Notable as a study of the nature of reality and for its sense of place created by carefully controlled camera movement, ugetsu is an allegorical read more. Ugetsu ugetsu monogatari 1953 criterion moc gion festival music gion bayashi 1953 moc. Kenji mizoguchi 18981956 was a japanese film director most noted for exploring both personal and broad societal issues such as the status of women. Their neglected wives suffer the bitter consequences of their husbands ambition as one is murdered by soldiers and the other is raped and becomes a prostitute. Ueda akinari, the film uses the same elements of traditional japanese mythical creatures and spirits, resulting the film in a fascinating discourse of the realistic and. Ugetsu monogatari is mizoguchi kenjis most famous film and the first fruit of a unique carte blanche contract awarded to him by daiei studio on the back of the international success of the life of oharu in 1952 which set him free to. In ugetsu, the alltooreal and the supernatural move steadily toward each other. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, ugetsu ugetsu monogatari, 1953 helped bring international attention to the vibrant cinema being created in postwar japan and immediately established kenji mizoguchi as one of the worlds greatest directors. For, just as his images overflow with lifecharacters forever running off toward more life outside the frameso this reality flows into the phantom universe as well. Presented in a glorious 4k digital restoration, ugetsu is mizoguchis towering achievement, a haunting and decorous fable about the illusory nature of desire set.
In sixteenth century japan a village potter and his brotherinlaw set out for the city to seek their fortunes in the spoils of war. Largely taken from traditional japanese and chinese ghost stories, the collection is among most important works of japanese fiction of the 18th century, the middle of the edo period. Ugetsu, also known as tales of ugetsu or ugetsu monogatari. Mizoguchi is cinemas shakespeare, its bach or beethoven, its rembrant, titian or picasso. In 97 minutes, kenji mizoguchi was able to decimate the entire enigma that is human desire. Mizoguchis exquisite gender tragedy is set during japans violent 16thcentury civil wars, a.
Ugetsu monogatari is a collection of nine supernatural tales by the japanese author ueda akinari, first published in 1776. Starring masayuki mori, kinuyo tanaka, eitaro ozawa, mitsuko mito, machiko kyo. Nobody moves the camera like mizoguchi and in films like sansho dayu and ugetsu monogatari we get great set piece scenes which are among the peaks of all. In the civil wars of 16th century japan, two ambitious peasants.
Adapted from famous stories by akinari ueda, its often described as a unique and unforgettable ghost story. The life of a film director, a 1975 documentary by kaneto shindo two worlds intertwined, a 2005 appreciation of ugetsu by masahiro shinoda process and production, a 2005 interview with tokuzo tanaka. Eitaro ozawa as tobei as sakae ozawa ichisaburo sawamura as genichi. Ugetsu is a 1953 japanese film in 16th century japan potter genjuro and tobei set out with their wives in search of wealth and military glory. The opening theme to mizoguchi kenjis world famous ugetsu monogatari.
A couple of years later i would see chikamatsu monogatari, ugetsu, life of oharu, and street of shame. August 24, 1956, kyoto, japan filmography bibliography articles in senses web resources the comparisons are as inevitable as they are unfashionable, wrote james quandt, introducing the centenary retrospective of the films of kenji mizoguchi. Western audiences immediately recognized the pictorial beauty of ugetsu and the lyrical power. Buy ugetsu monogatari directed by kenji mizoguchi online at alibris. Mizoguchi, kenji 18981956 nagata, masaichi 19061985 kawaguchi, matsutaro 18991985 yoda, yoshikata 19091991 kyo, machiko 19242019 tanaka, kinuyo 19091977 mito, mitsuko mori, masayuki 19111973 ozawa, sakae shindo, kaneto 19122012 ueda, akinari 17341809 ugetsu monogatari janus films daie, kabushiki kaisha.
Unpopular essays on a popular art, quadrangle books, chicago, 1972, p. Buy from amazon uk ltd ed blyray box set dual format 6 comments. Ugetsu dvd the seattle public library bibliocommons. Among the masterpieces he created during this period, one of the most famous is ugetsu aka ugetsu monogatari tales of moonlight and rain, 1953. Ugetsu monogatari is a collection of nine supernatural tales by the japanese author ueda. Many shinpa of this time featured novels adapted to film. Two parallel tales ensue when the men are lured from their wives.
He is, according to the yomiuri shimbun regarded as the dean of japanese filmmaking. Western audiences immediately recognized the pictorial beauty of ugetsu and the lyrical power of mizoguchis camera movements, but most viewers have found the films. See more ideas about kenji mizoguchi, moonlight and rain. By the late 1970s, i was convinced that mizoguchi was one of.
Aohashi western painting research institute, tokyo, enrolled 1914. Based on some centuriesold japanese ghost stories of ueda akinari ugetsu monogatari, 1776, mizoguchi and his long. Ugetsu monogatari directed by kenji mizoguchi available. Ugetsu was one of the first works of reading books yomihon that were published for a smaller. By the time ugetsu struck, kenji mizoguchi was already in his midfifties and had established a firm reputation in his own country. The film is of absolute perfection and is saturated in emotional truths and honesty. It was first published in 1776, and was adapted from chinese ghost stories. Ugetsu monogatari 1953, considered one of the finest of all japanese films, is an outstanding example of mizoguchis period drama. Genjuro by the ghostly charm of lady wakasa and tobei by the dream of being a famed great samurai. Ugetsu by kenji mizoguchi and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Ugetsu monogatari monday, 25 november, 20 fausto vernazzani. It became famous in the west through kenji mizoguchis 1953 film by the same title, which focuses on a single narrativefrom aaji go yado the house amid. Kenji mizoguchi, a guide to references and resources.
Ugetsu is set in 16th century japan when the swift flow of fresh blood oozed from the battlefields and pillaged villages. Kenji mizoguchis ugetsu plunges the viewer into a worldview that witnesses the nearly indiscriminate imbrication of reality and fantasy. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. The 1953 film ugetsu monogatari, or tales of moonlight and rain in english, directed by. My own view is that for mizoguchi the world we live in, unhappily for us, belongs to its bailiffs.
Masayuki mori, machiko kyo, kinuyo tanaka, eitaro ozawa. Ugetsu monogatari is the mizoguchi film in many critics 10best lists, while the. Often appearing on lists of the ten greatest films of all time, called one of the most beautiful films ever made, or the most masterful work of japanese cinema, ugetsu comes to us awash in superlatives. A tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the japanese civil wars of the sixteenth century. Ugetsu monogatari tales of moonlight and rain a complete english version of the eighteenthcentury japanese collection of tales of the supernatural based on the first woodblock edition of 1776 with illustrations and an introduction for western readers. Mizoguchi himself said he made only about 75 films or so, not really very many. Moma kenji mizoguchis ugetsu these notes accompany the screenings of kenji mizoguchis ugetsuon june 20, 21, and 22 my uncle, albert green, was an internationally acclaimed ceramicist whose work is primarily in the collection of.
Ugetsu monogatari has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of the japanese. Matsutaro kawaguchi, yoshikata yoda based on stories by akinari ueda phot. A 19thcentury kabuki theatre is the setting for this early kenji mizoguchi masterpiece about a womans selfless sacrifice for her mediocre actor husband. By the time he made ugetsu, kenji mizoguchi was already an elder statesman of japanese cinema, fiercely revered by akira kurosawa and other directors of a younger generation. Ugetsu monogatari has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of the japanese cinema since the moment in 1952 when its director, kenji mizoguchi, won a silver lion award for the film at the venice festival. Gary arnold, writing in the washington times, called his work a substantial but curiously fragmentary and haunted. This was a dark and suffering period in japanese history and the reason it caught director kenji mizoguchis attention is that he was thoroughly interested in how the civil wars influenced the life of the common people. Ugetsu monogatari was not the first kenji mizoguchi film to be shown in the west, but it was the first to reveal him to the west as a major artist. Kenji mizoguchi, director rutgers films in print keiko mcdonald on.
No less acclaimed has been its maker, kenji mizoguchi. Kenji mizoguchi collection 8dvd box set akasen chitai yokihi chikamatsu monogatari uwasa no onna sansho dayu gion bayashi ugetsu monogatari oyusama street o nonusa format, pal, reg. Ugetsu monogatari tales of the rain and moon 1953, japan, 97 min, bw, english subtitles, aspect ratio. What makes it stand alone, however, is its brilliant. Ugetsu monogatari by kenji mizoguchi kenji mizoguchi. Tales of moonlight and rain is a collection of ghostly folktales from edo japan. Anderson, joseph, and donald richie, the japanese film.
Mizoguchis exquisite gender tragedy is set during japans violent 16thcentury civil wars, a historical context wellsuited to the directors compassionate perspective on the plight of women and the foibles of men. Tsumura, hideo, a certain mizoguchi kenji in japanese, japan, 1958. Books kenji mizoguchi and the art of japanese cinema tadao sato berg publishers, 2008 mizoguchi keiko mcdonald twayne, 1984 mizoguchi and japan mark le fanu bfi publishing, 2005. Japanese filmmaker kenji mizoguchis career reached its peak in the early 1950s just before his untimely death. Swiftly establishing itself especially in france on many critics ten best lists, the film opened the way for the acclamation of the work of mizoguchis final period. Like bach, titian, and shakespeare, he is the greatest in his art, enthused the french critic jean douchet. Ugetsu is based on two ghost stories from ueda akinaris collection ugetsu monogatari, which translates to tales of moonlight and rain, and pivots on morals handed down from japanese and chinese cultures. Ugetsu monogatari 1953, directed by kenji mizoguchi film. Hailed by critics as one of the greatest films ever made, kenji mizoguchis ugetsu is an undisputed masterpiece of japanese cinema, revealing greater depths of meaning and emotion with each successive viewing. The proximity of the spectral in mizoguchis ugetsu. In wartorn 16thcentury japan, two men leave their wives to seek wealth and glory in kenji mizoguchis tragic supernatural classic. Tanaka kyoto released kyoto running last chrysanthemum loyal 47 ronin madame yuki meiji michiko miss oyu miyoharu mizo mizogu mizoguchi kenji mizoguchis films monogatari nihon nikkatsu note oharu original idea osaka elegy osen photography picture of madame plot. Mizoguchis bestknown work, based on two stories by the 18th century writer akinari ueda often described as the japanese maupassant, was one of a.
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