Ugetsu monogatari (1953)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

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

Release Date:

7 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Civil War | 16th Century | Potter | 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
Ryosuke 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
Kichijiro 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)
• 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)
• Video Yesteryear
• trigon-film (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• 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]
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)

A film of haunting beauty by the precursor of Kurosawa

This film used to make all the top ten lists for the greatest movies ever made. However, with the discovery of Ozu and the ( justified) cinematic canonization of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi has been been neglected. This is a pity, for he was one of the supreme masters of the cinema. Ugetsu Monogatari is one of the most beautiful explorations of the human spirit ever put on the screen. Rarely has black and white been used more beautifully, or the supernatural portrayed more convincingly. If Dreyer is the great "Protestant" of the cinema, and Bresson, Rossellini, and, it must said, Hitchcock and Ford, its great "Catholics', Mizoguchi is its greatest Buddhist.