Kikunosuke, the adopted son of a legendary kabuki actor who is striving to achieve stardom by mastering female roles, turns to his infant brother’s wet nurse for support and affection—and she soon gives up everything for her beloved’s creative glory.

With a multi-layered plot at its core, this early work from Kenji Mizoguchi is a moving love story about art, sacrifice, and the patrician nature of 1880s Japan. Featuring a superb use of the long take, the film is also an ode to the marginal yet crucial role women played within society at the time.