Utamaro and His Five Women
Utamaro and His Five Women or Five Women Around Utamaro Japanese , Hepburn Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna? is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the novel of the same title by Kanji Kunieda, itself a fictionalized account of the life of printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro. It was Mizoguchis first film made under the American occupation.
The film starts with a parade of samurai and their concubines oiran, distinguished by their high shoes along an avenue of cherry trees. Koide, called Seinosuke by his woman Yukie Kotaro Bando, an artistsamurai apprenticed to a Kan master, leaves the parade and visits a print shop where he sees a woodcut print by Utamaro that boasts of ukiyoe s superiority to the official style. Enraged, he goes to a teahouse to find Tsutaya Jzabur, the owner of the print shop, to express his displeasure. Word is leaked to Utamaro to avoid the teashop, but instead he goes there directly to investigate. Koide then challenges him to a duel. Utamaro counterchallenges him with a different kind of duela painting contest. Utamaro is declared the winner by Koide, who then acknowledges Utamaros superiority. Koide then follows Utamaro as a disciple. ........
Source: Wikipedia
