Review of Manji (1964) by Alex L — 28 Jul 2008

Oh that Mitsuko! If you like your lovers constantly conniving and horrifyingly manipulative, you'll love Mitsuko. I won't spoil any of her surprises, but she doesn't disappoint! The storyline is sort of like a Japanese Peyton Place gone berserk, centered Mitsuko's sociopathic seduction of an unhappily married woman and later of her hapless husband, accomplished through a series of ingeniously warped mind games.

Mitsuko has her own problems, however, with another lover who not only traps his rivals in humilating situations, he gets them to sign legal documents testifying to the facts! Yet he's no Mitsuko, and by the end, her single-minded need to be loved and worshipped reaches an astonishing level.

Masumara packs a lot of hysteria, scheming, eroticism, and obsession into ninety minutes. It all points toward the characters' self-destruction, which feels both inevitable and deserved. I enjoyed the descent into Mitsuko-obsession, beginning in whispers, then scandal, then screaming, and then turning so intense that the characters can no longer even function in society.

Perhaps what I remember most about the movie, as much as all the crazed declarations, fantastic dresses, and twisted uses of sleep medication, is the part of Mitsuko's maid, who must have the most unusual domestic servant duties on earth.

Ah, to serve Mitsuko!