The Temple of Wild Geese

The Temple of Wild Geese

1962 · 98 min · ★ 6.5 · Drama

Satoko is a mistress by trade or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner—a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.

Directed by Yūzō Kawashima · Written by Kazuo Funahashi

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Cast

Ayako Wakao Satoko Kirihara
Masao Mishima Jikai Kitami
Isao Kimura Atsumichi Uda
Kuniichi Takami Jinen Horinouchi / Sutekichi
Ganjirō Nakamura II Nangaku Kishimoto
Mineko Yorozuyo Tatsu Kirihara
Yoshiko Kamo Masumi Fujimoto
Shoichi Ozawa Kuniitsu Takami
Kō Nishimura Mokudō Kida
Shinobu Araki Dokuseki Sugimoto
Kōichi Katsuragi Takemine Matsuyama
Ryōnosuke Azuma Shōan Kawaguchi

Make it a double feature

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A Geisha's Diary

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