Concerning the misfortune(s) befalling a mother and her two children in 11th century Japan;an engrossing,lyrical,unsurpassed masterpiece of quite exquisite,aching beauty and devastating emotional impact,from the greatest of all directors,the prolific perfectionist Kenji Mizoguchi.Wonderful beyond words. (I'd like to add that the film has wide appeal,currently averaging 9.4 and 9.5 on the Internet Movie Database and Foreignfilms.com website respectively)