Ugetsu monogatari (1953)

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Matsutarô Kawaguchi (adaptation)
Kyûchi Tsuji (idea)
(more)

Release Date:

7 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

In the civil wars of 16th century Japan, two ambitious peasants want to make their fortunes. The potter...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | 16th Century | Potter | Civil War | Japan

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Masayuki Mori	...	Genjurô
Machiko Kyô	...	Lady Wakasa
Kinuyo Tanaka	...	Miyagi
Eitarô Ozawa	...	To^bei (as Sakae Ozawa)
Ikio Sawamura	...	Genichi
Mitsuko Mito	...	Ohama
Kikue Môri	...	Ukon
Ryôsuke Kagawa	...	Village Master
Eigoro Onoe	...	Knight
Saburo Date	...	Vassal
Sugisaku Aoyama	...	Old Priest
Reiko Kongo	...	Old Woman in Brothel
Shozo Nanbu	...	Shinto Priest
Ichirô Amano	...	Boatsman
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Shop Owner
Teruko Omi	...	Prostitute
Keiko Koyanagi	...	Prostitute
Mitsusaburô Ramon	...	Captain of Tamba Soldiers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jun Fujikawa	...	Lost Soldier
Ryuuji Fukui	...	Lost Soldier
Masayoshi Kikuno	...	Soldier
Hajime Koshikawa
Sugisaka Koyama	...	High Priest
Ryuzaburo Mitsuoka	...	Soldier
Koji Murata
Fumihiko Yokoyama

Directed by
Kenji Mizoguchi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Matsutarô Kawaguchi		adaptation
Kyûchi Tsuji		idea
Akinari Ueda		stories Asaji Ga Yado and Jasei No In
Yoshikata Yoda		screenplay

Produced by
Masaichi Nagata	....	producer

Original Music by
Fumio Hayasaka
Tamekichi Mochizuki
Ichirô Saitô

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Mitsuzô Miyata

Production Design by
Kisaku Ito

Costume Design by
Tadaoto Kainosho
Shima Yoshizane		(as Shima Yoshimi)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tokuzo Tanaka	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Iwao Otani	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenichi Okamoto	....	gaffer

Other crew
Kinshichi Kodera	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Daiei Studios

Distributors

• Edward Harrison (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• trigon-film (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (laserdisc)
• Eureka Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Lume Filmes (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2009) (Japan) (TV)
• Video Yesteryear
• trigon-film (2008) (Austria) (all media)
• trigon-film (2008) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (DVD) (special edition)

Also Known As:

Tales of Ugetsu (USA) (literal English title)
Tales of a Pale and Mysterious Moon After the Rain (informal literal English title)
Ugetsu (USA) (DVD box title)
Contos da Lua Vaga (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Contos da Lua Vaga Depois da Chuva (Brazil) [pt]
Cuentos de la luna pálida (Spain) [es]
Cuentos de la luna vaga después de la lluvia (Spain) [es]
Fortellinger om en blek og mystisk måne etter regnet (Norway) (TV title) [no]
I racconti della luna pallida d'agosto (Italy) [it]
Les contes de la lune vague après la pluie (France) [fr]
Opowiesci ksiezycowe (Poland) [pl]
Sagor om en blek och mystisk måne efter regnet (Sweden) [sv]
Ugetsu - Erzählungen unter dem Regenmond (West Germany) [de]
Ugetsu - kalpean kuun tarinoita (Finland) [fi]
Ugetsu monogatari (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG (2008) | UK:X (1962) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | Hong Kong:I

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Daiei Studios

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (1975)

magical and moving

This holds a special place in my heart, and I still consider it to be absolutely one of the very greatest films ever made for adults. The work of a mature artist, it resonates with Buddhist practice, and is a profoundly moving tale of the suffering of the human condition, the violence of war, the possibilities of art uplifting the spirit, the possibilities of redemption of character. The closing scene is one of such deeply-felt compassion and understanding that it is almost frightening; it prefigures in a way the stunning and more personal close of the subsequent Mizoguchi film "Sansho the Baliff".

On a lighter level, it is an amusingly sly allegory of the actual history of Japan for the 20 or so years prior to 1953, where in the end the women, embittered (or dead) as a result of their men's quixotic quest for military glory or war-profiteering, entreat them to give up their misguided and destructive dreams, settle down, and get back to their real responsibilities.

Which they did.

Originally available on LaserDisc.