AllMovie

In actuality, The Lovers' Exile is a three-hour Bunraku (puppet) performance accompanied by the shamizen (string music), edited down to 87 minutes, and captured on film. The puppets are put through their paces with alacrity and grace, acting out the classical story of the owner of a courier business who robs his clients to buy the freedom of the woman he loves -- a prostitute. English subtitles are inserted below the picture frame as a translation of the storyteller's narrative. Given the genre, this "film" will be most appreciated by those who enjoy the more static and postured medium of puppet theater.