Stay Puft
03-13-2008, 06:40 AM
This is the 8th best film of all time, according to Raiders, our benevolent admin.
Ugetsu monogatari /
Tales of a Pale and Mysterious Moon after the Rain
http://i25.tinypic.com/8x6bo0.jpg
EDIT: There are spoilers! I forgot to mention that.
Ugetsu plays as a cautionary tale of self-absorption and self-interest, and a critique of the dehumanizing effects of war. The narrative features two plots: Genjuro and his desire to become rich, and Tobei and his desire to become a samurai. Through a series of self-serving choices, both deny the lives of their loved ones, abandoning them to death and ruin. The tragedy is one of myopia. Genjuro and Tobei think they are ultimately helping their families, or at least justify their actions as such (and certainly we see Genjuro thinking often of his wife while making his money abroad), but they are too shortsighted to see the lasting damage they could (and ultimately do) cause through their actions.
Ugetsu is a rigorously plotted film, with exceptional care given to the overall structure and the specific details of each scene. Every scene reinforces the film’s thematic goals. We see troops ransacking a house for food, each fighting the other and shouting “It’s mine!” and variations therein, scrambling and fighting to perpetuate their own individual existence even against the lives of their own comrades. Miyagi is eventually killed by the troops employed to guard the road. They rob her of her food and randomly kill her with utter indifference. As she crawls away in the foreground, eventually collapsing, we see the two troops in the background, scrambling over each other and falling to the ground, devouring their food like animals (this scene is reversed in the final shot of the film).
Much has been said about the ghost. Herself a victim of civil war (“That damn Nobunaga Oda,” says the nursemaid), it is perhaps understandable that some readings will be sympathetic. But this is where Kenji Mizoguchi plays his best hand, employing the conventions of a ghost story to navigate the tragic depths of solipsism and myopia expressed in the surrounding scenes of the film. Lady Wakasa is a seductress, a ghost who violates natural order with purely self-interested motivations. Robbed of a full life, she attempts to rob life from those still living, victimizing those who, like her, are themselves already victims of civil war. As the exorcist who meets Genjuro warns him, there is only evil and death to be found at the castle. The exorcist is the plainspeaker of the story, but while he arrives in time to save Genjuro’s life, the message arrives much too late for Genjuro to save his wife.
http://i27.tinypic.com/21mywqa.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/29g0pqt.jpg
I can appreciate any reaction to the film that, well, does not appreciate Mizoguchi’s didacticism. This applies not only to pointed exposition but even some of his images, such as the final shot. A reversal of the aforementioned murder scene, we see the grave of Miyagi in the foreground, with her son saying a prayer, and the camera raises to bring the background into focus, revealing two farmers working the land, growing their own food. It is an idyllic ending, with characters realizing their essential selves and learning Big Life Lessons (replete with narration from Miyagi’s ghost, herself a reversal of Lady Wakasa, a devotion to others proving stronger than a devotion to the self). It is a nice ending, in terms of structure and narrative resolution, but it does not sit well with me.
But never mind that, right? The important thing is style, and glowing gravy if this isn’t a brilliant execution of mood and atmosphere. From the expressive lighting to the wonderful use of music and the expert staging, Kenji Mizoguchi proves himself a formidable talent. (This is an established fact, apparently, but I am just now learning for myself.) Take the first scene in the castle, the first formal meeting between Genjuro and Lady Wakasa. First to enter the castle are not the characters but their shadows. The camera drifts across the outer boundaries of the castle, following the characters as they enter, and then repeats this motion across the inner area, as Genjuro is lead to a room and bid to wait. The nursemaid steps into the shadows and disappears. The inner area of the castle is shrouded in darkness, the music quietly underscoring the slow action with a repeated bell chime. Genjuro waits, and the music rises as he spies servants moving across the way, lighting candles. Slowly, each area is lit up, and wind instruments are heard as Lady Wakasa’s shadow enters the room, followed by Lady Wakasa shrouded in darkness, slowly stepping into the light. The bell chime continues at a regular interval, now acting as an ominous drone punctuating the silence and dramatic tension.
http://i30.tinypic.com/1zygh8l.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/e6ye0o.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/10hkr9f.jpg
As the scene unfolds, both Genjuro and the camera are cast under Lady Wakasa’s spell. As she bids him to enter the next room, the camera slowly wanders in, mimicking the hesitant movement of Genjuro. As Genjuro bows to the floor out of respect for Lady Wakasa’s class, so too does the camera point to the ground. The bell chime continues still at a regular interval, at this point making the entire proceedings right fucking creepy. Suddenly, the nursemaid suggests that Genjuro declare his love and agree to marry Lady Wakasa. Surprised, Genjuro attempts to back away, and so does the camera, fleeing in the opposite direction. But too late. String and wind instruments join together on the soundtrack and paint a dreamlike melody. As Lady Wakasa wraps herself around Genjuro, so too is the camera drawn in, wrapping close around the characters and capturing one of the few close-ups in the entire movie, the devilish grin of Lady Wakasa as she releases Genjuro, who collapses, breath seen escaping his body, into the arms of servants. Throughout the following scenes, Genjuro rarely speaks, entranced as he is under the spell, watching Lady Wakasa. And we, too, watch, drawn in further and further.
Kenji Mizoguchi, you glorious son of a bitch. What a movie!
Ugetsu monogatari /
Tales of a Pale and Mysterious Moon after the Rain
http://i25.tinypic.com/8x6bo0.jpg
EDIT: There are spoilers! I forgot to mention that.
Ugetsu plays as a cautionary tale of self-absorption and self-interest, and a critique of the dehumanizing effects of war. The narrative features two plots: Genjuro and his desire to become rich, and Tobei and his desire to become a samurai. Through a series of self-serving choices, both deny the lives of their loved ones, abandoning them to death and ruin. The tragedy is one of myopia. Genjuro and Tobei think they are ultimately helping their families, or at least justify their actions as such (and certainly we see Genjuro thinking often of his wife while making his money abroad), but they are too shortsighted to see the lasting damage they could (and ultimately do) cause through their actions.
Ugetsu is a rigorously plotted film, with exceptional care given to the overall structure and the specific details of each scene. Every scene reinforces the film’s thematic goals. We see troops ransacking a house for food, each fighting the other and shouting “It’s mine!” and variations therein, scrambling and fighting to perpetuate their own individual existence even against the lives of their own comrades. Miyagi is eventually killed by the troops employed to guard the road. They rob her of her food and randomly kill her with utter indifference. As she crawls away in the foreground, eventually collapsing, we see the two troops in the background, scrambling over each other and falling to the ground, devouring their food like animals (this scene is reversed in the final shot of the film).
Much has been said about the ghost. Herself a victim of civil war (“That damn Nobunaga Oda,” says the nursemaid), it is perhaps understandable that some readings will be sympathetic. But this is where Kenji Mizoguchi plays his best hand, employing the conventions of a ghost story to navigate the tragic depths of solipsism and myopia expressed in the surrounding scenes of the film. Lady Wakasa is a seductress, a ghost who violates natural order with purely self-interested motivations. Robbed of a full life, she attempts to rob life from those still living, victimizing those who, like her, are themselves already victims of civil war. As the exorcist who meets Genjuro warns him, there is only evil and death to be found at the castle. The exorcist is the plainspeaker of the story, but while he arrives in time to save Genjuro’s life, the message arrives much too late for Genjuro to save his wife.
http://i27.tinypic.com/21mywqa.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/29g0pqt.jpg
I can appreciate any reaction to the film that, well, does not appreciate Mizoguchi’s didacticism. This applies not only to pointed exposition but even some of his images, such as the final shot. A reversal of the aforementioned murder scene, we see the grave of Miyagi in the foreground, with her son saying a prayer, and the camera raises to bring the background into focus, revealing two farmers working the land, growing their own food. It is an idyllic ending, with characters realizing their essential selves and learning Big Life Lessons (replete with narration from Miyagi’s ghost, herself a reversal of Lady Wakasa, a devotion to others proving stronger than a devotion to the self). It is a nice ending, in terms of structure and narrative resolution, but it does not sit well with me.
But never mind that, right? The important thing is style, and glowing gravy if this isn’t a brilliant execution of mood and atmosphere. From the expressive lighting to the wonderful use of music and the expert staging, Kenji Mizoguchi proves himself a formidable talent. (This is an established fact, apparently, but I am just now learning for myself.) Take the first scene in the castle, the first formal meeting between Genjuro and Lady Wakasa. First to enter the castle are not the characters but their shadows. The camera drifts across the outer boundaries of the castle, following the characters as they enter, and then repeats this motion across the inner area, as Genjuro is lead to a room and bid to wait. The nursemaid steps into the shadows and disappears. The inner area of the castle is shrouded in darkness, the music quietly underscoring the slow action with a repeated bell chime. Genjuro waits, and the music rises as he spies servants moving across the way, lighting candles. Slowly, each area is lit up, and wind instruments are heard as Lady Wakasa’s shadow enters the room, followed by Lady Wakasa shrouded in darkness, slowly stepping into the light. The bell chime continues at a regular interval, now acting as an ominous drone punctuating the silence and dramatic tension.
http://i30.tinypic.com/1zygh8l.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/e6ye0o.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/10hkr9f.jpg
As the scene unfolds, both Genjuro and the camera are cast under Lady Wakasa’s spell. As she bids him to enter the next room, the camera slowly wanders in, mimicking the hesitant movement of Genjuro. As Genjuro bows to the floor out of respect for Lady Wakasa’s class, so too does the camera point to the ground. The bell chime continues still at a regular interval, at this point making the entire proceedings right fucking creepy. Suddenly, the nursemaid suggests that Genjuro declare his love and agree to marry Lady Wakasa. Surprised, Genjuro attempts to back away, and so does the camera, fleeing in the opposite direction. But too late. String and wind instruments join together on the soundtrack and paint a dreamlike melody. As Lady Wakasa wraps herself around Genjuro, so too is the camera drawn in, wrapping close around the characters and capturing one of the few close-ups in the entire movie, the devilish grin of Lady Wakasa as she releases Genjuro, who collapses, breath seen escaping his body, into the arms of servants. Throughout the following scenes, Genjuro rarely speaks, entranced as he is under the spell, watching Lady Wakasa. And we, too, watch, drawn in further and further.
Kenji Mizoguchi, you glorious son of a bitch. What a movie!