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Tokyo, the 18th century: It all starts with painter Seinosuke (Kontaro
Bando), who feels deeply insulted by the fact that Utamaro (Minosuke
Bando), a common etchings painter spending most of his time portraying
prostitutes, would insult his school's painting style. He wants to
challenge Utamaro to a swordfight, but Utamaro prefers a painting duel,
and by simply adding a few lines to the sketch of Seinosuke, Utamaro
emerges the victor, and he leaves Seinosuke behind, deeply impressed. Seinosuke
decides to become Utamaro's student, even if that means dropping his
fiancée Yukie (Eiko Ohara), who's from a well-to-do family and who's
father would not accept his son-in-law being a common etchings painter. These
days, Utamaro is busy to paint the outline for an elaborate tattoo onto
prostitute Takasode's (Toshiko Iizuka) back ... but once he's finished,
she takes a powder with Shozaburo (Shotaro Nakamura), so far the boyfriend
of Utamaro's best friend, prostitute Okita (Kinuyo Tanaka), who then makes
Seinosuke her new loveslave, much to the dismay of Yukie, who has broken
with her father just to be with her fiancé. Somehow, Utamaro makes
Okita reconsider, and thinks he has entangled the knot that has been
created by people around him - but then he gets infatuated with Oran
(Hiroko Kawasaki), an upperclass beauty, and behind her husband's back, he
starts to draw her ... until her husband finds out and has him put under
house arrest on false chrges, and his arms tied up for 50 days so he can't
paint. Seinosuke, upon spotting Oran, falls in love with her, and the two
elope. Yukie goes after them, only to have her heart broken. Okita
meanwhile has tracked down the love of his life Shozaburo, and she tries
to get him back with nice words as well as with force, and when both don't
work, she kills hium and Takasode both. Utamaro can persuade her to give
herself up to the police, which might be the only way out of the death
penalty ... But there is a silver lining, all the problems began when he
couldn't paint no more, but with his sentence served, his hands are free
to paint again ... Based on rather fictional episodes in real
life painter Utamaro, Utamaro and his Five Women is one of the
"lighter" films in Kenji Mizoguchi's filmography, yet it's still
not a movie that tries to please ... but always offers a little bit of
relief between the drama parts (like the developing romance between
Utamaro's sidekick and his less than beautiful girlfriend amidst all the
gorgeous but deeply troubled leading ladies). Still, the whole thing is
carried by a subtle directorial effort combined with atmospheric
camerawork and a great ensemble cast, all of which totally make this movie
work as a timeless classic.
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