Kyoto, 1684. Osan is unfairly suspected of adultery. She is accused of cheating on her husband Ishun, who is a wealthy and brutal purveyor to the court, with his assistant Mohee. Since an unauthorized relationship undermines the rigid rules of feudal society and is severely punished, Osan and Mohee both flee. It is only on the run that they confess their love for each other. Mizoguchi surrounds the central love story with a multitude of characters and vignettes - around which the cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, with whom Mozoguchi often worked, revolves in a flowing and precise manner.
(Arsenal Kino)