The Life of Oharu – Blu-ray

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi

A peerless chronicler of the soul who specialized in supremely emotional, visually exquisite films about the circumstances of women in Japanese society, Kenji Mizoguchi had already been directing movies for decades when he made The Life of Oharu in 1952. This epic portrait of an inexorable fall from grace, starring the astounding Kinuyo Tanaka as an imperial lady-in-waiting who gradually descends to street prostitution, gained the director international attention and ushered in a new golden period for him.

Key Features

• New high-definition digital film restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Introductory commentary by scholar Dudley Andrew
• Illustrated audio essay Mizoguchi’s Art and the Demimonde featuring Dudley Andrew
• Documentary Kinuyo Tanaka’s New Departure (2009) by Koko Kajiyama
• New English subtitle translation
• Includes booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Gilberto Perez

Special Features