The Water Magician is one of the few surviving silent films by Kenji Mizoguchi. The protagonist is a circus performer who falls in love with a young man who wants to study law, but is unable to do so because of his poverty. In order to help her lover, she takes it upon herself to pay for his tuition, but she finds herself short of money and is forced to borrow it from others. The film makes use of both European and Japanese film techniques, which complement each other, contributing to its unique balance of poetry, dynamism, youthful joy and poignant drama.
The film will be accompanied by Ichiro Kataoka (benshi), Viktoras Orestas Vagusevičius (piano) and Frank Bockius (percussion).