Oyuki the Virgin

Kenji Mizoguchi's elegant adaptation of a Guy de Maupassant story, transplanted from France to Meiji-era Japan. When civil war threatens to engulf their village, two geishas flee with a group of soldiers. During the chaotic journey, the gentle Oyuki — whose purity and kindness set her apart from the mercenary world around her — becomes the object of a rough soldier's devotion. Mizoguchi, already developing his signature empathy for women trapped by social forces beyond their control, brings a painterly visual sensibility to the period setting and draws a performance of luminous dignity from his lead. The film anticipates the themes that would consume Mizoguchi's greatest works — The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff — making it essential viewing for anyone who wants to trace the development of one of cinema's supreme humanist artists.