The Temple of Wild Geese (1962) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language

1962 · 98 mins · Japanese

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Directed by

Yūzō Kawashima

Starring

Isao Kimura, Masao Mishima, Kin Sugai, Kō Nishimura, Ayako Wakao, Saburo Date

Satoko, a mistress bound by fate, loses her silkscreen‑artist master at the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto and is given to the temple’s lascivious head priest, Kikuchi. She becomes drawn to Jinen, a melancholy acolyte who has witnessed Kikuchi’s cruelty and Satoko’s dependence. Jinen is both fascinated and unsettled by Satoko’s attention, torn between his loathing of Kikuchi, the grim circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The narrative unfolds in a dreamlike flashback, inspired by a notorious silkscreen image sold in the Temple of the Wild Geese’s souvenir shop.