Ugetsu (1953)
- Original title
- 雨月物語
- Directed by
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Genre
- drama film, fantasy film
- Country
- Japan
- Runtime
- 1h 36m
- Rated
- NR
- Rating
- 8.0 of 10 from 643 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A potter in 16th century Japan leaves his family to sell his wares and becomes enchanted by a ghostly woman. Meanwhile his brother-in-law pursues his dream of becoming a samurai. Both men find their ambitions come at a great personal cost.
hauntingmelancholicatmosphericdreamlikeslow-burntragicvisually poeticintrospective
What happens
Ugetsu (雨月物語, Ugetsu Monogatari, lit. "Rain-moon tales") is a 1953 Japanese period fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on the stories "The House in the Thicket" and "The Lust of the White Serpent" from Ueda Akinari's 1776 book Ugetsu Monogatari, combining elements of the jidaigeki (period drama) genre with a ghost story. Drawing from Ueda's tales, the film is set in Japan's civil war–torn Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600). In a small rural community, a potter leaves his wife and young son behind to make money selling pottery and ends up being seduced by a spirit that makes him forget all about his family. A subplot, inspired by Guy de Maupassant's 1883 short story "How He Got the Legion of Honor" ("Décoré !"), involves his brother-in-law, who dreams of becoming a samurai and chases this goal at the unintended expense of his wife. The film won the Silver Lion Award at the 1953 Venice Film Festival and other honours. Ugetsu is one of Mizoguchi's most celebrated films, regarded by critics as a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, credited with simultaneously helping to popularize Japanese cinema in the West and influencing later Japanese film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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Epitome (1953)
Ghost-Cat of Arima Palace (1953)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.