Controversial Masterpiece of Japanese New Wave Cinema

   

Original Japanese Title: ONNA NO MIZUMI [Woman of the Lake]

director: Yoshishige Okada (as Kiju Yoshida)
starring: Mariko Okada · Shigeru Tsuyuguchi · Tamotsu Hayakawa · Keiko Natsu · Aiko Masuda

    

Miyako Mizuki, the dissatisfied and attractive wife of a wealthy businessman, is having an affair with Ginpei Momoi, an employee of her husband. During one of their liaisons, he convinces her to pose for some naked photographs. A bit later, the negatives ends up in the hands of a secret admirer with intentions of sexual blackmail. Miyako agrees to meet the extortionist in a small coastal spa town. Boyfriend Ginpei follows. But soon things soon escalate into a poignant surprise ending.

Japanese New Wave director Okada - perhaps, that country's most underrated filmmaker - delivers a masterpiece here, reminiscent of Hiroshi Teshigahara's 1964 WOMAN IN THE DUNES. This one stars his wife and muse Mariko Okada, based on the counterculture novel by Yasunari Kawabata. The film's central theme (years before its time) deals with the element of stalking and intrusion, as exemplified by the director's own stark voyeuristic cinematography.