Original subtitles

Heat Shimmer Theater

Executive Producer GENJIRO ARATO

Produced by KENJI ITO

Screenplay by YOZO TANAKA Original story by KYOKA IZUMI

Cinematographer KAZUE NAGATSUKA

Cast

YUSAKU MATSUDA

MICHIYO OKUSU

EMIKO AZUMA ERIKO KUSUDA

ASAO SANO ISAO TAMAGAWA

MARIKO KAGA

RYUTARO OTOMO

YOSHIO HARADA

KATSUO NAKAMURA

Directed by SEIJUN SUZUKI

Would you mind terribly?

If you're going to the hospital, please escort me there.

The thing is, I'm not going there.

Is that so?

Is there some reason you can't go alone?

I'm scared.

The old woman who sells bladder cherries there frightens me.

A vendor, you say?

There are no vendors.

She was there, in the rising vapor.

There's no one here now.

I bought one from her.

For fifty sen.

Fifty sen? That's awfully expensive.

She told me…

…she was selling “women's souls.”

She asked if I wanted to hear their cries.

Do I know you? Have we met before?

We haven't.

Women's souls, you say?

I paid the fifty sen and the old woman told me…

“Don't visit your friend, she is dying.”

That made me very afraid.

So I fled.

And that's why you called out to me?

Yes, I suddenly felt so alone.

What will you do?

Visit the patient?

What frightened you is gone.

You can go alone now.

Yes.

But I can't.

I don't wish to.

I have changed my mind.

What a waste! They're so beautiful.

They represent my compassion. My friend will dream of it.

A woman swallowed a bladder cherry and died.

She became ill, she vomited blood.

She was glad to vomit.

“The bladder cherry melted.”

Then she vomited again.

“The bladder cherry is melting away. I'm so pleased.”

Is it true? Did she die?

It was somewhere around here.

I lost a letter from a lady.

Some evil person may have picked it up.

That letter…?

I picked it up near here.

Give it back.

Are you Mr. Shunko Matsuzaki?

A love letter from a married woman.

You're a sinful man, Mr. Matsuzaki.

Give it back.

You told me a strange story. Accept it as punishment.

Shall I consider it to be your soul?

I picked the flowers at the cemetary.

I gathered them one by one from each grave.

They're for my patient friend.

If you want my soul,

keep it.

Her name?

I don't know.

I don't remember when it was…

A month ago, or three months, or even a year…

Flowers from a cemetary?

She wants the patient to die?

If you're ever hospitalized, I'll give you the same.

They'll reek of incense.

It sounds as if you hate me.

I'm worried about the person in the hospital.

Who did she want to give them to?

A man?

Her husband?

A lover she was about to jettison?

You're wrong.

It's a woman. A gift to a female patient.

Did you ever see her again?

It wasn't on purpose.

Don't treat the elderly so roughly.

Another old woman.

It feels like a beheading.

Please. Her hand touched my hair.

I can't stand it.

That's cold.

It chills my bones.

As if I were being cut.

Mr. Matsuzaki.

This feels wonderful.

How will you explain this to your husband?

You've let your hair down.

Besides that, it's soaking wet.

He may think you've betrayed him.

I'll tell him the truth. It doesn't matter.

If he doesn't believe me…

What will you do?

Well, what shall we do?

Mr. Matsuzaki.

Women aren't as weak as you may think.

Is that all?

No. We met once more.

It sounds like fate.

I was drinking with friends at Omori.

I don't recall what happened.

All I remember is I was standing down there.

I've been expecting you.

Come in, darling.

It's you.

How come?

Your servant brought me here.

Oh, no.

What do you want me to do? Go home?

You're expecting someone else, it seems.

I won't be a nuisance.

- I'll go home. - Don't.

Sorry if I offended you.

I get lonely at night. Keep me company.

But I've crossed the river.

My clothes are wet and dirty.

I'll get your tatami mats dirty.

You don't mind?

Do you?

Who were you waiting for?

Is your husband away again?

Beautiful, isn't it?

The one you were waiting for may be coming now.

I don't care. You came in his place.

“In his place?”

Does that bother you?

Lets have a drink.

Three times in a row is more than a coincidence.

It's downright creepy.

- Are you scared? - Yes.

Like you were scared of the bladder cherry vendor.

Somehow, I'm scared of you.

I'm not an old woman.

You're both hiding your true selves.

My body, you mean? Get to know it.

How?

The more I approach, the more you recede.

If I try to hold you…

What will happen to us?

I can't know, at least not until I experience you.

Strange woman.

You think so?

Yes, you are.

Flowers from a cemetary.

Meeting your husband while soaking wet.

I suppose I am.

I'm strange.

You're a liar. You're telling lies.

You aren't married.

You have no patient friend.

Am I right?

Madame…

I'll expose you.

Did you?

Not really.

It was as brief as the duration of the fireworks.

Who lit them?

Me. And that's all it was.

Are you sure?

Absolutely positive.

I can't even remember where her house was.

Chicken?

Duck. I shot it on the Tone River.

Don't you like it?

As a child, I once failed to kill a chicken.

I choked its neck, but it wouldn't die.

It kept staring up at me.

This made me recall it.

Buckshot. Sorry, I'll fire the chef.

That isn't necessary. It's rather good.

Excuse me.

Where's the bathroom?

TAMAWAKI

“Birds for sale”

Good morning.

What time is it?

It's 10. You had a lot to drink last night.

I'm sorry. My bird got in here, somehow.

You're so funny when you're asleep. Like this.

By the way, a messenger came from Mr. Tamawaki.

Thanks.

You can have your breakfast any time.

Is it the same room?

It can't be.

Going out?

Yes, I'm taking a walk.

What's Mrs. Tamawaki like?

Don't you know?

I was his maid before he went to study in Germany.

He got married after he returned.

I wasn't working for him then.

Didn't he let you see her?

I hear she's beautiful.

You want me?

Sorry, I was mistaken.

Looking for someone?

You look like her from behind.

Only from behind?

How about my face? Or my hair?

Who is more beautiful?

She or I?

I can't tell.

I wish you would.

I was looking at you from the hospital.

When you were talking with her.

You mean the lady?

No, that girl.

The one with her hair done Japanese style?

Is the lady your acquaintance?

Lady? Who is a “lady?”

Tell me—who is a lady?

Wait, miss! Wait!

Call me Ine.

I'm Tamawaki's wife.

It's me.

How dangerous. I mistook you for a bird.

What brings you here?

It's a personal visit.

Tracking your dream?

I thought you were going to kill me.

Why would I? Do I have a reason?

Birds are stupid.

I shoot them, but others soon come.

In front of the hospital…

I met a lady named Ine Tamawaki.

I thought perhaps she was related to you.

You spoke with Ine?

Strange. I had heard that she's seriously ill.

How was she?

Her hair was done Japanese style. She had a parasol.

As if she were going out?

Or visiting the hospital.

Are you sure?

She called herself Mrs. Tamawaki, didn't she?

I had been led to believe that she's dying.

I'll go see her.

A dying woman with a parasol. Interesting, don't you think?

Let's go.

Visiting Mrs. Tamawaki?

I'm afraid she passed away three hours ago.

Sorry I couldn't get in touch with you sooner.

I called earlier, but no one took my call.

When I called back, you'd already left.

Perhaps your wife's spirit directed you here.

She passed away at 11:07 this morning.

Her body?

As you instructed, it was sent to Honganji Temple.

She didn't suffer?

She was combing her hair just prior to her passing.

I saw her shortly after noon.

The sun was shining and vapor was rising.

But by then, she was dead.

Then whom did I meet?

Who was it?

There are many strange happenings.

And humans are perhaps the strangest of all.

Do you agree, Mr. Playright?

She was standing there.

She looked exactly like that lady.

The bladder cherry lady?

Have you seen her since?

No.

Come to think of it, it was an odd occurance.

Keep me company tonight?

After all, you knew my late wife.

Mio.

Mr. Tamawaki, please accept my condolences.

She finally passed on.

One can sleep in peace at last.

I wonder. Her spirit still remains.

What do you mean?

Matsuzaki met her after she died.

She can't rest. She's nursing a grudge

A grudge? She was in love with me.

To a woman, a grudge is akin to love.

That's a good line. Matsuzaki, did you hear that? You can use it in a play.

Taro.

Hanako.

Jiro.

I was her first man.

She was my chambermaid.

She loved me, so I fired her.

Making love to you is her vengeance. Right?

You're wrong.

You told me to take care of him.

I'm at his service, as if he were my lord.

We're clean, pure and innocent, aren't we?

- Mio. - Yes.

Are you in love with Mr. Tamawaki?

Not anymore.

But he's supporting you financially.

He gives me money. I have no reason to refuse.

Damn it!

Everybody around me is linked to him.

I'm a monkey dancing in a circle.

He respects your talent.

My talent? Talent for what?

Flattery? That's a laugh.

The funeral.

I wonder which wife died.

He likes to make fun of the people around him.

You can't know the truth until you see the body.

Besides, you saw Ine after she died.

Which of his wives died?

“Wives?”

The old one, or the new one?

You know everything.

But you haven't answered my questions.

Well, it's all secret.

But I'll tell you.

Let's dance. Let's dance!

He got married while he was studying in Germany.

- To a German girl? - Yes.

He ordered her to become a Japanese woman.

She dyed her hair and put dark lenses in her eyes.

A Japanese hairstyle, too.

It's a well-known story in Germany.

He returned home with his German wife.

The government offered him the title of baron, but he refused.

He married a countess using the power of his money.

Some say his new wife is a mere courtesan.

That woman.

Dear.

Give me a woman's soul.

I beg your pardon?

It's a plaything for women and children.

I could say it was a soul when I sold it.

Thief!

Stolen.

I'm sorry.

You were robbed of your soul.

- My soul? - It's a children's game.

They gave the soul to a girl.

Then they are…

…lovers?

It's only a game.

The birds are restless. Aren't you worried?

No, I think they're quieter than usual.

It's dead.

They tormented each other and one of them died.

I'm sick of running an aviary.

Birds are sold and die.

So we can never thrive.

Besides, I love them too much.

Birds become weak if they're pampered too much.

Is that so?

- Mr. Matsuzaki. - Yes?

A letter for you, from a lady.

- What time? - Five-thirty.

I'll be away for a few days.

Where?

Kanazawa?

You're in love with her.

She isn't Tamawaki's woman, is she?

If she is, you'll end up dead.

If his dog bites him, he kills it.

I may be his dog, but…

…I haven't been informed that she's his wife.

I'll have my own way.

“I shall be at the Yuzaki in Kanazawa.”

“Our third meeting. Next time, we'll die as lovers.”

“Still, I wish to see you.”

You'll end up dead.

He loves to shoot birds and animals, but most of all, man.

He likes to shoot men.

You'll be killed.

Excuse me. Are you Mr. Matsuzaki?

Yes.

Your companion awaits you in first class.

My companion?

You're mistaken.

He wants you to come to the first-class compartment.

Here you are.

Let's start.

“Chicken…”

“Grow up fast and lay eggs.”

Here.

Nice. “Plums…”

“Pick and pickle plump plums.”

It's sour.

“Mushroom…”

“A mushroom grows in a bush.”

Looks nice.

Eat it.

“The mushroom grows out of the bush.” Excuse me.

I saw you getting aboard.

Where to?

Kanazawa.

Kanazawa? What a coincidence.

What do you mean?

I'm going there, too.

To watch some lovers die.

The woman disappeared.

She was married. She left a message and ran away.

She had a secret lover.

A young man.

She was afraid it would be exposed.

How do you know they'll die? Did she write that?

Yes, her driver took her to Lake Yasha.

Will she die there?

Her lover, too?

I don't know.

The lover is yet to be identified.

The woman loves him and wants to die with him.

Good plot.

Like a drama.

A good story, isn't it?

Much better than yours.

A woman's determination ruins a man.

I want to see how they'll die.

You go to Kanazawa for that?

I'm bored.

Why are you going to Kanazawa?

The woman. She gave me a letter.

From a woman…

That woman?

Yes, yours.

Bladder cherry?

Mr. Tamawaki.

She's risking her life. So deeply in love.

Men and women in love…

That's how it goes.

Butler! The toilet?

YUZUKIRO

My name is Matsuzaki Shunko.

My companion is waiting for me here.

What is your companion's name?

It's a lady. A young lady

Tell her that Matsuzaki has arrived.

Clerk.

You have a date, sir?

- Yes, a lady. - Her name?

Bladder cherry.

I'm sure she's waiting here.

This is the Yuzuki?

Yes, that's our hotel.

Perhaps she is late. Let me stay.

Who?

The man who speaks of bombs and revolution.

An anarchist?

That's right.

What did he do?

He kidnapped a prostitute.

- Have a drink. - Thanks.

Our clerk thought you might belong to that group, too.

You don't look like a normal businessman.

He didn't mean any harm.

Then what?

He wanted money for her.

But her master refused.

Then what?

A racket.

The police came to arrest the anarchist.

Then you arrived.

I understand.

There's a phone call for Mr. Matsuzaki.

Matsuzaki speaking.

It's me.

Hello.

Did you see her?

She hasn't come?

I'm lonely. Why don't you come over?

This way.

Mr. Tamawaki?

He's out for awhile.

We've been instructed to entertain you until he returns.

I wanted to surprise you. This was my idea.

Attention, everyone!

This is the famous playwright, Mr. Shunko Matsuzaki.

I saw a boat…

…floating down the river.

Two ladies were aboard.

They were alone.

Drifting along…

One of them was…

…a blonde. I was surprised.

Then, as I entered here…

…I discovered a blonde geisha who resembled the lady.

It's strange.

You can say it's merely coincidental.

Not coincidental. I plotted it.

The blonde geisha on the boat is often seen around here.

The other one with dark hair?

I expected you to come across them.

What did she do?

She's been kidnapped.

She came back a little while ago.

The police want to question her.

Did you know her?

No.

Don't get involved. Anarchists are behind all of this.

The festive drums are amusing.

- Amusing? - They're arhythmic.

The tempo is strange.

It's shorter than usual.

Listen.

It's a strange rhythm.

It makes me sick.

It's dangerous walking here during the day.

I saw your woman being arrested.

Your lips look delicious.

I love festivals.

Fireworks excite me.

I love to light them.

But this festival's no good.

Too bad.

It's this way.

- No, this way. - Is that right?

Do you want to bet?

- Yes. - Please.

“Since I saw my lover in a dream,

I've come to depend on it.”

It's me. Shunko Matsuzaki.

All the way from Tokyo, guided by the drums.

“Next time we die as lovers.”

Was that a lie?

I didn't write that.

I have no memory of writing it.

It wasn't me.

Then who wrote it?

“Next time we die as lovers.” Who would write that?

The same hand.

Right.

Mrs. Tamawaki.

That's enough.

You've made fun of me.

It's a too complicated game to enjoy.

Perhaps it's amusing to you.

But for me, not at all.

Goodbye.

Mrs. Tamawaki!

Mrs. Tamawaki!

I saw you last night.

You were on a boat, drifting down the river.

A blonde lady was seated beside you.

That was Ine.

Not again.

Mrs. Tamawaki told me that same story last night.

Is he in Kanazawa?

Didn't you know?

He came to watch some lovers die.

A suicide pact?

Whose?

Ine and I, perhaps?

You?

Does he wish to watch us kill each other?

But Ine is dead.

You saw the funeral.

How can you kill a dead person?

Yes, you're right.

But she won't leave me alone.

I saw you on the bridge last night.

I wanted to call you, but she stopped me.

Ine stopped you?

Yes.

But she's dead.

I remember now…

…I wrote a letter in my dream.

Those exact words.

But it was a dream.

Someone must be looking into my dreams.

And that's who sent you the letter.

Who?

- It couldn't be… - Yes.

Ine.

Mr. Matsuzaki.

Why do dreams vanish when we wake up?

If they stayed forever, they simply wouldn't be dreams.

Mrs. Tamawaki.

Can I believe it?

The letter in your dream?

Please believe it.

Mr. Matsuzaki.

What? Are you still alive?

Who is this?

Don't you recognize my voice?

Mr. Tamawaki said he'd go watch the lovers die.

I thought he meant you.

What do you mean by that?

I'm still alive.

I thought you were going to die for love.

I had a hunch you'd die with Mrs. Tamawaki.

Are you there?

Yes.

More likely, you'd be forced to die.

Who would force me?

Mr. Tamawaki.

I thought you'd be dead by now. I was quite worried.

Silly boy.

Mastuzaki.

Good timing.

Perhaps we can watch the lovers die at Lake Yasha. Come with me.

Not here.

What?

Suicidal lovers.

Perhaps not.

No sign of them.

It's fun to watch them die.

Ever see the Bladder Cherry woman?

- No. - I've seen her.

My wife, Shinako, is from Kanazawa.

This morning she had a bladder cherry in her mouth.

I told her what I came for.

“To see me die?” she said.

Then she asked, “Whom do you want me to die with?”

Would she kill herself if you told her to?

Yes. She'd do it out of pride.

Not for love, she wouldn't. But for pride.

If only to beat me and Irene.

But I'm sick of love and pride.

I'm sick of women.

Who's Irene?

Ine, of course.

Irene was her German name.

Two women fighting?

By the way…

…I asked Shinako who it was she planned to die with.

She said you.

Would you die with her?

Shinako...

Shinako?

Shinako looks like…

…a beautiful lady I met a long time ago.

A woman from your fantasy?

Splendid. Then die with her.

You've got pills, ropes and knives.

Use whatever you like.

Satisfied? You can finally leave me now.

Dearest.

Did Ine beat me?

Yes, because you loved him.

You men are so stupid.

Why would I risk my life for love?

You don't know women at all.

May I look at you before I die?

Kill me with your gun.

I'm here to watch your suicide, not to commit murder.

Farewell, my dear.

Just as I wrote…

…this time we die as lovers.

Are you serious?

Let me die beautifully.

This isn't a joke.

You're dying for your pride. Why must I die?

It's absurd!

I'm sorry, but we are not that intimate.

Don't you remember I gave you my soul?

The bladder cherry?

That was my soul.

I can't accept it. No thanks.

I refuse!

“Since I saw my lover in my dream,

I have come to depend on it.”

What happened to the festive drums?

I'm drinking with the money I won.

They disappeared.

They echoed and died away.

Vanished, did they? I see.

I could hear the drums until I entered the forest.

I was getting closer…

and then suddenly they disappeared.

Disappeared?

They weren't real.

The work of a phantom.

A phantom?

Neither man, nor animal.

A phantom.

I bet you saw it. Didn't you?

The lover's suicide.

Suicide?

A woman wanted me to die with her as a lover.

Strange things happen.

You fled from her?

Cheers to the strange woman!

With hair in the Japanese style.

But she was blonde.

She died, but still walks around. Don't you think it's strange?

A blonde?

Beautiful?

With blue eyes.

Blue eyes? Really?

Cheers to the blonde!

I'd like to see her. I'd like to try her in bed.

Sleep with her?

An anarchist sleeping with a blonde.

It suits you.

Keep going and force a hole,

…and then BANG!

A big hole. One we can go through.

To the world beyond?

The end.

What's the time?

Keep me company.

“Love,” you don't have to be so ceremonious.

It's not necessary anymore.

I suppose you're right.

Let me have a look.

It's ”Ko-omote,” right?

That's right.

I never get tired of looking at it, like a dream.

Is this…?

It's my inner self.

Your son?

Beautiful.

It was a cheap play.

Quench your thirst.

Mr. Matsuzaki. Take a look at the doll.

The inner self.

Beautiful. It takes your breath away.

I'm a little embarrassed.

Sex organs with eyes. How very convenient, but…

…as I look at them, I feel…

…as if I'm falling into a hole.

This one is laughing.

The mouth is wide open. It's surely a woman.

It's mine.

I remember. It's your woman.

Yes, you're having sex with her.

- You see it? - Oh, yes.

But I know an even more horrible woman.

More mysterious, more real. How can I say?

Like intercourse between one soul and another.

Soul?

This is the last one.

Let's follow the traditions.

The smell of blood makes you feel the doll is shining.

That is my son.

He fell in love with a married woman.

He watched her from a distance, his heart afire.

But he never touched her.

One night, as usual, he went out to spy on her.

He came back at dawn.

Then he told me that he was going to die.

He'd followed the woman that night.

She crossed a field and then sat in front of a shrine.

As he watched her, a young man appeared.

They sat together at the shrine, back to back, in silence.

My son studied the young man.

Then he realized that the young man was he, himself.

He saw himself?

The soul of my son had left his body.

It sat, back to back, with the woman.

Then he told me that he was indeed dead.

Then, that night, he…

“Her moist eyes and sweet whispering words

could easily cheat my pure, innocent hear

I knew roses had thorns

I knew girls set traps for people like me

I wish I hadn't known anything at all

I would have been happy.“

I'm not good at making dolls.

But I do like those Freemasons.

I've attended their meetings.

“:pve” is my nickname at the meetings.

It means artlessness.

Returning to dust. The end of the ceremony.

My soul is…

…it's swaying.

Deep in me… Swaying, wildly…

The blonde!

Japanese flowers are for graves.

They are only ever placed on a grave.

So the flowers that are placed on graves,

are the most beautiful of all.

Don't you agree?

I asked Tamawaki to visit me at the hospital,

bringing flowers that were picked from a cemetary.

He said I was teasing him.

So Shinako picked them.

She understood exactly how I felt.

Because we're both women.

Ridiculous. This is absurd!

I saw the funeral with my own eyes.

Whose?

Yours.

I was watching you, too.

From the coffin.

The moon is full.

My dyed hair cannot deceive the moonlight.

Tamawaki would only ever make love to me in the moonlight.

My hair would become blonde in the moonlight,

and he adored the way it changed.

I'm a fantasy.

Tamawaki made me into a fantasy.

So I can't live without him.

But he deserted me.

Now I think I can survive, don't you?

Mr. Matsuzaki.

Help me live, will you?

You can. Please.

You're a doll with a hole.

Your inner self is in there. That's your value.

You have a hole.

You can see all kinds of things in there.

Whatever you see, you must break.

That's your destiny.

I can hear drums.

Is there a festival on?

There's something on in town.

Perhaps a decorated train.

“Soup Ichimura... Rice Kataoka...

Sugar Arashi... Steak Nakamura...

Actors and actresses will entertain the audience!”

Are they traveling minstrels, or…?

You, there!

Old man.

Can you hear me?

Come on, open the curtain.

Start!

Go ahead.

Someone is lost! Someone is lost!

Ine has vanished. Go find her.

Hey.

Is the lost person a child?

She's not a child.

I think she is… 27 or 28 years old.

She's married, too.

So she ran away.

Give me three bottles.

Yes, sir.

Ine... She was in a hospital.

She suddenly disappeared from the hospital.

She knew she'd die.

It was her fate.

She's already dead.

You're joking.

Dead people can't get lost. Not in this world.

She's lost in the darkness between this world and the beyond.

She is lost forever.

Search for her.

In the darkness…

From here to Hell.

Goodness! It frightens me.

Noodle seller. Will you come with us?

Let's go to Hell.

We'll take you with us. Come with us..

- No. - Good.

Let's get away.

Ine is lost. Go find her.

Quem sГЈo eles?

What are they?

I thought you were dead. Are we together in Hell?

You're stupid!

She really loved you.

Why run away? Encourage her.

Tell her you'll live with her, at least.

You slept with Ine, right?

She told me.

She robbed me of my lover.

Am I really your lover? Am I?

I want to live!

I really do.

I want to live with you.

Why this wish to die?

You're the outer self, she's the inner self.

That's right. Men are all like that.

They love the inner self.

It makes me sad.

You escaped after all. You can't take her.

You can't die twice.

Can your wife die twice?

Who will die with her next?

Be seated, sir.

It's better than standing.

Thank you.

Tell me. What is the story of the play?

I don't know. The children improvise.

I really don't know.

Please sit down, sir, ma'am.

Thank you.

Damn it!

Don't discriminate.

I've stood from the start.

Attention, attention!

I have waited for the midnight bell.

Snow woman.

Pour me a drink when you finish your makeup.

You are trembling.

Are you cold?

Yes, I am chilled.

Naturally, you…

“You fell into hellfire.”

You fell into hellfire.

And you became a snow woman.

You returned from Hell…

…as a geisha or prostitute.

When you were a woman named…

Named what?

What's my next line?

Ine.

Named Ine, what did you do?

Tell me your story as I drink.

I cannot… I cannot…

You make me feel sad.

Come out, phantoms. Let us be merry.

Certainly.

Never tell of this to Taro of Tanba.

Never tell him.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

She looked cold.

The actress, I mean.

What's your name?

Sugar Arashi.

No, your role.

Isn't it Ine?

It's Ine.

Ine?

Then what?

What do you want to know?

The plot of this play.

If you continue to watch, you'll soon see.

Of course. But please tell me first.

Who wrote the story?

If you keep watching…

I'm in a hurry. Tell me now

Be kind to me.

No?

You're very stubborn.

It's not that she's stubborn.

An actress is only supposed to play a role.

Who's speaking?

I'm a playwright who carries bladder cherries.

You want to know the plot?

Yes. Reveal it.

When Irene becomes Ine, she goes crazy.

The mad Ine has dark hair.

She believes in her man and does her hair in the Japanese style.

But love is transitory and fragile. The strings of love are cut.

Who cuts them?

Later you will see.

The next act is the climax.

She becomes a corpse.

Her skin is pawed by the satyrs.

You must watch it.

I made her wig very carefully.

It's blonde at first, then it shimmers into black.

Flesh may decay. But even in Hell, black hair remains.

Each hair takes the form of Ine and comes back.

It's the curse of hell. We'll show it to you.

I'll go home.

I don't want to see it.

Wasn't it you who wrote it?

Love and grudges…

…your favorite themes.

I'm afraid not. It's far too realistic for my pen.

Are you being modest? Or excessively proud?

It's just a phantom show.

Who talks of realism here?

What happens to Ine's hair?

Tell me.

Ine's story ends with her having dark hair.

You can ask the other woman.

The other woman? Who?

The one who became his toy in Ine's place.

His second wife.

Playwright.

You seem to be well informed about the truth.

Did you write the second wife's story, too?

It is in the fogs of Hell.

I want to know the truth.

I'll tell you.

That's enough.

You speak of your inner self.

Come out, playwright!

A one-man play is tedious.

Irene, show yourself!

The new toy, the new flower, taken by the man…

…at first didn't know anything.

Then she was told about Ine.

The man wanted her to become his second wife.

He was arrogant. Impudent

He drove his wife mad and replaced her with a new one.

He wanted a young, innocent woman…

…to be his second wife.

To act modestly as a second wife.

How dare he say that to her!

The second wife agreed.

She pretended to be obedient to her husband.

She obeyed him, but then she betrayed him.

She showed him that women were not so weak.

And made him realize.

He realized? How was that?

Adultery.

A flower picked by the wrong hand to wither.

I showed him how it withered.

It withered and what, a second wife?

I shall die. I shall die.

Death will settle the matter.

Do you understand, playwright?

That is the end of the story.

I know.

But the story does not end.

Not yet.

We have an audience.

Let's watch the last act of the play.

Stop it!

Stop it!

I do not take the souls of men.

Drowned bodies. Love suicides!

Young lady. You're very pretty.

Where are you bound?

Look. See the vapor rising from the ground.

Yes, Spring has come.

Dead? Me?

Yes. A man came from Kanazawa with this letter.

He said at this rate, you wouldn't last long.

Mr. Tamawaki died with his wife.

I felt chilled to the bone.

The I found you standing like a ghost. What a shock!

Read the letter.

“Since I saw my lover in a dream,

I have depended on my dreams.

To my love, signed Shinako."

That's exactly what's written!

“To my love.” Does that refer to you?

What a waste.

She's dead.

I wonder.

Will you go away now?

I'm not obliged to take care of you.

What are you doing? I was Tamawaki's woman.

The dream changed my life.

This is vengeance.

So you saw the heights of the desperate love of a woman.

I was involved in a romance, too.

But she was the worst.

She's wicked and had V.D.

I'm taking her to her hometown.

It's my duty, because I love her.

Heads or tails?

Heads!

Give me one yen.

All of it? Thanks.

Where did you buy the bladder cherry?

On Ueno Hill.

In death, I shall be known as “square,” “circle,” “circle,” “triangle.”

The End

English Subtitles by Stuart J Walton (Sprout)

Directed by SEIJUN SUZUKI