Lady Musashino

Japan's contributions to the 1957 Venice Film Festival included three earlier-vintage Kenzi Mizoguchi films. Produced in 1951, Musashino Fujin (aka Mrs. Musashino and Lady Musashino) is another of Mizoguchi's pro-feminist efforts. The title character comes to grief when she falls in love with her cousin. In any other culture, this would constitute a betrayal, except that the woman's husband is a flagrant philanderer. In the end, however, Lady Musashino is let down by both the men in her life. Her drastic solution to her problem is treated by the director as an act of courage and defiance.

Set in post-war Japan, The Lady of Musashino tells the story of Michiko, a disillusioned young woman trapped in a loveless marriage. She confides in her younger cousin, Tsutomo, and the two become close, but decide not to consummate their affair. He instead becomes involved with the flirtatious Tomiko, who is also conducting an affair with Michiko's husband. When Michiko finds that her husband has abandoned her, she decides to take her fate into her own hands.