Les Tambours de la nuit

Samurai Rentarô Mikuni sends word that he has a promotion and won't be home for another year and a half. When he returns home, he is happy to see his wife, Ineko Arima, and she him. Rumors, however, fly, that she has had an affair in his absence with Masayuki Mori. Mikuni does not wish to believe this. Feudal Japanese law -- this is the early 18th Century -- calls for the death of the woman and her lover.

Tadashi Imai directs this movie from a script based on Monzaemon Chikamatsu's puppet play, THE DRUM OF THE WAVE OF HORIKAWA, and all three principals act as if they are unwilling puppets under the control of forces beyond their control. It was originally produced in 1705, and doubtless was soon done in live performance on the Kabuki, like many of the dramatist's works. It has been revived several times, including an Off-Broadway adaptation that ran for a month in 2007 and won an Obie. Like many of Imai's movies, it is a sad and angry indictment of normative Japanese values, no matter what the era.