The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

Kikunosuke Onoue (Shōtarō Hanayagi), an actor of female roles in late 19th-century Tokyo, learns that the praise he gets is meant for his famous adoptive father. He confides in Otoku (Kakuko Mori), a servant in the household, and the two fall in love. When he decides to leave home and earn his place on his own, she goes with him. Kenji Mizoguchi films their long, patient struggle mostly in distant, unbroken takes.