Daily Movie Rec 4/10/2023

Osaka Elegy (1936)

"I have a serious illness called 'delinquency'."

Directed by: Kenji Mizoguchi

Cinematography by: Minoru Miki

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama

Plot:

A young switchboard operator becomes her boss’s mistress in exchange for money to pay off her indignant father’s felony debts.

Reasons to watch:

Restrained and somber, Mizoguchi’s quietly masterful sense of staging and depth of field evokes the protagonist’s alienation as she navigates fragile male egos, hypocrisy, and denigration.

Where to watch:

The Criterion Channel/Max