And we come to the second Japanese film picked by Mark Kermode, unsurprising seeing as the BFI are having a Japan 2020 season where they celebrate films from the country. I am also not complaining. I love me some Japanese films and having someone tell me which films to watch means I can also explore outside of Ghibli, Akira Kurosawa, and Yasujiro Ozu films which is usually where I find myself when it comes to films from Japan. So, lucky me that Kermode chose what is seen as a classic of Japanese cinema, Kenji Mizoguchi’s ‘Ugetsu Monogatari’ (1953). A good choice Mark, a good choice indeed. Set in a war-torn 16th century Japan, the film follows two men, Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) and Tobei (Eitaro Ozawa), who see their families torn apart by their ambition and greed to find their fortunes. Tobei abandons his wife, Ohama (Mitsuko Mito, to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned Samurai, while Genjuro forgets his family after being seduced by the spirit of Lady Wakasa (Machiko Kyo) and falling under her spell.
As you will hear from almost everyone who has seen this film, it truly is visually beautiful. The sets and costumes are exquisite and create a world that you both believe and want to get lost in. As a period-drama it completely succeeds in sucking you into the era it is portraying while also creating a film world that is beautiful to look at. This is of course helped by some fantastic cinematography which allows for some stunning shots of landscapes which you would be happy to hang on your wall. A great example of this is a scene where the two families are on a boat crossing a lake. This entire sequence is visually breath-taking. The low fog compliments the gentle waves to create an almost dreamlike feel to the scene, which is accentuated with the boat, accompanied by the almost ethereal singing of Ohama, appears from the fog. It is a standout moment of beauty in a film filled with plenty. I also love the use of light and shadows in the film. This is helped by the film being shot in black and white, helping to highlight the shadows. There is a scene towards the end of the film that implements light and shadow masterfully, managing to create a scene that is suspenseful while also mirroring what is happening in the mind of Genjuro in the scene. This is helped by a superb score which underpins the whole film brilliantly, and in this particular scene manages to add to the madness of the action. The score is something that needs to be mentioned throughout the film as it not only manages to add to the emotion of the scenes, but is also a helping hand in creating the feel of the period the film is set in.
Like many Japanese films of this type the pacing can feel quite slow. I don’t have an issue with this, especially with this film due to how engaging the different narrative threads of the film are, but I can see people maybe finding this film to be boring because of how it is paced. At the end of the day it’s all about preference, and for me I enjoy the slower nature of the film because there is a lot going on and I found it to zip by. There are effectively three storylines that happen in the second half of the film that span from the initial story line and all of them are given time to grow and be explored before eventually meeting again at the end, and I think the slower pace helps in this regard. The film is also full of moments that are quite dark without ever showing you them. Two scenes in particular are notable for this, one being s suggested rape scene while the other involves a beheading that is not shown on screen. These scenes are part of the gritty realism that the film employs throughout the film, showing the horrors and hardships of war, which it then plays off against a paranormal and spiritual aspect of the film. It is the paranormal aspect of the film, involving Genjuro and Lady Wakasa, that I find the most intriguing both in a narrative and visual sense. The horror aspects that these scenes employ are great and the look of Lady Wakasa is sometimes reminiscent of Sadako of ‘Ringu’ (1998) fame, with her concealed face and long, dark hair. After that the similarities stop and to say the two films are similar would be a big stretch, but it was something I noticed in the film and so thought it worth mentioning.
‘Ugetsu Monogatari’ is a film of true beauty with an engaging narrative to match it. Despite being just over ninety minutes long the film manages to pack in so much in terms of narrative and themes into the film without ever feeling muddles or convoluted. It is also filled with some truly gorgeous images and its use of lights and shadows is exquisite. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking to get into this era of Japanese films or if you are an aficionado looking for something new (although if that is the case I’d be surprised if you hadn’t already seen it). It has a slower pace than many Western films but don’t let this put you off because it is a beautiful film with a narrative that will suck you in. Another good choice from Mark who so far has a 100% record in terms of my liking of the films he picks. I wonder how long he can keep that up.