A Ball At The Anjo House

Kozaburo Yoshimura's A Ball At The Anjo House (1947) was named the top movie of 1947 by the influential Kinema Junpo. It is the story of the decline of a noble family that calls to mind such works as Chekov's The Cherry Orchard and Visconti's The Leopard. The family comprised of a widower father his two daughters, one divorced and cynical and the younger ever optimistic daughter(Setsuko Hara-not unlike her turn in Tokyo Story), as well as the another cynic and playboy brother played to type by Masayuki Mori-a role he would perfect in the films of Mikio Naruse. The family is set to lose their mansion due to property taxes and changes that stem from Japan's defeat in WWII. They decide to hold one last ball as a final hurrah-which brings into play other secondary characters such as the black marketer who is trying to get their house in a swindle and his recnently divorced daughter who is having an affair with the family's playboy son-who is also having an affair with maid in the house. Also, their former chauffeur is trying to help them with the house from his success as a businessman after leaving the house when the oldest daughter married-he was in love with her and it was too much to bear. The father contemplates first murder then suicide coming to terms with the fortunes of the family but is brought into a better frame of mind by the ever optimistic Hara as the youngest daughter.