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Double Suicide
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Double Suicide

1969
Drama
1h 45m
In 18th Century in Japan, the paper merchant Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) falls in love for the courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), but he can not afford to redeem her from her master and owner of the brothel, since he spent all his money in the place with Koharu. Jihei's wife Osan tries to keep her husband with his two children and asks Koharu to leave him. The two lovers make a pact of double suicide to escape from the rigid rules of the Japanese society of 1720 and stay together after death. (imdb)
Directed by:
Masahiro Shinoda Masahiro Shinoda
Written by:
Masahiro Shinoda Masahiro Shinoda Monzaemon Chikamatsu
+1 more
Starring:
Jun Hamamura Jun Hamamura Kamatari Fujiwara Kamatari Fujiwara Hôsei Komatsu Hôsei Komatsu Shima Iwashita Shima Iwashita Kichiemon Nakamura Sumiko Hidaka Tokie Hidari Yoshi Katô Yoshi Katô Yûsuke Takita Makoto Akatsuka Takashi Sue
More
Genre:
Drama
AKA:
Shinjû: Ten no amijima
Country:
Japan
Language:
Japanese
imdb More information at IMDb
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Double Suicide

1969
Drama
1h 45m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 66.23% from 168 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

(167)
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psixaospsiXaos
Rated 16 Dec 2006
70
52nd
It is nothing like anything I've seen before. Based on a Japan Bunraku puppet theater play, but with a twist: the puppet masters are present throughout the story and act like faith. The b/w shading and lightning were perfect here. Story is a bit lame for our times but the originality of it makes you sit through and enjoy it.
Rated 16 Dec 2006
thedenizenTheDenizen
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
91st
Dark and artsy, you'll either love this human puppet show or go "What the hell?"
Rated 14 Aug 2007
seethruskinSeethruskin
Rated 20 Feb 2020
5
81st
Aka Puppets Who Kill (themselves)
Rated 20 Feb 2020
edkrakedkrak
Rated 04 May 2017
40
19th
This is certainly not the kind of new wave I love. Visually it's a treat, but a story... not so much. It's a very traditional jp story, but the whole puppet thing is not put to much use and it's mostly visual gimmick. Apart from that it's same old - fate, silly honor code etc. For me it's a very regressive cinema (especially considering when it was made).
Rated 04 May 2017
facsimileFacsimile
Rated 20 Aug 2021
85
69th
Expertly crafted. Boasting wonderful cinematography and a Shakespearean plot, this is a prime example of Japanese new wave cinema done right.
Rated 20 Aug 2021
perrystroikaPerryStroika
Rated 21 Oct 2010
69
83rd
Chikamatsu is known as the "Japanese Shakespeare", and the play is a sort of Japanese Romeo and Juliet. Shinoda brings a very refined modernist aesthetic sensibility to the material. The wife and the courtesan are played by the same woman (the beautiful Shima Iwashita), as if they were different aspects of the same woman. Gorgeous to look at, bathed in poetic mystery.
Rated 21 Oct 2010
nathan_sNathan S
Rated 29 Nov 2018
4
74th
I love the conceit: a classic doomed romance melodrama, told with modernist and metafictional dramatic devices. Literal stagehands loom over the proceedings, cloaked figures unseen by the characters but manipulating them toward their inevitable conclusion. As the fates will it, and as foreseen in the prologue, destiny is a script. These effects alienate and emphasize artifice and performance. Chikamatsu himself said that "art is something that lies in the slender margin between real and unreal."
Rated 29 Nov 2018
martintellerMartinTeller
Rated 14 Aug 2007
82
73rd
It's like New Wave Kabuki. To be honest, some of the meaning flew over my head until I read the accompanying booklet, but I liked it anyway. Excellent cinematography. Reminded me a bit of An Actor's Revenge.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
randorirandori
Rated 28 Oct 2012
85
87th
evli kucuk esnaf ile fahisenin aski toplum baskisi altinda ezilir. karakterlerin gelgitleri ve kararsizliklari, yonetmenin kukla tiyatrosu uslubu (dogville'in onculu gibi) ve sanatci estetigiyle ilginc bir is olmus.
Rated 28 Oct 2012
moribunnyMoribunny
Rated 14 Feb 2008
35
19th
In the words of another user, the gimmick is it's a "human puppet show". Puppets or no puppets, it's a lame, boring melodrama. Good cinematography, though.
Rated 14 Feb 2008
snallygastersnallygaster
Rated 26 Aug 2012
56
57th
One of the more appealing of the Japanese New Wave films I've seen, perhaps because the contrast between naturalism & theatricality is made explicit. On the other hand, the function 4th wall-breaking features is not necessarily obvious. The stagehands (for example) seem to be playing the role of Fate (the actors being their puppets), but they may just as well operate as an alienation effect to remind us of the source material, or represent the power of social obligation, or the subconscious...
Rated 26 Aug 2012

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