Direction: Kenji Mizoguchi
The best movies, series, and documentaries directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Explore exceptional titles that showcase a unique filmmaking vision.
Titles found: 94
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 · Movie · 123 min. · Japan
Direction Kenji Mizoguchi
Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Yoshiaki Hanayaki · Kyôko Kagawa · Eitarô Shindô
Synopsis '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 a provincial governor's attempts to protect the rights of regional...
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
Synopsis 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 city, while his brother-in-law Tobei wishes to become a samurai.
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
Synopsis 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, the two flee away. While on the run, Osan and...
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
Synopsis 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 discovered, Oharu and her family are obliged to live in...
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
Synopsis 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 of his brother, is sincere enough to tell him the...
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
Synopsis 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 married, her husband unemployed; they have a young child. Yumeko,...
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
Synopsis 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 of training they have to find a large sum of...
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
Synopsis 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 her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu...
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
Synopsis 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 their influence over the court. General An Lushan finds a...
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
Synopsis 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 is having an affair with her sister.
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
Synopsis 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. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting...
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
Synopsis 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 Forces commander Captain Tadamori returns to Kyoto after successfully defeating...
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
Synopsis 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 harakiri. His samurai retinue are dispersed as masterless ronin. The...
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
Synopsis 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 her brother Hiroshi to pay his university tuition, but her...
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
Synopsis 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 peasant stock. After her mother and father die in rapid...
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
Synopsis 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 dealer, Kumazawa, who takes in Sokichi. Kumazawa mistreats Sokichi and...
6.9
61 votes
6.9
61 votes