花つみ日記

Really hard to follow, nothing like the original story

Apparently based on the 天国と舞妓 short story in 小さき花々 by 吉屋信子, it loses any similarities after about 20 min, instead becoming a story of 絶好 between 2 girls fighting over their teacher. The only similarity after that was that 栄子 goes on to become a 舞妓 (dancing girl/apprentice geisha). Gone was the contrast of socio-economic circumstances, and the tragic ending that resulted in. Gone was the yearning to help a separated friend in need, and being unable to do so, despite being from a richer social class.

Source material aside, I found the movie itself very hard to follow, in part due to the terrible audio & visual quality (color version, original B&W). There's a bit of 大阪弁 as well that's a bit hard to follow (if you can even catch it). If the audio quality were better, I think it would be pretty valuable - as the characters speak the way they would in real life (fast and informally). It might be worth watching if you're already familiar with the actors, but otherwise I'd pass and just read the short story instead.

If you're interested in movies from this era, I'd recommend checking out 螢の光. It's much better done, better audio/video quality, and frankly much more interesting.