Kazuo Hasegawa is the Prince who is very much loved by all the ladies because he is handsome and brilliant and a great dancer.... no. It's because he's a prince and in the court of the Emperor of Japan, that's how you got ahead if you're a woman. He's married to a beautiful wife, and has a beautiful mistress and lots of beautiful admirers, and their fathers think very highly of his intelligence. Life is good, with no responsibilities. However, he falls in love with his father's new bride, and she with him, and the Emperor's Chief Concubine, Chieko Higashiyama, gets him to go into voluntary exile, lest he accidentally die of being poisoned while being shot before he can be beheaded.
It's based on Lady Murasaki's classic novel -- you can tell, because there's a beautiful, intelligent and kind young lady named Murasaki, who loves the Prince because he is handsome and brilliant and kind, and she gives such good advice; it's good to know that the Mary Sue trope did not arise recently. It's directed by Kôzaburô Yoshimura, one of the many highly competent studio directors of the Japanese industry, and beautifully shot by Kôhei Sugiyama, who was also cinematographer on a lot of Mizoguchi costume epics. It's a fine example of the sort of movie that was respectable for the highly educated classes in Japan, just like movies based on Henry James in America.
It's based on Lady Murasaki's classic novel -- you can tell, because there's a beautiful, intelligent and kind young lady named Murasaki, who loves the Prince because he is handsome and brilliant and kind, and she gives such good advice; it's good to know that the Mary Sue trope did not arise recently. It's directed by Kôzaburô Yoshimura, one of the many highly competent studio directors of the Japanese industry, and beautifully shot by Kôhei Sugiyama, who was also cinematographer on a lot of Mizoguchi costume epics. It's a fine example of the sort of movie that was respectable for the highly educated classes in Japan, just like movies based on Henry James in America.