Yari no gonza (Gonza the Spearman) (1986)

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This drama of love and tragedy is based on a story by the early 18th-century writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon and hinges on an ingrained sense of honor above all else. When the retainer Gonza Sasano (Hiromi Goh) is suddenly offered the hand of his lord's daughter in marriage, he cannot say no. Even… More This drama of love and tragedy is based on a story by the early 18th-century writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon and hinges on an ingrained sense of honor above all else. When the retainer Gonza Sasano (Hiromi Goh) is suddenly offered the hand of his lord's daughter in marriage, he cannot say no. Even though he is engaged to someone else, the daughter is in love with him and her mother wishes them to marry. Gonza's ulterior motive is to learn the secrets of the tea ceremony. When the mother finds out he was engaged to someone else, she decides to reveal the secrets to him before the marriage just to make sure he follows through. Unfortunately, her action leads people to believe that she and Gonza are lovers. So she and Gonza take off for their lives, trying to escape being killed for the sin of . . of revealing how to brew and serve tea? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi