Ugetsu (1953)
"Ugetsu monogatari" (original title)

In the beginning of the springtime in the period of the Japanese Civil Wars of the Sixteenth Century in Lake Biwa in the Province of Omi, the family man farmer and craftsman Genjurô travels... See full summary »

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Matsutarô Kawaguchi (adaptation), Hisakazu Tsuji (idea),

Stars:

Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masayuki Mori	...	Genjûrô
Machiko Kyô	...	Lady Wakasa
Kinuyo Tanaka	...	Miyagi
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Tôbee (as Sakae Ozawa)
Ichisaburo Sawamura	...	Genichi
Mitsuko Mito	...	Ohama
Kikue Môri	...	Ukon
Ryôsuke Kagawa	...	Village Master
Eigoro Onoe	...	Knight
Saburô Date	...	Vassal
Sugisaku Aoyama	...	Old Priest
Reiko Kongo	...	Old Woman in Brothel
Shôzô Nanbu	...	Shintô Priest
Ichirô Amano	...	Boatsman
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Shop Owner

Storyline

In the beginning of the springtime in the period of the Japanese Civil Wars of the Sixteenth Century in Lake Biwa in the Province of Omi, the family man farmer and craftsman Genjurô travels to Nagahama to sell his wares and makes a small fortune. His neighbor Tobei that is a fool man dreams on becoming a samurai, but he can not afford to buy the necessary outfit. The greedy Genjurô and Tobei work together manufacturing clay potteries, expecting to sell the pieces and enrich; however, their wives Miyage and Ohama are worried about the army of the cruel Shibata that is coming to their village and they warn their ambitious husbands. Their village is looted but the families flee and survive; Genjurô and Tobei decide to travel by boat with their wives and baby to sell the wares in a bigger town. When they meet another boat that was attacked by pirates, Genjurô decides to leave his wife and son on the bank of the river, promising to return in ten days. Genjurô, Tobei and Ohama raise a large...

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | civil war | farmer | 16th century | ambition | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

7 September 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tales of Ugetsu

Filming Locations:

Daiei Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The films original title, Ugetsu Monogatari, roughly translates to "Tales of the Moon and Rain."

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Connections

Referenced in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

the traditional Japanese ghost film~~~

In Japan, due to its Buddhism and Shinto culture, the term Ghost is an description for evil of the spirits world. and the idea of spirits which dispatch from its physical body are describe as phamton. from the difference associate with these 2 terms we can understand that even in spirits there is description for the good and bad spirits. this is similar to the Chinese mythology for ghost. even if the spirits was wrongly accused, and coming back to human world for its revenge, this is still consider as an spirits rather than ghost, as it has its positive of motive and would not harm people who is not associate with his death. since spirits normally does not appear in the human world, and its appearance often associate with unfinished matter or grudge. which is the main characteristic for most of the Japanese film.

the most impressive Japanese ghost story is Ugetsu monogatari(1953), it was base on the novel with the same title. we can analysis the idea of Japanese ghost film via 2 aspect of the film.

Firstly, while Genjuro was selling pottery in the market, he was been order by Lady Wakasa and its nurse maid to send the good to their mansion personally, which was the starting point of ghostly love relationship.

By the hand of prestige cinema photographer, Kuzo Miyagawa, the mystic atmosphere, the trembling music of sanmise, the ghostly voice of men grudging, gives the mansion an appeal of a haunted mansion. The use of top view camera technique with the character Noh play like appeal,gives the scene much more mysterious, secluded, ghostly, euphoria aspect of the fantasy world. which above all explores the art of Japanese traditional beauty.although it is an black and white film, but Kuzo Miyagawa create an color of bewitch ghostly character on Lady Wakasa.

The very motive for the existence of Lady wakasa was to have a taste of love, as she was kill before she can understand what love is, after resurrect by the nursemaid, she have become and spirits that looking for the ideal man to love. that is why she put a spell on Genjuro. to love not to hurt.

The second aspect for Genjuro associate with spirits was at the end part of the movie, while He push open the cripple door of his home, he saw an empty house, yet after the camera return an image of the room, Miyagi, Genjuro's wife appear, who was setting beside the stove alone tailoring clothes, and waiting for his husband to eat and change into comfy kimono, Genjuro feel extremely tire after all the events therefore he quickly falls asleep, next morning, when the villager master realize he is return went into his home and explain the tragic of her wife. and the disappearance of his son, coincidentally, his son returns in the very moment.

The movie finish with a long shot as the kid playing beside his mothers grave while Genjuro praying, which symbolize Miyagi has finally saw the father and son reunited and now he is able to rest in peace, and fly to heaven.

The movie demonstrate the childish, stubbornness and foolishness of male. yet it purify the females character as loving and sincere, which demonstrate no scary or horrifying intention to the viewer when associate with ghost. infect we associate with the idea of gentleness, shyness of its character. the eternal serenity towards the love one can only be associate with ghostly figure in a time transcend world.