Ugetsu (1953)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
2 connections found
View:
2 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Ugetsu to
At times the director seems to channel the stark, meditative gaze of Carl Theodor Dreyer, Robert Bresson and other saints of European cinema, as well as the ghostly poetry of such Japanese classics as Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu.”
Those with even a passing familiarity can readily detect their influences — nighttime scenes on the water recall Ugetsu ; an extended imprisonment brings to mind Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence , with connecting scenes whose setting and head-on approach are remarkably akin to Mifune’s testimony in Rashomon ; shot-reverse conversations with something of Ozu’s sensibilities; etc — but Silence ‘s protein can really only be found in how its team conduct on a more minute, more demanding (speaking for creator and receiver) basis.
Richie believes "Yojimbo" is the best-photographed of Kurosawa's films (by Kazuo Miyagawa , who also shot " Rashomon " and such other Japanese classics as Ozu's " Floating Weeds " and Mizoguchi's " Ugetsu ").