The Song Lantern

A selfabsorbed young actor humiliates an elderly Noh performer who then commits suicide His act of cruelty compels his father to disown him leading the once promising actor to a life on the streets But his desire to win back the respect of his father and the affection of the dead actors daughter pushes him toward a more noble existence Naruse employed a delicately structured miseenscene in this family melodrama which evokes the work of Josef von Sternberg