The story of five sisters.

Set against the backdrop of an imperial victory in the civil war leading up to the Meiji Restoration, Fallen Blossoms tells the story of the sorrows of women in a geisha house in Kyoto by recounting the relationships of its inhabitants.
Alexander Jacoby & Johan Nordström wrote:
Ishida’s original and brilliant film tells history as ‘her story’. Against the backdrop of a victory for the imperial forces in the civil war leading up to the Meiji Restoration, Ishida recounts the relationships among the inhabitants of a Kyoto geisha house, producing what has been described by Noël Burch as “one of the most remarkable community portraits ever filmed”. The film is set completely inside the house, with only female characters ever seen on screen.
For Burch, “the exclusion from the scene of men, patrons or soldiers, is a meaningful corollary of the exclusion of Japanese women from the history of the country”. Ishida narrates his story using an imaginative cinematic style in which shots are almost never repeated. The narrative, Burch notes, evokes Chekhov, but he judges its “combination of a restricted, unified setting and continual renewal of the imagery” to be unparalleled in conventional narrative cinema.

A few days in the life of a quiet geisha, single mother of a smart young boy, in the lively Tokyo quarter of Ginza. A woman devoted to others' needs, she'll end by taking part herself in one of the many disguises of Ginza.

A sad and troubled man finds a new job five years after the end of WWII, where he writes love letters for other people.

成濑在1955年的《浮云》之后便十分彻底的描绘容易受男性牵制的被动女性。他想要拍摄更坚强一些的女人。这部电影被认为是展示了完全僵化的家庭系统。

柳生源三郎（泽村国太郎 饰）到道场作上门女婿，哥哥对马守（坂东胜太郎 饰）将家传的猴壶送给弟弟作“嫁妆”。源三郎和对马守都不知道，这看似破破烂烂、毫不起眼的猴壶内竟隐藏着百万两银子的秘密。得知真相的对马守急忙派人索要，事感蹊跷的源三郎也渐渐知晓内中原委。然猴壶却被妻子卖给了收破烂的人。
猴壶辗转到了孤儿安吉（宗春太郎 饰）手中，他因父亲遭流氓杀害而被射箭场收留，得到女主人阿藤（喜代三 饰）和独臂独眼剑客丹下左膳（大河内传次郎 饰）的照顾。源三郎寻找猴壶途中，偶遇射箭场的美丽少女，于是从此以寻找猴壶为借口，流连射箭场中，更与丹下左膳成为好友……

The story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Shiro Saigo, a legendary judoka.