Wuthering Heights (1988) - full transcript

TOHO presents

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Production: Seiyu and Mediactuel

Production Director:
Sueaki TAKAOKA

Produced by

Kazunobu YAMAGUCHI
and Francis von BUREN

Screenplay: Kiju YOSHIDA

Based on Wuthering Heights
by E. BRONTE

Cinematography: Junichiro HAYASHI
Art Direction: Yoshiro MURAKI

Score: Toru TAKEMITSU

Sound: Yukio KUBOTA
Editing: Takao SHIRAE



Yusaku MATSUDA

Yuko TANAKA

Tatsuro NADAKA

Eri ISHIDA
Nagare HAGIWARA

Tomoko TAKABE
Masato FURUOYA

Keiko ITO, Tokuko SUGIYAMA
Masao IMAFUKU, Shun UEDA

Taro SHIGAKI, Mansaku FUWA
Baiken JUKKANJI

Rentaro MIKUNI

A film by Kiju YOSHIDA

Holy man...

I remember you very well.

You were only a child

when you left for the capital

to study the biwa lute
under a lesser master.



Yes, a very little boy!

Today I have come

to thank the master for his generosity.

But alas, you tell me now

that he has departed from this world!

It was so long ago...

Now,

this House of the West

has been abandoned by everyone.

And what has become
of the master's bride?

Well?

Has she also...?

Yes. Lady Kinu is dead.

It was so long ago.

I see it! The Valley of the Dead.

I know a cemetery there.

Could you take me there?

There is a grave

where I would like
to offer prayers.

Which one?

This tomb has already been plundered!

Thieves! Imagine
coming to sac a cemetery!

Such sad times!

Who is named as the deceased?

"Kinu". It reads "Kinu".

That is the grave I am seeking.

May her soul rest in peace.

Hey!

Why are you opening the coffin?

Wretch!
Stop!

The divine curse
will fall upon you!

Silence, monkey!

You have breached this coffin.

You must die!

What happened?

He is dead!
The peddler has been slain!

If you value your lives, begone!

What did you kill him for?
Tell me. Why?

The violation of a grave is sacrilege.

I am Onimaru,
Lord of the Yamabe,

he who cuts down the guilty.

Leave, before my wrath falls upon you!

Buddha have mercy on us!

Here we are, the House of the East.

The Yamabe live here,
obliged to serve the Mountain of Fire.

Keep your eyes open wide.

Father,
I am happy to see you again.

My little Kinu.

How big you have grown
during my absence!

You have the gift you promised me?

Of course, my child.

Ichi! Bring the chest.

So this is what you wanted,

take it.

Scoundrel!

Your place is not here!

Get out, go on!

Among the servants!

Enough!

That's enough!

My Lord,
where has this child come from?

I do not know,
I found him.

- Where was that?
- In the capital.

I found him dying
of hunger at Gojo bridge.

It seems to me that he resembles a...

A demon, you want to say?

That's a good idea.

We will call him
Onimaru, the Demoniac.

Hidemaru, Kinu, listen to me.

From this time forward, this Onimaru
shall be a member of our family.

You should be kind to him.

Kinu.
Stop.

Look. It looks like a black devil!

Pay no attention to him, I tell you.

But father told us
to be kind to him.

Even so, he is only a servant.

Come!

Brother!

We must be more severe.

I am going to punish him myself.

No!
Wait!

Do you intend to kill him?

This impure being has dared
to meddle with the holy offerings,

he has despoiled the spirits
of the Mountain!

Brother!

You'll have to kill me next!

She's passed out.

Come along.

This insolent has profaned
the holy rites of the Yamabe.

You must punish him.

He's but a peasant.

No more, I told you!

Banish him from here!

Or else divine wrath will...

That's enough!

It was precisely for his boldness

that I brought him from the capital.

Despite the respect I owe you,
I cannot accept this.

In this decadent age,

who believes in the Gods' anger?

You mean to say...

that he is more worthy
than I to be a Yamabe?

Quite!

Father!

Very well.

I will leave.

Farewell!

But my lord,
Hidemaru is your sole heir!

My Lord!

By the way, where is Kinu?

Last night, she fell ill.

Is she resting?

Yes. In the women's shed.

Why is that?

After falling ill last night,

she had her first period...

So my little Kinu is a woman now.

Who is it?

It is your breakfast.

Leave it for me here!

Why have I been shut up?

I don't want to stay here!

Listen to me.

During their periods
and childbirth,

women are sequestered here

Such is the law among the Yamabe.

It is in this place

that your mother brought
you into the world.

Look around you.

You see the rope hanging from the beam?

Your mother clung to it
as you were being born.

Note it well.

What is wrong?

I am hungry!

Is there anything to eat?

No.

But yes!

Look, Onimaru, over there!

Scram!

We have no money.

Money?

Is that all?

All right.
Wait for me here.

Onimaru!

Outlaws! Outlaws!

Yamabe!

Of the Mountain?

Why have you come down
to the village?

The law forbids it!

Come, everyone!
Listen up!

We will be cursed
by the God of Fire!

It is a Yamabe girl.
Serpent's blood flows in her veins!

The harvest will fall short this year!

Not a drop of rain the entire summer!

To whom have we made our offerings?

Death?

Stone them!

Run for it!

Kinu!

Onimaru!

This is in this room where
wrongdoers are held.

Your father has commanded
that you stay here

until tomorrow morning.

Onimaru!

Father?

Kinu...

After your next period,

you must leave for the capital.

You know the fate

of Yamabe women.

When they've reached adulthood,

they must leave the sacred Mountain.

According to our customs,

they must leave for the capital

and serve as priestesses
at the Kamo sanctuary.

But I do not want to leave this House.

I know.

I do not want to become a priestess.

I would tell you to leave earlier,

but I do not have the heart.

So you must leave us...

I do not want to be a priestess.

I want to live as a true woman.

You must accept your fate.

How I regret...

being born a woman!

What a strange smell!

Are you eating quail?

It is forbidden to kill those animals.

Eat. It's good!

The Lord has told me that
you are leaving for the capital.

And what will you do then?

I will go with you.

If it were possible,

I would have fewer worries.

The capital is dangerous,
there is fighting everywhere.

You are not going alone.

And my father?

Who will look after him?

Then you accept that
we should be separated?

I did not say that.

Fate requires that Yamabe women

must become priestess.

But...

There is a way to stay on the Mountain.

A way?

What is it?

Another branch of our family

lives on this Mountain,
in the House of the West.

Yes, but our two families
hate one another.

There is a young heir there

who is named Mitsuhiko.

I am told

that he has not yet taken a wife.

If I were to marry him,

I would leave this House,
but I would remain on the Mountain.

We both live on the sacred Mountain,

and it is here that,
one day, we shall die.

Nonetheless,

we see one another
now for the first time.

How strange.

Since our most tender youth,

we were told that our families
were mortal enemies.

My departed mother
took pity on my fate.

It is she who has led me to you.

Out of pity for your fate?

I went to pray at her grave,

since I must leave for the capital.

I walked through
the Valley of the Dead

to say goodbye to her.

The way you say this

implies you should never return.

Indeed, I was going to the capital

to serve in a sanctuary.

You will be a priestess?

Yes, that is the fate of Yamabe women.

There is no custom

so cruel as that in
our House of the West.

You mean to tell me
that women among you

are not required to renounce the world?

Though born of the same family,

we are like shadows and light.

I meant to say...

that in the East you are obliged

to appease the anger of the Serpent God?

It is an annual rite

that we perform before
transplanting the rice

to obtain a good harvest.

Our rite is different,

since we imprison the divine Serpent
in the Mountain of Fire.

Just so. While we belong
to the same family,

we are sworn enemies.

No,

that's only a legend invented

by those who fear the Mountain of Fire.

But the House of the East is cursed.

Each year, its men
turn into serpents,

and its women leave this land
to become priestesses.

Kinu,

don't be so sad.

You may stay here

on our Mountain.

You are saying that I might avoid

going to the capital?

Once, our great-grandfather

and your great-grandmother

were married.

The villagers feared
the vengeance of the Gods,

but to the joy of all,
the harvests were good.

So, brother...

you are asking her to marry you?

I don't see any inconvenience in it.

And you, Kinu?

Your marriage to the man
of the House of the West...

Will it be favorable

or disfavorable?

Father...

Go ahead.

If this is what you desire,

leave for the House of the West.

I am very happy.

Swear before the Gods

that if one day you have a son,

he will be the heir
of the House of the East.

Swear it.

If you do not have a son,
Onimaru will become the heir.

It must never leave our family.

Master! Master!

It is terrible!
Come, come quickly!

What is happening?

Some warriors are attempting
to march over the Mountain!

Onimaru has just left
by horse to stop them.

Ichi!

My horse!

Father, you are too old to fight!

Listen to me, Onimaru!

I will not let you go forth alone!

I am warning all of you!

Not one armed man

shall cross the sacred Mountain.

If you violate this divine law,
I must punish you,

since I am the guardian
of this holy place.

You will be cursed!

Lady Kinu, Onimaru is here to see you.

Tell him to come in.

As of tomorrow,

you shall be the master of this House.

Osato, tell him to bathe himself,

and give him something to wear

so that he shall truly have
the presence of an heir

of the Yamabe family.

Let's go. Come on! Hurry up.

Kinu!

Onimaru.

Where...

Where are you?

Here...

...in the Forbidden Chamber.

Come in quickly,
and close the door.

I remember so well being shut up

in this room...

It was one night,

after our misadventure in the village.

I...

I was being punished.

That smell...

sickening and fetid,

worse than mold...

Onimaru,

sit down in front of me.

You know why I have asked you to come.

Tomorrow, I will be departing
for the House of the West.

I will never again return here.

You would really leave us?

I curse you!

Yes, curse me.

Your curse is the proof

that you will never cease loving me.

Show me your body.

Your naked body.

I am naked, too,
beneath this wedding kimono.

It is Lord Hidemaru.
He is back.

As soon as I learned of my
father's death, I came back.

Is he already buried?

Yes, in the Valley of the Dead.

Let us gather there.

In spite of the quarrel
that has divided us,

he was my father.

Is that your son?

What a handsome little boy.

Oh, I have forgotten to alert
Lady Kinu.

What's this?

A servant stepping beyond
the threshold of this room?

Come on. Come back!

Listen to me!

Servants must mind their places!

Lady Kinu...

Welcome.

I am very happy to see you again.

This is my sister Kinu.

My name is Shino.

My husband has told
me much about you.

Good.

What is this?
Ichi, go see.

Onimaru is gone.

Why didn't you stop him?

You may never see him again.

You are mistaken.

He hasn't gone.

He is still here.

Here?

Yes.

Onimaru,
it's me.

I am Onimaru...

He is in me...

One more push...

Hold tight!

A woman must bear this suffering.

He is born?

- Yes, but...
- But what?

Kinu?

Your little one is born.

It is magnificient.

Your child.

And Kinu, how is she?

Don't worry.

The child was ill,
but everything is fine now.

Is it a boy or a girl?

It's a girl.

See how pretty she is...

the dear little one.

It's...

It's the portrait of her mother.

Kinu has just recovered her senses.

She asks you to come to her bedside.

I thank you for your help.

If it is allowable,
I will leave now.

I ought to return before nightfall.

But why not stay with us?

The route is dangerous.

Don't worry yourself,
Ichi is escorting me.

We're lost

and we're hungry...

Have mercy upon the disabled poor!

Such misfortune to be born blind!

Ignore them.

Wait!

They are a miserable people.

They should spend the night
in our House.

Hold on. These are no beggars,

they are bandits!

Help me!

Shino!

It is his fault that
the harvest is bad again this year.

The guardian of the holy Mountain!
Coming to procure the women here!

He's been cursed by the Serpent god!

We must kill him
to appease the Gods' wrath!

Stop, we plead, stop!

You will all be damned
if you kill him!

Let us do it!

We kill him,
of else we will be cursed!

Wait!

Instead of serving the Gods,
he is procuring women?

There have been far worse

in these troubled times.

But this is madness!

A rapist of women,
a dog, a beast!

Enough!

Do you not recognize your master?

It is Onimaru, Lord of the Yamabe.

He's come from the capital...

The Shogun have appointed him
to govern this territory.

Suke, take this brat away,
I wish to see no more of him.

That's an order!

Take him to the servants' quarters.

Listen to me, wretch.

I am the master here.

Be gone!

Shut it!

The sun is blinding me.

Close the screens.

From what I understand,

due to your valour,

you have been made the master

of the two Houses
of the sacred Mountain.

I cannot deny this.

What do you want from us?

Nothing in particular,

you may remain in this House.

However...

Hold on!

I know what you have come to tell me.

You want to see Kinu?

I refuse.

Take our fortune.

Inherit this House.

But you will never see my wife.

Kinu refuses to see me herself?

No more!

The Lord is bidding us farewell.

Escort him with the honor he is due.

What are you laughing about?

I am thinking of the name you bear.

You are a devil,
not only in name,

but to the depths of your soul.

However, you do not scare me.

You do not frighten me,

because I know

how much you love Kinu.

Jealousy devours you,

which only shows

that you are a human being,
and not a demon.

Stop!

I must share important news with you.

Kinu has been ill for a long time.

The birth of her daughter
has left her so weakened

that we no longer have much hope.

You are lying.

No disease could strike Kinu.

All the same, she herself

seems resigned to her fate.

If she should die,

no one in this House
will escape my wrath.

You will all die.

Kinu, your mother calls for you

to come quickly so she may see you.

She wants to watch you play.

Stay there where she can see you.

You've left the windows open?

She seems a little better today.

Tell me,

Onimaru has come to visit,

hasn't he?

He just left.

What did he want?

He has been named Lord

of the lands of the sacred Mountain.

He distinguished himself
in battle in the capital.

The Shogun has rewarded him
with the honor of administering

our two Houses.

In that case...

this House belongs to him, too?

His intention is not to bother us now.

Beware,

watch out for yourself.

Onimaru is a terribly evil man.

His evil surpasses

anything you can conceive.

I know too well...

what he wants.

No.

You cannot imagine...

His cruelty is without limits.

He curses men,

he curses this world.

His imprecations will stalk us into death.

I know who he is.

I know his true nature.

Very well, I understand.

Kinu, you should go back to bed.

Your face is flushed...

red with fever.

I am begging you.

Pay close attention.

You must understand.

Onimaru does not belong
to this world.

I have not much longer here.

When I die,

he will die also.

I will take him with me
into the other world.

I promise you
that I will drag him into hell.

I will prevent him...

from doing evil to you.

Patience, a little patience yet.

I swear to you.

Together,

we will go to hell.

Onimaru and me...

Kinu.
Calm yourself.

Kinu!

It shocks you to see me dressed

in this wedding attire?

It is a gift from Kinu.

Where are you going this way?

To the House of the East.

Is that so?

Yes, I am going home.

To do what?

To become the wife of Lord Onimaru.

Really?

If you marry me,

there will be no more
discord between our two Houses.

I'm waiting.

Go inside quickly.

From now on, you will live here.

This is the Forbidden Chamber

where the outcasts stay.

"Outcasts"?

Not they alone.

We also confine unruly women here

and wrongdoers of the Yamabe family.

They all die here.

I thought that you wanted to marry me?

No need.

You belong to me like everything
in the House of the West.

You will live here
among the servants.

Consider yourself lucky.

Do you not hear the galloping horse?

He's coming!

It's Onimaru!

Kinu...

Oh!

Listen.

The sound of footsteps.

You're dreaming.

That's the wind blowing.

No.

Onimaru is here.

He is very near.

My love.

Don't worry.

I'll take him...

with me...

down there into the other world.

I will drag him...

to the very bottom of hell's abyss.

So I will protect you.

Calm yourself.

It's a bad dream.

Yes, I hear his horse.

That is Onimaru.

He approaches, insanely happy, but...

he does not know that death awaits him.

He can no longer escape from my curse.

Onimaru...

Die...

Die with me.

Bring the little one here.

Alas,

Kinu is no more.

You are sure of that?

Open your eyes.

Your mother is dying.

Isn't she beautiful?

Remember her face.

Never forget it.

He has lost his mind.

He loved her madly,
but to open up her grave!

For having desecrated the Mountain,

he will be swiftly chastened
by the God of Fire.

We must forgive the dead one
if even she comes to haunt the master!

Here it is!

The coffin!

We have unearthed it!

Stop!

Don't touch that.

Go away.

Out of my sight!

Scram!

Some sake!
Bring me some sake!

Hurry up!

Some sake, I told you!

What has happened?

He has seen Lady Kinu.

To violate a grave, such sacrilege!

You saw her

in her coffin?

Lady Kinu...

Is she still beautiful?

Wouldn't you rather have
a more lively woman?

This one's not dead.

Very well.

This night is yours.

Go into the Forbidden Chamber
and undress.

No.

You're only a servant.

You must obey me.

Since you have not married me,

you cannot touch me.

Get into that room, girl.

Take me in your arms.

Stop it!
I am not your slave!

Worms.

Thousands of worms grubbing
beneath your flesh,

in your entrails.

Filthy woman!

Stop, you are crazy!

Worms!

Your face disgusts me!

Take it!

No. I'm begging you.

Weep! Go on, cry!

No. I won't let you rape me...

it should be Kinu, the dead woman!

Shut up!

Don't pronounce her name again!

I'll strangle you!

The guardian of the Mountain
languishing in debauchery!

He buys whores
with the rice we give in tribute!

And if the God of Fire
scatters over us

cinders and lava?

It's too much!

In every way, our world is accursed!

The Yamabe have no right
to enter our village.

Those who break the law must die!

Very well.

You want to know
with whom you're meddling?

The Lord Onimaru has killed
thousands of warriors in the capital.

But the law is the law.
Punish him!

To the death!

Go on, make your choice.

You want money?

That buys
Gods and the Buddha.

Go on.

Choose, I'm telling you!

And there's more.

It's all very well to amuse
himself with village whores.

But to open the grave...

Don't touch that coffin!

Suke...

We are going to the House of the West.

What is it?

You don't see anything?

Something is going on...

Where is your daughter?

Where is she hiding?

The place where the births...

Go search for her there.

I beg you,

finish me off!

I won't survive anyway.

You will not die so easily.

The more you suffer,

the better.

Let me die!

I don't want my daughter
to see me this way!

Since you're less than a beast,
I won't finish you off.

Such cruelty!

Father! Father!

Stay away!

It's no use, he's dead!

Father!

It was you who killed him?

You are really scaring me...

Take precautions, Lady Kinu,

when you get to the House of the East.

Although your mother gave birth to you there,

it belongs to Lord Onimaru.

I know.

No.

I have cared for you since your birth,

but Onimaru does not want me with you.

He refuses to allow me to stay with you.

Beware.

You have become a beautiful young girl

and I am sure he is scheming.

Have no fear.

My cousin, Yoshimaru,
also lives in that House.

I know he will protect me.

The courage you show
by hiding your sorrow...

Reminds me of your mother.

This belonged to my mother, didn't it?

Stop! You're blinding me.

In exchange, I offer you this sword.

It is the treasure our family.

It shall slay the Serpent god.

You are very much
your mother's daughter!

You have come to kill me
as one slays the Serpent!

Will you take this sword?

Indeed, I am an evil Serpent,
an angry God.

But it won't be so easy to slay me.

Suke!

Come over here.

You will stay in your mother's room.

No. I prefer the servants' quarters.

Why?

I am at your service.

This is why I have come.

What a plague.
Take her away!

This is her mother through and through.

I am sure of this, even if
I cannot see her here.

She will not do,

not for Lord Onimaru...

Mother...

help me.

Mother...

Yoshimaru.

You are well, Yoshimaru?

I am Kinu, of the House of the West.

We are cousins, you know.

United by blood.

What are you doing here?

This is the women's quarters.

Men must not enter.

There is no servant here.

So I have tidied up and
changed the bed-mats.

For you.

For me?

Wait!

Yoshimaru!

You're playing games with me!

Where have you taken her?

Answer me!

The corpse of my mother?
I have hidden it.

I do not want you
molesting her each night.

She would never be at peace.

Be careful, I can make you suffer!

You can menace me.

You can hate me.

But I am the daughter
of she whom you loved.

Hate me then, if you wish!

Insolence!

Would you like me
to remove these garments

so that you may take the body

that I received from my mother?

But don't forget...

that through my veins,

also flows the blood of he who you hate.

So tell me then do you love me...?

...or do you hate me?

Very well.

Since you insist,

undress.

Like your mother, before,
in the Forbidden Chamber.

You lie! My mother would not...

She would not have done that.

It was before dawn the day
she was to marry that man,

your father.

We were lovers in this room.

It is not true.

My mother could not
have been with another...

Undress.

No!

Yes!

Tell me that you want it,

little slut!

So look.

Since you want it, look at my body.

Am I so like my mother,

she who drove you crazy?

You may look,

but I forbid you to touch me.

Yoshimaru!

Come and help!

Yoshimaru, help me!

It is very serious this time.

Yoshimaru, protect me!

He struck me like a servant!

Protect me, I am begging you.

Does this man intimidate you?

Look at these bruises.

He beat me to force me to obey him.

He wanted to rape me!

I know what you want.

Yoshimaru and I,

you want us to kill each other, right?

Dog!

I will not kill you.

Not now.

But...
I will do it one day.

You dare to defy me,
filthy servant!

Stop, I'm begging you!

Where is your mother?

Where have you hidden her? Speak!

In the women's hut.
She's in there.

Yoshimaru!

Take it,

this sacred sword which
has slain the Serpent.

It will protect you.

You see, Yoshimaru!

You know the fate...

of he who meddles with the
holy offerings to the Serpent god?

Die, Onimaru!

I knew that this day would come.

But I am Lord Onimaru!

I won't let myself be killed this way!

Die!

Wait!

Don't kill me.

She calls for me.

Yes, Kinu calls for me.

Look!

Kinu is there.

She calls for me to come.

You don't see her?

I am so pleased
that you have returned!

Why this strange gown?

If you had not returned,

I would have given myself to death.

It is all over.

I have slaughtered Onimaru.

He is dead?

He has lost an arm.
He won't survive it.

Why didn't you finish him off?

I took pity on him.

He suffered dreadfully
calling for your mother.

He was no longer
the terrible Onimaru at all.

You have freed me...

freed me from his curse.

You have succeeded
in slaying the Serpent?

Like in the legend.
My congratulations.

You would like to share our joy?

Thanks to you,
I am relieved of my master.

The capital is mine!

Yoshimaru...

let us go back
to the House of the West.

You shall celebrate your wedding there!

Suke, ready my horse!

Wait!

We must remove the coffin
from the Forbidden Chamber.

I cannot leave my mother here.

She must be returned to her grave.

Well...

There is no one?

They have left me here all alone...

Heartless men!

What is it?

Get a hold on him!

Come back!

Who is it?

There, look!

It is Onimaru.

He is not dead.

He's summoned my mother
to come and be with him.

What a demonic man!

subtitle translation: depositio