Senhora Musashino

A pretty racy film about a family trapped by tradition and warped by modernity. I found our heroine to be too self-sacrificing to be truly interesting, though her situation (caught between illicit love and familial restraint) sympathetic. I did relate in a personal sense to her attachment to a rural past, and understood her inability and desire to transcend it. None of the characters was especially interesting, being there to represent types and ideas more than for nuanced development -- no subtle Ozu or Naruse moments here. A lot of interfamilial 1) love & 2) sleeping around. Fun! ... For me the film was too baldly nostalgic about traditional Japan & too overt about the warping of Western influences -- until the end, in which it all came together in a stunning, profound fashion. Not my favorite Mizoguchi, or the most beautiful, but I'm glad I saw it.