A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness

1977 Japanese film

May 21, 1977 (1977-05-21)

Running time

93 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapanese

A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (悲愁物語, Hishū monogatari) is a 1977 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki.^[1]

Plot

The film is about a professional model Reiko (Shiraki) who is being groomed for the golf circuit by the editor of a golfing fashion magazine. During her first professional competition she has great success, winning the approval of her mentor, a TV audience and others. Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of Reiko.^[2] The plot turns sinister as one of her devoted followers develops an obsession with Reiko and starts to blackmail and threaten her.^[3]

Cast

Yoko Shiraki
Yoshio Harada
Masumi Okada
Joe Shishido
Kōji Wada : Yoshizawa
Shuji Sano
Asao Koike
Keisuke Noro

Reception

Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye said, "Coming across like a deranged hybrid of Clint Eastwood's Play Misty for Me (1971) and Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), this sinister social satire of Stepford Wives-esque suburban aspiration set against the glamorous world of big budget sports promotion is impossible to pigeonhole as anything other than a Suzuki film."^[4]

David Carter of Film Fanaddict described the film as "a vastly different film from his previous body of work, but one that retained many of the stylistic touches for which he was known and contained more than a few subtle digs at corporations, fame and the entertainment industry."^[5]

References

^ 悲愁物語とは (in Japanese). kotobank. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
^ "A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness". MUBI. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ "Story of Sorrow and Sadness". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ Sharp, Jasper (1 July 2003). "Midnight Eye review: Story of Sorrow and Sadness". Midnight Eye.
^ Carter, David (17 February 2010). "A TALE OF SORROW (1977)". Film Fanaddict. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2012.