My Love Has Been Burning

A film that deserves the same kind of praise as Ugetsu Monogatari and Sansho Dayu. Drawn from the autobiography of a late 19th century pioneer for women's rights in Japan, the film is one woman's journey through an extremely complex, contradiction-laden phase of modern Japanese history: when notions of democratic party politics were cohering, for instance, although - as is devastatingly demonstrated - not even the most liberal-thinking male politician thought to extend the freedoms for which he was fighting to his own wife. Undoubtedly one of Mizoguchi's most violent films - the scenes in the silk mill and prison show some horrific brutalities - it's also notable for a wonderful performance from Mizoguchi's favourite actress, Kinuyo Tanaka.