Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953) is the story of two greedy peasants and their wives in the 16th century Japan. While the greed of peasants was hilarious in Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, it is tragic and haunting in Ugetsu. One of the men wants blindly to become a samurai so that he will be rich - the other wants money although he isn't as dumb as the first one.Mizoguchi is known as the director who observed the oppressed position of women in Japan. He continues his tradition of revealing the difficulties and pain of Japanese women in Ugetsu. The two wives are the victims of their husbands' greed even though there is no reason for them to be punished. There is also a ghost of a young woman who never found love during her life. The storyline of each character is more or less tragic (and ironic), but the ending gives us a little hope.
Mizoguchi's way to pan the camera is poignant: a great example of this is the shot in which Genjuro runs around the house near the end of the film. I can't understand how they shot the scene in the first place and its impact on me on a purely emotional level was huge.
All in all, Ugetsu is a great film and makes me want to see more films by Mizoguchi.
Score: 10 out of 10
Ugetsu is one of my semi-official "FAVORITE FILMS EVAR." Other films by Mizoguchi I highly recommend would be Sansho the Bailiff, Street of Shame, and Women of the Night. Osaka Elegy and Sisters of Gion aren't half bad, either.
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