A middle-aged writer Toshio Ôki (Sô Yamamura) has an affair with a 16-year-old Otoko Ueno (Kaoru Yachigusa) who eventually gets pregnant. When the female learns about the fact that the man is going to leave her and return to his wife, she loses her child, after which she ceases to contact with him. Many years later, Toshio becomes a well-known writer and Otoko a famous painter. Notwithstanding, Otoko cannot forget about Toshio and their tragic romance alters her sexual orientation hence she begins to be interested in women ever since. She endeavours to obtain some consolation by falling in love with her beautiful young pupil Keiko (Mariko Kaga). The moment Toshio visits Otoko in Kyoto, Otoko gets dejected and the wounds of the past turn out to be unhealed. Keiko comes to the conclusion that there had to be something between Otoko and Toshio in the past. The instant she is sure of it, she vows revenge. She resolves to demolish Toshio's private life by seducing him and his beloved son Taichiro (Kei Yamamoto)…

To start with, With Beauty and Sadness is indubitably a very strong movie. Based on the novel of Yasunari Kawabata, the flick is a profound psychological drama which eschews being scandalous for the sake of being such and generally concentrates on exploring darker sides of human soul in a subtle manner. Masahiro Shinoda, mostly known for his excellent Kawaita hana (1964) aka Pale Flower, does comprehend what a good direction is. His aesthetic fetish for symmetry is ubiquitous and displayed in many a sequence throughout the entire ensemble which provides With Beauty and Sadness with a sterile setting, lacking love, happiness and solace. The director utilizes cold hues such as blue, dim green, grey as well as plenty of austere spaces which results in conjuring up a tangible texture consisting of bamboos, snowflakes, dark walls and barren landscapes which contextualizes with the cruel story very well and creates an inhuman, chilly and bleak climax. This autumnal scenery of Japan, nearly totally devoid of brighter colours, probably also depicts mental states of the protagonists and perfectly punctuates the inner demons of Keiko who is ruthlessly willing to destroy other man's life for her beloved female. The relationships between disparate characters are exposed very well, particularly the lesbian affair of Keiko and Otoko is extraordinarily well depicted. Emotions are incessantly existent and expressed with such a great power that it virtually feels as though hatred, anger and sorrow were flowing through the screen. The storytelling is supplied with some retrospections which recount the affair of Toshio and Otoko. The film is leisurely paced which give an opportunity to construct the tale in detail, deepen the script and render the whole concept far more abstruse and ambiguous.

Sô Yamamura is simply tremendous in his role. He plays Toshio Ôki – a cynical, cold-blooded writer who doesn't care much about his former lover and isn't consumed by remorse due to his merciless behaviour. Kaoru Yachigusa as Otoko Ueno is very convincing as a forlorn, inconsolable and traumatized female with the tragic past. She never pleads with Keiko to avenge her and the moment Keiko says about her plans, Otoko reacts with reluctance. Thus, her persona is far more complex than an average abandoned lover in search for revenge. It appears she is still in love with Toshio, even though he unabashedly took advantage of her, which enrages envious Keiko. Keiko is no less interesting forasmuch her opulent personality embellishes the murky atmosphere with her youthful vitality, sensuality and unbridled thirst of sacrificing herself with a view to punishing Toshio and provide her lover with consolation. Only the motif of Toshio's son – Taichiro – is insufficiently developed and poorly crafted, but it isn't something which could diminish the magnitude of the remainder of the flick. On account of potent cinematography by Masao Kosugi and a ghostly soundtrack by Toru Takemitsu, the film obtains horror-like, sinister relish. There likewise might be some feministic nuances included, nevertheless they are not that visible or excessively implied as none of the characters is glorified, possibly except for quasi-angelic Otoko who is destructed by her fatal memories.

Despite not implicating any spectacularly spellbinding or divine scenes, the movie remains a remarkably effective psychological drama which succeeds almost on every level. Its flaws are scarcely noticeable and the moral ambiguity as well as the cruelty surrounding the whole story adds to the zest. It's a highly rewarding cinematic experience filled with great beauty and overwhelming sadness that makes us ponder on darker impulses of human nature.

Other reviewers have covered the plot and the intense emotions especially jealousy. The acting and directing all work effectively for that but what I would like to emphasize is how the camera is used as a photography tool. Each and every scene is set up as a perfect photograph (as opposed to emphasizing movement). Just how important that aspect of the film is to the director is firmly communicated and driven home with the use of freeze frame in the final seconds. It is not a gimmick, it is a message. Angle, lighting, mood, colour, framing, etc are all as good as they can possibly be. The movie actually needs to be seen once as a story and again as a series of images. The two different have a symbiosis but consist of quite different experiences.

When Kawabata received the Nobel Prize in 1968, all works translated into Western languages contained very little action and explicit emotions. But he had also written very different works. 'Beauty and Sadness' is about people deadlocked in demonic constellations of pathological feelings. Masahiro Shinoda has adapted the novel for the screen with eminent skill and sensitivity to the psychological drama. Long before the events of the movie, Ôki, who was approaching middle age, had a relation to 16-year-old Otoko. She got pregnant, but the child was stillborn. Their relation stopped at the same time. Much later, Ôki had become a famous writer, not least because of a novel about this love story. With bitter jealousy his wife had typed a fair copy (an immense labour with a Japanese typewriter). - Otoko had become a famous painter. But she had never overcome the double trauma of losing at the same time the child and her lover, and she had become a Lesbian. She had sexual relations with half a dozen female students. Her favourite student and most beloved one was the unusually beautiful Keiko. 24 years after the early love relation Ôki goes from Tokyo to Kyoto to meet Otoko. The meeting is polite. But emotional shadows participate. Keiko, who knows the past events, makes a plan. She intends to seduce ôki, become pregnant, bear ôki's child, and give it to Otoko. She hopes that Otoko may thereby get rid of her trauma. After having carried out the seduction she tells her plan to Otoko. Violent explosions reveal more than triple jealousy. Otoko is jealous toward both Keiko and Ôki because they have had another partner than her. Keiko is jealous because of a memory which prevents Otoko from undivided return of her love. But she is also jealous toward Ôki because of his emotional relation to Otoko. The intensive jealousy scene in the movie is superior to the novel. But Keiko also has different feeling and aims. She wants revenge because Ôki has harmed her beloved. Without the parents suspecting anything she gets acquainted with Ôki's son, invites him to Kyoto, and seduces him too. Without his knowledge she calls his parents, tells them about the seduction and claims (falsely) that he has promised to marry her. Horrified they take the first plane to Kyoto. Meanwhile, she takes the son on boating, arranges an accident, and drowns him. It is close that she herself would also die. The concluding scene is one of the very best. Keiko is lying unconscious in a bed in a hospital. Both Otoko, and ôki with his wife, arrive at the same time. It is night. Through the window many lights over the sea can be seen, of people searching for the son's body. The psychology of this movie is absolutely convincing. And every scene feels genuine and full of real human life. Concerning photo and colour Shinoda has learned something from Antonioni, but he has applied it for his own purposes. I saw this movie twice 661213. Having subsequently seen hundreds of Japanese movies, I still think this is the best one ever made in Japan. I might include the film on a list of the 10 best movies I have seen during my long life. But I would not include the novel on a list of the 10 best novels.