OSOME
The girl was reared under the protective wings of a big merchant family in a city, looked after by many servants. She new nothing about the ways of the world, but was precocious in the ways of love. In the semi dark corners of that big house she had a series of secret rendezvous with a boy employ of her father’s shop, unbeknownst to her mother. Suddenly, misfortune befell her one-day. The boy was abruptly fired, and left for his home in the country to get married. At the same time, a proposal of marriage was brought to her. But she could not give up the boy, nor was she inclined to marry any other man. The fact was that she was already pregnant. The girl left her home under the pretext of going to the shrine for prayer, and went in search of the boy. She wanted to see the boy and commit a double suicide. It was a straight – forward solution she grabbed at as an inexperienced and still childish girl. The name of the girl is Osome and that of the boy is Hisamatsu.
Osome, played by Tamasaburo, vividly depicts a girl who is innocent yet disproportionately precocious in the ways of love. It is a case of imbalance which conveys an uncanny sense of reality, the twinkling of the silver ornament in her hair the gorgeous purple dress with beautifully dyed patterns, the elegance of a well- bred girl and her coquetry. i was most impressed by the scene where she sees the boy’s fiancee at the gate of his house. in front of the country farmhouse stood a white plum tree. Under the tree, some was verbally abused violently by his fiancee but being naive about such things, did no know what to do./…