Anma To Onna (aka The Masseurs And A Woman) (1938)

A blind masseur (Shink Tokudaiji) at a mountain spa becomes infatuated with an enigmatic woman (as played by the beautiful Mieko Takamine, it's easy to see why) but he's not the only one. A forlorn young man (Shin Saburi) and his restless nephew (Bakudan Kozo) also fall under her spell. Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. Previously entranced with Shimizu's JAPANESE GIRLS AT THE HARBOR and MR. THANK YOU, I found this movie slow going at first. It seemed to meander without any clear direction but fortunately, I stayed with it and it all came together as a mood piece into a cohesive whole. All of the characters seem to exist in a solitary bubble, their loneliness obvious but all seemingly unable to reach out to each other. Shimizu does this economically lest he break the mood with non essential trimmings. The mountain locations are attractively photographed by Masao Saito. With Shinichi Himori as the other masseur in the film's title.