YÔKIHI (1955) -- Plum Blossoms

Mizoguchi's debut colour feature follows on from his sensational run of successes in the early 1950s - and in terms of narrative and character development, its considerably less polished than those prior masterworks. Still, if he was nervous about this first venture into the polychromatic then he needn't have worried - Yôkihi boasts a number of sequences that are worthy of standing alongside the best that the director has to offer. This scene, taking place amongst plum blossoms in an artificial wonderland, marries Mizoguchi's beguiling lyricism with delicately opaque characterisations to forge an indelible portrait of loneliness.

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