A pair of blind masseurs, an enigmatic city woman, a lonely man and his ill-behaved nephew—The Masseurs and a Woman is made up of crisscrossing miniature studies of love and family at a remote resort in the mountains. With delicate and surprising humor, Hiroshi Shimizu paints a timeless portrait of loneliness and the human need to connect.
Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.8 / 5
Cast
Mieko Takamine
Michiho Misawa
Shin Tokudaiji
Toku
Shinichi Himori
Fukuichi Misawa
Shin Saburi
Shintaro Omura
Takeshi Sakamoto
Akio Isono
Hiking Student
Toshiaki Konoe
Hiking Student
Fusako Maki
Hiking Girl
Mitsuko Miura
Hiking Girl
Hiroshi Mizuhara
Hiking Student
Crew
Hiroshi Shimizu
Director
Hiroshi Shimizu
Screenplay
Popular Reviews
5 reviews
klarouxe
7.0★ · 07/25/25
finalement: On lit la confiance dans les yeux, mais la plus grande est celle qu’on offre sans voir
finalement: On lit la confiance dans les yeux, mais la plus grande est celle qu’on offre sans voir
M Hansen
7.0★ · 01/15/24
I had an hour to kill at work, and this was one of the shortest entries in the Official Japanuary 2024 list, so I gave it a shot. And MAN, let me tell you. I was genuinely surprised. This movie is so heartfelt and funny. I laughed out loud several times at my desk. An absolute shame that this filmmaker and his body of work isn’t brought up enough.
I had an hour to kill at work, and this was one of the shortest entries in the Official Japanuary 2024 list, so I gave it a shot. And MAN, let me tell you. I was genuinely surprised. This movie is so heartfelt and funny. I laughed out loud several times at my desk. An absolute shame that this filmmaker and his body of work isn’t brought up enough.
Mathias
7.0★ · 08/17/22
“She had the scent of Tokyo.”Hiroshi Shimizu’s direction feels.. different. Not exactly a comedy, even if it feels very comedic. No major exaggerations or ridiculous plot points, almost like a Charlie Chaplin film without the slapstick. There is this strange underlying presence of seriousness that penetrates every minute. It’s not exactly satire either - I’m not sure how to describe it, I can’t compare it to anything. Maybe similar in some ways to Yasujiro Ozū or Billy Wilder.. but still far removed from their direction.
Perplexing piece of cinema. A film about companionship at heart. TokuandFuku really had a beautiful form of lightheartedness to them, both very amusing and somewhat careless. The dialogue is what unmasked the movie for me and it brought out some good character development by the end.
Overall, My second entry of his. Wouldn’t say it holds up technically, but pretty good for what it is. Mostly I’m really impressed with the direction of Hiroshi Shimizu.
“She had the scent of Tokyo.”Hiroshi Shimizu’s direction feels.. different. Not exactly a comedy, even if it feels very comedic. No major exaggerations or ridiculous plot points, almost like a Charlie Chaplin film without the slapstick. There is this strange underlying presence of seriousness that penetrates every minute. It’s not exactly satire either - I’m not sure how to describe it, I can’t compare it to anything. Maybe similar in some ways to Yasujiro Ozū or Billy Wilder.. but still far removed from their direction.
Perplexing piece of cinema. A film about companionship at heart. TokuandFuku really had a beautiful form of lightheartedness to them, both very amusing and somewhat careless. The dialogue is what unmasked the movie for me and it brought out some good character development by the end.
Overall, My second entry of his. Wouldn’t say it holds up technically, but pretty good for what it is. Mostly I’m really impressed with the direction of Hiroshi Shimizu.
