The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

1939 · 144 min · ★ 7.8 · Romance, Drama

In late 19th-century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that the praise he receives is only due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully joins him.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi · Written by Yoshikata Yoda

Your Rating

Cast

Shōtarō Hanayagi Kikunosuke Onoue
Kakuko Mori Otoku
Kōkichi Takada Fukusuke Nakamura
Kinnosuke Takamatsu Matsusuke Onoue
Gonjurô Kawarazaki Kikugoro Onoue
Benkei Shiganoya Masseur Genshun
Kikuko Hanaoka Geisha Konaka
Nobuko Fushimi Geisha Eiryu
Ichiro Yuki Hotel lodger
Tokusaburo Arashi Shikan Nakamura
Yōko Umemura Osata
Ryôtarô Kawanami Eiju Dayu

Trailers & Videos

Make it a double feature

3h 33m together

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

Sisters of the Gion

Both from Kenji Mizoguchi.

More from Kenji MizoguchiSee all →

Sansho the Bailiff

Sansho the Bailiff · 1954

Sansho the Bailiff

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Ugetsu

MovieFantasyDrama

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Chikamatsu Monogatari

Chikamatsu Monogatari · 1954

Chikamatsu Monogatari

MovieDramaRomance

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

The Life of Oharu

The Life of Oharu · 1952

The Life of Oharu

During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

Street of Shame

Street of Shame · 1956

Street of Shame

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

A Geisha

A Geisha · 1953

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

The Woman in the Rumor

The Woman in the Rumor · 1954

The Woman in the Rumor

After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much.

The Water Magician

The Water Magician · 1933

The Water Magician

MovieDramaRomance

Taki no Shiraito is a very independent young woman with a famous water juggling act in a travelling carnival troupe. She falls in love with an orphaned carriage driver Kinya Murakoshi, and pledges to put him through law school in Tokyo. She always encloses money in her letters to him, until one hard winter there is no work to be found.

Miss Oyu

Miss Oyu · 1951

MovieDramaRomance

Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective marriage partner, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu convinces Shinnosuke and Shizu to marry so that she can remain close to Shinnosuke.

Utamaro and His Five Women

Utamaro and His Five Women · 1946

Utamaro and His Five Women

Utamaro, a great artist, lives to create portraits of beautiful women, and the Tokyo brothels provide his models. A world of passion swirls around him, as the women vie for lovers, and, occasionally, his art gets him into trouble.

Women of the Night

Women of the Night · 1948

Women of the Night

In early post-war Osaka, three women—war widow Fusako, her Korean expat sister Natsuko, and Kumiko, Fusako's sister-in-law—descend into prostitution, all for their individual reasons.

Sisters of the Gion

Sisters of the Gion · 1936

Sisters of the Gion

A geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto feels obliged to help her lover when he asks to stay with her after going bankrupt and leaving his wife. However, her younger sister opposes this, thinking that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them.

The 47 Ronin

The 47 Ronin · 1941

MovieDramaHistory

In the early 18th-century, Lord Takumi-no-kami Asano, feuding with Lord Kira, tries to kill his opponent in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Asano to seppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Kira. Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the Lord's dishonour. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi seeks to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses, and Oishi and 46 rōnin are out for revenge.

Taira Clan Saga

Taira Clan Saga · 1955

Taira Clan Saga

MovieDramaHistory

Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei.

Portrait of Madame Yuki

Portrait of Madame Yuki · 1950

Portrait of Madame Yuki

A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness.

Osaka Elegy

Osaka Elegy · 1936

Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss in order to pay her father's debt and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement.

More Like This

Jacquot

Jacquot · 1991

Jacquot Demy, the son of a garage owner and a hairdresser, is fascinated by cinema and decides to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker by any means necessary.

The Divine Sarah Bernhardt

The Divine Sarah Bernhardt · 2024

The Divine Sarah Bernhardt

MovieDramaRomance

1915, Sarah Bernhardt is the world's first star. Free. Modern. Divine. Eccentric. Visionary... Between legend and fantasy, Sarah Bernhardt tells us the love story that marked her life.

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild · 2020

The Call of the Wild

MovieAdventureFamily

Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team—and later its leader—Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.

Rise of the Legend

Rise of the Legend · 2014

Rise of the Legend

MovieDramaAction

In 1868 during the late Qing Dynasty, rampant corruption on the Imperial Court inflicts much suffering in people's lives. For years, the Black Tiger’s fearsome boss Lei Gong has been trying to get rid of the leader of the Northern Sea. One of his latest recruits is Fei, a fearless fighter who takes the Northern Sea leader’s head after a fierce fight. Just as Lei Gong believes he has total control of the port, a new gang called the Orphans rises in power. Led by Fei’s childhood friend Huo, the Orphans are out to eliminate all the criminal power from the port…

3 Women

3 Women · 1977

Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter