Kinuyo Tanaka
31 titles
Filmography
31 results
The Life of Oharu
(1952)
Miss Oyu
(1951)Shinnosuke meets his prospective wife, Shizu, but he falls in love with her widowed sister, Oyu, who convinces them to marry so she can be close.

Sansho the Bailiff
(1954)When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi's dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.

A Hen in the Wind
(1948)In a Japan recently devastated by World War II a devoted, near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay medical bills when her son falls dangerously ill.

The Woman in the Rumor
(1954)After a failed engagement, devastated Yukiko returns to her mother’s geisha house in Kyoto where she catches the eye of a young doctor.
The Munekata Sisters
(1950)
Women of the Night
(1948)The mistress of a drug dealer in post-World War II Japan is shocked when she discovers that he is also having an affair with her sister.
Flowing
(1956)Ornamental Hairpin
(1941)Two bruised souls enact a tender, hesitant romance in Hiroshi Shimizu's alternately poignant and playful wartime love story. A soldier (Chishu Ryu) is forced to prolong his stay at a rural spa when he accidentally cuts his foot on the titular object. Soon enough he tracks down its lovely owner (Kinuyo Tanaka) and finds himself smitten.
Mother
(1952)
The Lady of Musashino
(1951)Trapped in a loveless marriage, a disillusioned young woman confides in her younger cousin when he returns home from battle at the end of WWII.
The Ballad of Narayama
(1958)This haunting, kabuki-inflected version of a Japanese folk legend is set in a remote mountain village where food is scarce and tradition dictates that citizens who have reached their seventieth year must be carried to the summit of Mount Narayama and left there to die. The sacrificial elder at the center of the tale is Orin (Kinuyo Tanaka), a dignified and dutiful woman who spends her dwindling days securing the happiness of her loyal widowed son with a respectable new wife. Filmed almost entirely on cunningly designed studio sets, in brilliant color and widescreen, The Ballad of Narayama is a stylish and vividly formal work from Japan’s cinematic golden age, directed by the dynamic Keisuke Kinoshita.
Ginza Cosmetics
(1951)Sincere Heart
(1953)Phoenix
(1947)
Dragnet Girl
(1933)A typist tries to reform her petty crook boyfriend, but he's got to pull one last job.
Wedding Ring
(1950)
Equinox Flower
(1958)Despite dispensing advice in a calm manner to strangers, a businessman clashes with his elder daughter over her choice of a husband.
Utamaro and His Five Women
(1946)Utamaro, a great artist, lives to create portraits of beautiful women, and the brothels of Tokyo provide his models. A world of passion swirls around him, as the women in his life vie for lovers. And, occasionally, his art gets him into trouble.

Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
(1932)Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda scripts a subtle shift from light to dark as Hirano’s carefree college life is marred by tragedy.