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The Chinese Emperor Genso of the Tang Dynast marries a beautiful scullery maid on the death of his wife, with whom he falls in love. The new empress is destroyed by jealousies and intrigue around her as a popular revolt rises against the couple. This film uses an exquisite colour range with costumes and decor to relay the characters’ emotional turmoil. A film about political intrigue and corruption in 8th century China, ‘Princess Yang Kwei Fei’ depicts the dying stages of a dynasty. In the film’s final scenes the Emperor, who has survived the uprising but is old and unhappy, is mystically reunited with his deceased wife.
Credits: Producer, Masaichi Nagata, Run Run Shaw ; director, Kenji Mizoguchi ; writer, Yoda Yoshikata, Matsutaro Kawaguchi, Masashige Narusawa, Tao Jin ; photography, Kohei Sugiyama ; music, Hayasaka Fumio.
Cast: Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, So Yamamura, Eitaro Ozawa, Eitaro Shindo, Haruko Sugimura.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
F000022
Languages
English
Japanese
Subject categories
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → China - Politics and government
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
35mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)