雨月物語

My 50th post. Never thought I'd get this many.

Ugetsu is a Japanese film made in 1953 by Kenji Mizoguchi. It's hailed as one of the most important films of the Japanese Golden Age of Cinema and is therefore one of the directors most celebrated films.

I decided to get this because on the Andrei Tarkovsky's wikipedia page there is a list of his top 10 films which includes Ugetsu, as well as another by Mizoguchi.

From what I've read Japanese cinema has always gained a lot of respect from western critics, especially in recent years. It seems to have become quite a trend. This it seems is due to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai inspiring a lot of westerns. I nearly signed up for a Film Studies course, and a lot of that looked at Japanese cinema. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of this era of Japanese films at all mainly because I haven't seen enough, and it doesn't appeal to me.

Ugetsu isn't a Samurai film, but has some elements of it. It's quite a traditional story, and is based on some short stories from Japan. It's based in 16th century Japan.

The film itself is somewhat interesting. The version I have the picture is quite muddy, and the lightning makes some scenes very dark. The subtitles seemed ok, but the sound seemed out of sync. The acting wasn't realistic. I think that all comes with the era that the film was made.

Personally, I think it was quite an average film, nothing to get excited about. I imagine it's an essential Japanese film, and they would probably cover it on that Film Studies course. I think this is more of an 'important' film, rather than a good one. I found it interesting enough to gain enjoyment from despite what would by today's standards be considered major flaws. It gives it a sort of charm along with the traditional storyline. I suppose that what connotes to 'cultural'.