Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Ugetsu is a masterwork of world cinema — Mizoguchi's dreamlike blend of ghost story, moral parable, and wartime tragedy is rendered with extraordinary long takes and flowing camera movements (cinematography a genuine 4). The parallel stories of Genjuro and Tobei are thematically rich and beautifully performed, especially Machiko Kyo as Lady Wakasa. Its ghostly atmosphere and seamless melding of the supernatural with earthy human desire give it singular novelty. The ending, while poignant and thematically resonant, is slightly more conventional in its moral resolution compared to the film's daring midsection — earning a 3 as the one category held back.