The most impressive element of this film is a stunning performance by Kinuyo Tanaka as the title character Sumako -- the first real stage actress in Japan, whose short life was compounded of triumph and tragedy. We get to see Tanaka (as Sumako) in Ibsen's "Doll House", Tolstoy's "Resurrection" and a non-operatic version of "Carmen". So Yamamura did a decent job as the teacher/director who was Tanaka's mentor/lover. I found the script a bit too rigid (presumably this largely followed the facts of this actress's career). Nonetheless, one of the better scripts used by Mizoguchi around this time.
Filmed by Minoru Miki, who shot many of Mizoguchi's best early films, the visual beauty here was probably not fully shown off in the battered 16mm print I saw. I hope that a better print exists -- and that I see it some day.
Filmed by Minoru Miki, who shot many of Mizoguchi's best early films, the visual beauty here was probably not fully shown off in the battered 16mm print I saw. I hope that a better print exists -- and that I see it some day.