Gendai Eiga Kyokai Presents
THE IRON CROWN
Nobuko Otowa
Hideo Kanze
Flower Meg
A Film by Kaneto Shindo
As the poem says,
"You can't tie a cobweb to a wild horse."
Unfaithful men.
I thought I'd never give myself to such men.
But I couldn't see through his lies.
I married him, then I regretted it.
It was all because of my heart.
When I realized it, I felt so painful.
I went to pray at the Kibune Shrine at midnight.
Although life has no more meaning to me,
I want the man to get...
what he deserves.
At the end of the road...
that I'm so familiar with.
At the end of the road...
that I'm so familiar with.
In the night of the waning moon,
I passed through River Kurama.
I crossed the bridge.
Soon,
I reached...
the Kibune Shrine.
I reached...
the Kibune Shrine.
Who are you!
What's the matter!
Who are you!
Who are you! Who are you!
You're always naked?
It's the most comfortable.
Yes.
Do you... love me?
Yes.
Why sleep with men?
To get prettier.
You're a good woman.
Stop the phone!
Why say nothing?!
Say something!
Stop calling!
Our relations have got very bad.
Beyond repair.
My heart is not in it.
We're just a couple in name.
To stay together is bad for both of us.
It's a sin!
We should separate.
I won't separate.
Never.
We're not a couple for real anymore!
We live only once.
This is a meaningless life!
I won't separate.
Oh yes! I can never stand this demeaning attitude of yours!
Even if you can't stand it, I won't separate.
What are you going to do?
To go on living with you as man and wife.
Just name your condition. Please leave me.
I won't separate.
Did you make those phone calls?
What phone calls?
The phone calls I get every night!
Every night, where?
Never mind!
I didn't.
Never mind!
Where do you get them?
Her place?
Never mind!
What about them?
Honey!
I didn't make those calls.
Never mind!
I have things to do. Let me go!
Don't lie. You're going to her place.
Fool! I'm a car salesman.
I'm so busy, I wish I could split in two!
Come home at night.
I'm busy! I'll sleep at the dorm.
Liar! You're at her place every night.
Stop calling. Stop it please.
But where do you get them?
- You did it! - Who did I call?
- Never mind! - Who did I call, honey?
Oh! That woman took my man!
I'll give up my life.
Please give me the power of a demon.
I'll make him pay.
You, who want to be a demon,
go home at once.
Wear a red cloak.
Put an iron crown on your head.
Light up its three candles.
If you want revenge.
This is the divine message.
Quicker than to speak,
her face has changed.
Before this,
she was a beauty.
Not anymore.
Her hair turned green,
and shot up to heaven.
Black clouds appeared in the sky.
Strong wind began to blow. Thunderbolts started.
They shattered the bonds of this couple.
The vengeful demon...
will make the villain pay!
The police called me? I don't remember.
Don't be impolite!
We won't call you to come without reason.
Don't be absurd.
I'm a gentleman.
Who would complain about me?
Here it is.
This letter is 3 metres long.
It is...
the longest complaint letter in Japanese criminal history.
She lists your crime endlessly.
It's terrible! It's vulgar!
What a nuisance.
It looks true but in fact it's not!
So you did...
walk out on your wife of 15 years,
and move in with a cheap slut.
Watch your words!
Nothing vulgar, but she's right?
That's why it's a nuisance.
It's a fact, but not the truth.
What can be seen is a fact. The truth is the air?
You want to argue like that?
Stop!
Don't throw away your old wife.
It's like a mat. The older the better.
Fool!
New wives and mats are the best.
Japan's divorce rates have gone up a lot.
You're a sex patient?
It's so damn long!
There are many scary things.
But nothing beats the hatred of a woman.
Jealousy is human nature.
Open up! Damn it!
It's your husband! Open up!
I'm living in Shimogyo.
I've been having nightmares lately.
For this...
I came to ask for help.
Senmei Abe, Soothsayer
Could you think of a reason?
I left my wife recently.
And I got a new woman.
I've never seen...
such terrible things.
Her hatred has piled up.
I feel I could see it. Spooky energy is rising.
Jealousy.
It's deep hatred!
It's from your ex-wife's jealousy.
The new wife, don't think you're exempt.
To clean it up you have to do it thoroughly.
Up to now, it's the normal rate.
I'll need 10% extra for the next phase. OK?
The special, please.
Where are they?
Where are you going?
Stay here.
Let's go to Seimei Abe.
We'll pray to the demons for our sakes.
That's the best place to stay.
I won't let you run away.
No place for you to go.
Honey.
I'm not running away. I want to go further with you.
- I love you. - Corny.
Do something with it!
Stop the ringing!
This phone is killing me!
Her obsession is killing me!
Shut it off!
Stop the ringing!
You love me where?
Your sex.
Hello.
Hello?
I hate this!
It's OK. It's OK!
We came here to get away from the phone!
Why let her know!
What are you...
Stop it!
You shouldn't break our things!
You'll pay for the repair.
Let's...
fight the evil spirit...
by transfixing it.
I made human-size straw figures.
I put the names of the couple in them.
I prepared a three-deck shelf,
and hanged five-coloured wands on it.
I prepared offerings.
I prayed to the gods.
What is it?
No. Nothing.
A 5-inch nail!
This a 5-inch nail?
Spring flowers bloom...
by the coming of warm winds.
But they are likewise...
scattered by the winds of late spring.
The moon...
rises from the eastern mountains.
But it soon sets into the western hills.
Those who drown themselves...
will become...
blue demons of the water.
I'm just like a firefly...
hovering above River Kibune.
I became a red demon,
as red as the candles' flame...
of the iron crown...
I wore on my head.
I sat by the pillow...
of my sleeping man.
"Hello. How are you?"
"It's been a..."
"while."
Hey.
Stop it! Stop it!
Hello! Hello! Bastard!
Jerk!
Jerk!!
It's not from Tokyo.
- How do you know? - Somehow.
These highlands?
Female intuition.
This hotel.
Your wife may be here.
This hotel?
- Perhaps the next room... - The next room!
Jerk!
Hey you!
Is a woman in this room?
Woman?
- Around 40. - Sir.
There's only you on this 5th floor.
Hey you...
Sir.
Don't walk around in your pyjamas.
You're a gentleman. Behave like one.
If it's from the hotel, ask the operator.
Operator.
What is it?
You'll get scolded again in this look!
Come back. Just use the phone.
Yes.
Hello? Where was that call from?
From this hotel?
No.
No, it isn't.
Jerk.
Tonight,
you're our only guests.
Liar!
At lunch, there's a couple. The wife is fat.
Her foreign husband drank beer.
A lie!
This hotel lies.
Show them the evidence! Bastard!
Let's go.
"I'll take your life!"
She raised her whip,
took the hair...
of the new wife in her hand.
She whipped her.
In this unstable world,
you can't tell if it's a dream,
or it's the reality.
Karma comes around and returns to you now.
It's too late...
to regret what you did.
Now take the punishment!
Then she wanted to kill...
her abhorred husband.
She approached the pillow...
where he was sleeping.
She's in the next room.
She's... not.
No one's staying in this hotel.
She's here. I'm sure.
- No! - Yes.
- No! - Yes!
We're going crazy!
Now!
Go next door and tell her to stop.
- But... - Now!
Ah... yes.
We'll really go crazy! Now!
Yes! I'm going to the war.
What are you doing, sir?
There's a guest inside.
What! She's inside?
You just said there's no one!
What are you saying, sir?
I haven't seen you before, sir!
What! You haven't seen me before?
Liar!
Sir! Please don't say such vulgar words.
What! Vulgarity or lying, which is worse! Tell me!
Front desk? You liar!
You said we're the only guests.
There is someone next to my room!
I don't remember saying such things.
Yes.
The guest next to yours...
arrived at the same time yesterday as you.
A lady.
That's all I can tell you.
Yes. Because of privacy.
She's here.
Your wife is here.
Yes.
She's really here.
Really.
Operator? Did our neighbour call just now?
It's from this hotel.
But I can't tell you which room.
Why?
Because it's a guest.
The caller says so.
It's our house rule.
It's our house rule?
What the hell? Jerk!
We'll call the next room.
I thought so,
but if it's wrong, the staff will scold us.
We won't be wrong!
If it is, he'd be sleeping.
This is a bad idea!
- Room 505 please. - That's our room!
Sorry! 506.
It's late. Please don't call.
It's urgent.
Do it.
Scared?
No...
Get a grip!
No answer.
Try again.
No answer, so I won't.
- Bastard! - Wait!
Come. Look.
- Your wife. - What?
It's your wife! Can't recognize her back?
- It's my wife. - Come!
What?
She went down?
Woe is me!
Not only can't I punish my husband,
I'm punished by the gods.
My power as a demon...
is taken away.
I get weak and staggering,
like a broken old cart.
I'll wait for another chance.
What are you doing?
Don't go in the water.
You could get killed.
Arrest that woman!
Who?
No one is here.
What are you saying?
What about her!
Where are you!
You're killing us!
I'll wait for another chance.
You can only hear her speaking voice for sure.
You can only hear...
her speaking voice.
She transformed into an invisible ghost.
An invisible...
ghost...
Nobuko Otowa Hideo Kanze
Flower Meg Rokko Toura
Taiji Tonoyama Daijiro Harada Atsuko Kawaguchi
Photographed by Kiyomi Kuroda Music by Hikaru Hayashi
Produced by Kaneto Shindo, Kazuo Kuwabara
Written and Directed by Kaneto Shindo
THE END