7.4

249 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...

Max

7.2

621 votes

7.2

621 votes

The Water Magician

1933 · Movie · 110 min. · Japan

7.2

59 votes

7.2

59 votes

The Victory of Women

1946 · Movie · 84 min. · Japan

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