Seisaku no Tsuma

The Wife of Seisaku

Berlinale Classics 2025

Set in Japan in about 1900. Rich but despised, Okane returns to her home village after the death of her much older, brutal husband. The bigoted villagers consider her a “witch”, especially after she begins a passionate relationship with Seisaku, a model soldier. When Japan declares war on Russia, her beloved is called to battle, where he is wounded and then nursed back to health. He wants to return to the front. Okane takes drastic steps to prevent that … Director Yasuzô Masumura, who trained in Italy, and Daiei Studio’s leading lady Ayako Wakao made five “tsuma eigas”, or wives’ films, together. Seisaku no Tsuma, based on a story that had been filmed once before in 1924, expressed harsh criticism of militarism in the Japanese state and society. That critique is embedded in a fierce melodrama full of erotic and violent moments.
The restoration was based on the original negative and sound. It was possible to restore the original texture and beauty of the black-and-white DaieiScope movie using the storyboarded editing plan.

by Yasuzô Masumura (Director), Kaneto Shindô (Screenplay)
with Ayako Wakao, Takahiro Tamura, Nobuo Chiba, Yûzô Hayakawa, Mikio Narita, Yuka Konno, Taiji Tonoyama Japan 1965 Japanese 93' Black/White World premiere of the digitally restored version

With

Ayako Wakao
Takahiro Tamura
Nobuo Chiba
Yûzô Hayakawa
Mikio Narita
Yuka Konno
Taiji Tonoyama

Crew

Director	Yasuzô Masumura
Screenplay	Kaneto Shindô
Cinematography	Tomohiro Akino
Editing	Tatsuji Nakashizu
Music	Tadashi Yamanouchi
Sound	Toshikazu Watanabe
Production Design	Tomoo Shimogawara
Producer	Takeo Ito
Executive Producer	Masaichi Nagata

World Sales

Kadokawa Corporation

Additional information

DCP: Kadokawa