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The Masseurs and a Woman
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Wikipedia article
is a 1938 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu.
Plot
The movie opens with Fuku and his fellow blind masseur friend Toku walking down a mountain path, heading for a onsen town where they have been hired to serve guests at the Goddess and Whale ryokan. Toku develops an affection for a female customer who passed him on his way to the village and whom he recognises by her distinct Tokyo smell. The woman also awakens the interest of a male guest who arrived together with his little nephew. When a series of thefts occurs, Toku, believing that she is the culprit, wants to help her escape. Instead, he not only learns that she is innocent, but also that she is on the run from her patron whom she dislikes. The next day, she leaves the village in a carriage with a man, possibly her patron, witnessed by Toku and the man with his nephew.
Cast
* Mieko Takamine as Michiko Misawa
* Shin Tokudaiji as Tokuichi
* Shinichi Himori as Fukuinchi Misawa
* Bakudan Kozo as Kenichi
* Shin Saburi as Shintaro Omura
* Ayuko Hirano as Hiking girl
* Toru Hirose as Hiking student
* Zentaro Iijima as Kamekichi
* Akio Isono as Hiking student
* Hideko Kasuga as Okiku
* Toshiaki Konoe as Hiking student
* Chieko Kyotani (credited Chieko Kyoya) as Oaki
* Fusako Maki as Hiking girl
* Mitsuko Miura as Hiking girl
Legacy
Film scholar Alexander Jacoby describes 'The Masseurs and a Woman' as part of a group of three Shimizu films (together with 'Mr. Thank You ' and 'Ornamental Hairpin') which "were bittersweet studies of grown-up feelings" and "group portraits set among temporary communities" that "concentrated more on the delineation of character than on plot". Distanced from social and political realities and with its largely personal concerns, it conformed, according to Jacoby, with the producing company Shochiku's tradition of 'funa flavor' films (low-key domestic dramas, named after the location of the company's studios).
Home media
The Criterion Collection released the film in the US on DVD in 2009 as part of the Eclipse Series 15: "Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu".
References
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