White Threads of the Waterfall
(Taki no Shiraito)
Screening on Film
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.
With Takako Irie, Tokihiko Okada.
Japan, 1933, 16mm, black & white, silent, 75 min.
Benshi soundtrack with English subtitles.
With Takako Irie, Tokihiko Okada.
Japan, 1933, 16mm, black & white, silent, 75 min.
Benshi soundtrack with English subtitles.
Considered by many as the most accomplished of Mizoguchi’s extant silent films, White Threads of the Waterfall offers his earliest exploration of the suffering heroine as emblem of tragic fatalism, here in the figure of a talented and ravishingly beautiful “water artist” who sacrifices her youth and career for the man she loves. Based on the stage version of a popular shinpa novel by Kyoka Izumi whose melodramatic imagination and frequently cutting depiction of Meiji-era Japan exerted a huge influence on Mizoguchi, White Threads of the Waterfall was the favorite film of the legendary benshi Midori Sawato (1925-87) who used the film to pass her art on to a new generation of katsuben.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
Utamaro and His Five Women
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1946
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
White Threads of the Waterfall
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1933
Screening on Film
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The Life of Oharu
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The 47 Ronin, Parts I & II
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1941
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
Tales of the Taira Clan
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1955
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
Victory of Women
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1946
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The Love of Sumako, the Actress
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1947
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The Woman of the Rumor
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954
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