Original subtitles

Your mother ran away?

When?

With a Iover?

How couId she leave her child?

Maybe drowned

She eloped.

She couldn't live with a blind girl.

Saito, the druggist.

The streets were empty. l wondered why.

l heard voices from this hut.

You came at the right time.

We need a wise man like you.

Your name?

Age?

Orin.

Six.

You have a fine voice.

Your name is Orin.

l was told l was born in the Province of Wakasa.

l've never seen my parents.

l heard it was a beautlful place

But l couldn't see it.

When l was six years old,

Mr. Saito took me to a house of "goz�. ''

"MELODY lN GRAY"

Producers Kiyoshi lwashita and Seikichi lizumi

Story by Tsutomu Mizukami

ScreenpIay by Keiji Hasebe and Masahiro Shinoda

Director of Photography Kazuo Miyagawa

Music by Toru Takemitsu

Starrlng Shima lwashita

Tomoko Naraoka

Kirin Kiki

Yoshio Harada

Directed by Masahiro Shinoda

lt was twenty years ago

When l was 21, l was denounced as lewd

l was expelled.

l've been alone

So you were expelled from the goz� group?

Yes. We, blind itinerant singers, make groups

We visit houses to sing.

We stay at inns for goz�.

But once expelled from the group,

we have to travel alone

We must spend nights at deserted huts and shrines.

lsn't the errand man back yet?

The comedians can't cheer the party.

The goz� are late.

They promised to come

The young master is going to war. We need music

Good luck.

l got information.

Your regiment might be sent to Manchuria.

You know a man hanged himself at Shimosatose?

l heard the news.

A woodsman found the body in his hut.

lt was hanging there.

l think the man was a deserter.

lt was a shame to the regiment.

lf captured, he'd be shot.

She's here!

We've a pretty goz�!.

Master. Mistress. l've brought a goz�

You have Iice on you!

Really? Sorry.

She's pretty and talented

She's going to sing many songs for us.

Thank you, everybody, for sending for me

Goz�, sing romantic songs.

Can she see?

No.

She can say she's blind even if she isn't.

She can make love.

Even if she can't see us

Don't sneak in her bed tonight.

But she's a lone goz�.

She's lone, but not lewd.

l was born blind. l live in darkness.

When l was six, Mr. Saito told me

to join a group of blind girls,

so l'd become a good goz�

"You're blind."

"A blind girl can live only as a masseuse or a whore"

"But a goz� can lead a decent life."

"You'll have a mother to teach you music."

Kaneko, don't stop!

All footsteps sound like your lover's to you?

lt's Mr. Saito.

The druggist?

He came after the snow melted last year.

He's not aIone.

HelIo. l'm Saito, the druggist.

l'm back again. l'm gIad to find you well

Welcome

HeIlo, Mitsuko

You've grown up.

Thank you for coming so far.

Hello, Mistress of the House of Satomi.

l have a request to make

Please come in.

The house of goz� smeIled of incense and hair oil.

The mistress was a kind woman. When I kowtowed,

she gentIy stroked my hair and introduced me to them.

Yasuko gave me a rice cake

lt was warm and delicious. l remember lt well.

Then..

You travel alone without anyone to guide you?

Where from?

l was in Nagano in Maroh

l came to this district in April

Water here. Drink.

Thank you.

Are you really homeIess?

Yes.

l came to work at the quarry.

The job was finished today.

You were walking in the mountains.

You must live around here

No.

The sun was in the west. l decided to stay here.

l'm tired.

Thank you.

Are you asleep?

Tsugiko!

Why did you do that? Why hate me?

What do you mean?

You tried to trip me with that

No, l didn't.

l'm just trying to sew a kimono

Liar!

You're mean and wicked

You blame me, but

l know your secret.

You had secret dates with Magoji

How cold!

Orin.

Washing is like torture.

You're learning quickly

There's one thing you mustn't forget.

The manners that goz� must respect.

Goz� dedicate their eyes, ears and limbs

to the Amitabha Buddha.

They must chant the sutra every day

so they won't disregard their important manners.

lf they do, they'll fall into hell in this world.

You'll be feted in two years.

Receive a new name ln seven years.

You'll be a regular apprentice the next year.

In eight years.

ln three more years, you'll be independent.

Then you'll be a full-fledged goz�.

Lovely girl.

YYou sang well, but do you know what the song means?

How old are you?

She joined us at age six. Now she's eight.

Maybe the socks caused the trouble

We wear sandals on our bare feet.

We feel warm even waIking on the snow.

She was right.

At first l feIt l was freezing.

But as l walked, l began to feel warm.

lt was strange.

I stopped wearing socks even in wlnter.

When will you stop folIowing me?

Somebody's waiting for you at home.

l'm alone.

Like you.

l have no parents. Nobody's waiting.

Nobody?

A lie.

Why ?

Why else would l have come to work in the mountains?

Maybe there'll be a festival in Tokamachi tomorrow.

Let's go.

l'll guide you.

Let's go to town and eat something nice.

Don't waste money.

I'll carry you on my back.

l want to run with you.

You're funny

Come on.

People wilI laugh at you.

Nobody's around.

We've just passed it.

Turn right and walk through the coppice.

Cucumber trees bloom in spring there

How can you remember the road without a guide?

When l was eight,

Yasuko carried me on her back along this road.

Every night you sneak out to your man.

Do you think l didn't know what you were doing?

l've been taking care of you for years What for?

Slut!

You betrayed my trust.

l'll expel you!

Go to your man and drop dead!

We had a poor crop last year. We have no rice.

Only dried taro stems.

l didn't know. l'm sorry

l'm blind, so l couldn't see. Forgive me.

They're having a hard time. Don't trouble them.

Please don't leave now.

My father is ill

He wants to hear you sing before he dies.

He's been waiting for you

Please accept this and sing for him.

Thank you.

l'm glad l've kept this job for this moment.

Thank you.

Pregnant

Can you feel it?

This pass is called Physician of Souls

Mountains smeIl of v oung green leaves in spring.

The leaves wash our eyes with their tears of mercy.

People come into this world, thanks to their parents.

But Buddha mercifully made us blind

so we can't see the hell of this world.

Tsugiko, you're a girl.

l understand you wanted to be happy.

But why couldn't you feeI the mercy of Buddha?

Orin, it's your first period.

Orin is a woman now. Let's celebrate it.

Orin, you've grown enough to have a baby

Every woman has a monthly period. lt's women's destiny

But goz� aren't allowed to sleep with men

We shouIdn't have babies

Remember?

Tsugiko had a baby and ran away when you were eight.

Orin, you're pretty. A nice woman

Orin, the men are laylng a trap.

The young men are drooling for your body.

lt's fun

l'Il leave tomorrow.

Where to?

Fushimi?

To work at a brewery

She's a child Don't make her drink

Don't be strict. Drink a lot.

l'll sing "lso Song."

"The plane is taking off with the honeymoon couple."

"Darling, what's that place?"

"The shrine on Miyajima."

"What's that big open pIace?"

"Bakan Strait"

"Where are we?"

"ln the cloud."

"Nobody's watching us, then?"

"That's right."

Don't sleep with a man.

lf you do, you'll be expelled. That's the rule.

You were given a new name at thirteen.

It was your ceremony to marry Buddha.

Don't sleep with a man.

lf you do, you'll be expelled.

Good! I'll sing "Wajima Song.''

l couldn't help it.

l couldn't contain my excitement and joy.

lt was fun.

l pitied the mistress who had refused the pIeasure.

Goz� are on an endless trip led by Buddha.

We'll heIp them not get lost

l'm a relative l'lI stay here.

You a virgin?

Take a good bath, goz�.

Thank you.

lt'd been my secret desire to sleep with a man.

Maklng love made me feel warm. It was good.

l deserve divine punishment.

l was glad to work last night.

You were beside me while l sang

l reIaxed and sang well

You made me happy, too.

Thank you.

Joking again!

The customers thought you were my guide.

You must have felt you'd burdened yourself.

You're wrong

Your songs fascinate me.

You're prettv, too.

Why not make love to me?

We've been together since we met at ltsukodaira

We slept side by side, but you didn't take me.

Any reason you can't Iove me?

After l was expelled from the goz� group,

l had a stranger to guide me for weeks.

lt happened many times.

They all wanted to have me.

I couldn't refuse them.

They were big and strong. No use to struggle.

l let them have me and wished they'd pay me.

Some men tried to make fun of me.

l couIdn't forget the warmth of a man.

l asked them to come to where l was staying

l even begged them.

When l slept alone in winter, l was cold.

I was afraid l'd freeze to death by morning.

Don't leave me, please!

l'm old.

l don't mind.

Warm me with your body.

PIease!

When I was lonely, l asked any man to make love to me.

A fire!

A rice dealer's shop.

The mistress said Buddha mercifully made us blind

so we can't see the hell of this world.

An old woman visited me with rice.

She said l was traveling like a priest

who saved peopIe from damnation long ago.

Didn't you ever have a child living Iike that?

l had one The baby died.

Where?

Noto

Suzu Village.

lt was winter.

l couldn't raise a ohild. My man ran away.

The baby froze to death.

lt was my sin.

Let's save money and buy tools.

l'll mend clogs and give you hot rice.

My mother was good at it

She worked at a clog shop. l helped her as a child.

She was a great woman.

What are you to her?

l'm her guide.

She picked me up.

She picked you up? You picked her up.

Don't eat anything you aren't given! l told you!

Even if you're hungry!

Why not tell me your name?

Tell me

Tsurukawa

Tsurukawa

lt means a crane in a river. Senzo Tsurukawa.

l hear cranes come to swamps.

Do they oome to rivers, too?

What are you doing?

Hold me in your arms l want you

Don't make love. lf l do, we can't travel together

Why not? What's wrong with holding me?

l want to travel with you.

l'm coId Why not hold me and warm me with yourself?

You don't have to make love. Just hoId me and warm me.

Orin.

Good girl

You were born blind, and that's why you must suffer.

That's the hell of this world

l can't take you.

lf l do,

l'll have to Ieave you like all the other men.

l want to keep you company:

Let me guide you a little longer.

Be stiIl.

You're like Buddha in the evening gIow.

Don't stay awav. Come closer.

You're Buddha.

lt's as smooth as an egg shell.

lf my business succeeds,

you won't have to work

You'Il polish cIogs beside me.

l won't sing?

Not as a goz� anyway.

You'll be the clog dealer's sister.

"Sister?"

You know.

You're my sister. l'm your brother.

From tomorrow on call me brother.

You're not my brother.

You're the man l love!

Take a look at this!

This fine silk shirt is only a third the regular price!

Buy my medicine! lt'll warm the lower haIf of your body.

lt's good for women.

lt's like a dream.

You made me an ordinary woman.

l don't have to slave for meals.

l can rest.

Not so loud

But l'm so gIad

Don't be funny Look like an ordinary woman.

The sea and

...Mt. Yoneyama.

l'm happy for the first time in my life. lt's like a dream.

Not a dream.

l wish you'd make love to me once.

l'd have no regrets if l died.

Then we'd have to part

You're always Buddha to me.

l'm not Buddha. Nor your sister!

l've been wondering. Are you really his sister?

Yes. Why?

The samisen.

l used to be a goz�

l became one in Echigo as a child

He was away from me then.

Since we met again, we've been traveling together.

Don't be frank with him.

Why not? Mr. Bessho is kind to me

You can't telI.

Beware of men.

Keep away.

Keep away? But his stand is next to ours.

l think you should be nice to your neighbors.

Don't get so famiIiar with him.

Familiar? No!

He's laughing at us.

l envy you.

You can sell your old drug as brand-new medicine

No!

You call pIain fabric silk.

You buy rabbits, and sell both the meat and the fur

Soldiers need them

l'lI do it, too

When the war ends, you can't sell them.

No good business for the poor.

Permission?

Where are you going, brother?

He went to the gangsters who control this place

He needs their permission.

Cover your things before they get wet.

lt won't stop raining l'Il go back to the inn.

Your brother will return to the inn in this rain

The shirt dealer got information

Tsurukawa was arrested

Why ?

The gangsters took him to the temple.

They argued and fought.

Tsurukawa is a big man. He injured the gangsters.

So the polioe arrested him?

That's right.

Keep it a secret.

Or Orin wilI be worried

We're unluoky.

Any news about my brother?

No He'll be back

l heard he was arrested

Goz� have good ears

lt was just a fight with hoodlums. Not serious.

l hope so.

l wonder if he realIy considers you his sister.

Why ?

The shirt dealer told me

He saw Tsurukawa at the post offioe in town

making a remittance.

His mother or family must be alive

He has no family.

He said his parents are dead.

''He said?''

Then you aren't his sister.

You're his woman.

He never made love to me.

He's been in jail for days lt wasn't just a fight.

Maybe he was a criminal.

Don't speak ill of him.

You're a fool.

Someday he'll desert you. And you'll be old

This is your chance.

When you're old, it'll be too late

You'll have to die alone on the road.

You'd better come with me and start a new business

l don't mind sleeping in deserted huts.

l don't need nice cIothes.

l can't go with you, Bessho l'lI wait for my brother.

Can you be patient? Living with him that way?

Sometimes you hunger for a man's touch, don't you?

We're brother and sister. l'm happy and content.

l'm no longer a goz�.

lt'lI be a Iong wait

l'm not a slut.

l was expelled from the group.

But my brother made me an ordinary woman.

l see l've said my piece.

l'Il be going.

Thank you for taking care of me

You've been kind. Thank you.

Don't do that, Bessho.

l've been depending on your kindness

Don't betray my trust.

Nobody's around. Your man is with the poIice

Just this once. Nobody will know.

Wait.

l'll prepare myself.

Goodbye.

Don't tell my brother that you took me. Never!

lf he knows, l'll have to kill myself.

lf he's your brother, he won't punish you for this.

But l won't tell anybody.

Never.

Brother!

Did you see it? Did you?

The druggist?

Bessho?

Don't be angry with him.

He wasn't to blame. lt was my fault

Forgive me!

Orin How thoughtless you are!

You slept with a man.

You violated our rules.

You're expelIed.

This is an important party.

You're disgracing our group of goz�.

Go away!

Get on.

No. l want to stay here alone

Alone?

We didn't meet here

l hit Bessho, the druggist

l hit the gangsters.

They want revenge.

l don't want you to be molested Let's part

l'll find you when things are settIed

We'll meet again.

Where are you going?

South To Wakasa Provinoe

l'Il be waiting for you.

You go south, too.

Not north.

lt's Bessho.

The druggist

Who?

Who?

A goz�?

You, too?

Are you entirely blind?

l can see things vaguely on sunny days

Where from?

Nagaoka.

Expelled? When?

Three years ago. Were you expelled, too?

The villagers want me to sing for them.

Can l leave my things here?

Orin?

l'm the poIice Name's lmanishi

l have some questions.

ls Senzo Tsurukawa your brother?

WhiIe he was away with the police,

whom did you meet on the beach?

Bessho

Bessho, the druggist?

You walked with him along the beach.

What did you do after that?

l returned to the inn

To see Senzo?

No.

Why not?

He was released that day

l returned to the inn, but

my brother had checked out.

He took the cart with him.

l went back to the beach, but he wasn't there.

Why didn't he look for me?

Where is he now? Tell me

l don't know

Where is he? What is he doing at sunset like this?

Can you see?

l can teIl by the smell of the air.

Let me introduce Detective lmanishi.

l'm Military PoIice Lieutenant Hakamada.

One of the men standing

..PFC Heitaro lwabuchi.

We can't identify him by this picture.

So we made his desoription

He deserted

When?

April, 1917.

Two years ago.

The number of deserters and draft-dodgers is increasing

They don't like going to Siberia

Does Tsurukawa, who killed the druggist, look...

..Iike the deserter named lwabuchi?

We trailed him to Niigata, then lost him.

He's around here.

Then the murder.

Tsurukawa is nearly six feet tall.

He stammers and is tanned.

The same man

l questioned the peddlers who were with him.

He left the inn saving he'd go north

But he didn't We lost him.

Maybe he was afraid of being identified

Then, he must be the deserter.

l'll show this description to the landlady of the inn

The investigation should be as a search for Tsurukawa

as a suspect in the murder of the druggist.

lt's a secret that he's a deserter.

lt's shame to the lmperial Army.

There's somebody else.

My friend

You said you were aIone. You want to cheat me?

Never mind. l'll be going.

Thank you.

He's my customer. Forgive me

Blind?

Can't see anything

What's your hurry?

My friend kindly excused herself.

Leave some money.

Are you asleep, goz�?

What is it?

What do you want?

l have a request.

What is it?

This girl is my granddaughter

She was born blind.

Her father died in Korea, and her mother fell ill.

She died last spring.

This girl became an orphan.

l have to take care of her But l won't live Iong.

l can't ask strangers to raise her.

l don't know what to do.

l heard you played the samisen at the inn.

My husband left some money for me.

Please make this girl a goz� like you

l can't accept your money.

Please take care of her.

But, as you see, we're lone traveling goz�.

All we can do is write a letter to a group leader

PIease!

Put your hands together.

Let's go to your mother.

Pray to Buddha.

Trouble?

What is it?

Are you goz�?

That's right.

Two persons were drowned

One is a blind girl.

The other is a gray-haired old woman.

They jumped off the cliff

Why did they have to die? You tried to help them.

You were going to write a letter of introduction.

But l didn't say l'd take care of the girl.

The old woman was weak.

l was expelled. All l could do was write a letter.

Who is it?

The police. Tell me. Are you the mistress?

Yes. Name's Teruyo

Who is the other gentleman?

This is a detective from Fukui.

Really? You came from Fukui?

A long way from Fukui.

We want to know where Orin is

What did she do?

She did nothing wrong.

We're after the man traveling with her.

She left us nine years ago

Hasn't she returned since?

Never.

l'd like to talk with her, too.

Where is she?

We lost her

We trailed her to Toyama, but...

She's been missing since last year.

Where is her hometown?

Hometown?

She came from Obama in Wakasa.

Orin!

Who?

A clog dealer.

Orin, you know him?

Brother!

lt's you, Orin!

l thought you'd come here.

l've been working here waiting for you.

l wanted to see you.

Orin. Be happy

The police are after you

l had to see you.

l had to come.

Merciful Buddha let us be together again

You're no brother to me now.

l was told l'd lived in a seaside hut.

Who knows?

But l still remember the sound of the sea

Any sea sounds the same.

No. The sound l remember is very clear.

Even if it's true, the sound can change in thirty years

Besides, there are trains and sirens.

You can't hear the sea.

l can, after everybody goes to sleep.

He looks exactIy like the description.

That's right. The woman is a goz�.

They're passing our shop.

ls this the sea you remember?

Anything wrong?

lt was a saber

Saber? What about the saber?

The police.

Run!

Heitaro lwabuohi?

You killed the druggist?

Confess!

Don't cry like a kid, deserter!

Orin's statement

Blind and stubborn.

As long as you refuse to taIk,

she'll be tortured as an accomplice.

Okay?

Bessho invited you, but you didn't go with him

Because your man had been with the police.

You were worried so much you couldn't leave him.

Right?

That's right.

After the druggist started for the station,

you saw your man on the beach.

TeIl us the truth.

l didn't see him. l'm blind.

Fool!

You're lying

You said he was your brother. That was a lie

He's a deserter

"Deserter?" What does it mean?

He neglected his duty.

l'm blind. l don't know a thing about it.

l've never seen faces or hands.

You say ''forest,'' but...

...l don't know exactIy what it's like

There are many things l don't know.

l can feeI and smell things, but that's all

Buddha leads me when l walk

l can't understand you.

Don't get wise!

But l didn't see what l didn't see.

Somebody saw you and the man in the forest

l didn't see my brother.

What l saw was his heart.

A warm heart full of kindness...

.like the one only a brother could have

l kilIed him.

He raped Orin

So l killed him.

l got drafted in place of the son of lchibei Terada

a oompany president in Daishoji.

He paid me for it.

l did it for money.

You can dodge the draft

...if you have money

But poor men like me have to selI ourselves for money.

War sacrifices the poor.

l won't go to Siberia even if l get killed for it

ls that aIl?

You're a murderer and deserter. No excuses.

l'm ready to be executed

But before l die, let me see Orin

The audacity!

Let him see her for the last time.

Orin. lt's me.

l owe you an apology

l lied to you.

l said l had no parents or family. l said l was alone

lt was a lie

My mother is alive.

ln Daishoji. l was born there

She runs a clog shop there... alone.

l lied.

Forgive me.

Nothing to forgive. lt's naturaI you have a mother.

l have one, too. l have a mother.

Mother!

Who..?

Don't break the door.

lf it isn't Orin!

Mother in?

The mistress?

She died toward the end of last month.

She died? lt can't be true

She's inside.

Open the door, mother!

Mother..

Where are you?

Orin is back.

Mr. Saito toId me your mother lived...

...in Obama Village, Fukul.

She might be stilI alive in a vaIley there.

Lunch time!

l've been wondering what it is

Look at the tip of the point.

l can see something red What is it?

Where?

To the right of the tip of the point.