This beautifully realized tale of poor man and his wife -- played by Toshiro Mifune and Ayako Wakao -- who have lost their daughter. The following evening a baby appears with a crystal ball, the image of the dead child. Within days, they find a fortune in good and the child has grown into Yasuko Kawaguchi, the most beautiful girl in Japan. Three noblemen come to court her, and she sets them three impossible tasks.
It's derived from a story by Lady Murasaki, who invented the formal novel. It is beautifully shot and performed, although it was clearly made in the 1980s -- the immense spaceship at the end looks like the alien spacecraft from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The entire movie offers an unworldly tone that suits its fantastic nature perfectly.
Although Lady Murasaki is often credited with inventing the novel, in fact there had been Chinese novels for a couple of centuries. It was, however, a lower-class phenomenon; epic poetry was the medium for longer, more involved tales, and would remain so for centuries.
It's derived from a story by Lady Murasaki, who invented the formal novel. It is beautifully shot and performed, although it was clearly made in the 1980s -- the immense spaceship at the end looks like the alien spacecraft from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The entire movie offers an unworldly tone that suits its fantastic nature perfectly.
Although Lady Murasaki is often credited with inventing the novel, in fact there had been Chinese novels for a couple of centuries. It was, however, a lower-class phenomenon; epic poetry was the medium for longer, more involved tales, and would remain so for centuries.