Naniwa no koi no monogatari

The English title pays homage to Chikamatsu Monzaemon, perhaps Japan’s most significant playwright, upon whose play Tomu Uchida’s opulent historical film is based. In a sort of frame narrative, he places the poet on the narrative sidelines, from where he more or less documents how the inexperienced yet upstanding Chubei (Kinnosuke Nakamura) falls in love with the young geisha Umegawa (played by Ineko Arima) in the Shinmachi red-light district. When he realizes that she has to work as a prostitute to pay for her sick mother’s medicine, he embezzles money and flees with her. The lengthy, almost floating tracking shots offer a clear view of the tableaux of the artificial, theatrical setting. (mg)