Placement On Sight & Sound Top 50 Movies List: #50 (tied with City Lights and La Jetee)
Over here in America, we've been taking a fancy to remaking American fairy tale movies (which are typically based on folklore from other countries because what don't we steal from other places and claim as our own?) that have a strong nostalgic connection with general audiences with the likes of Beauty And The Beast and Cinderella. Back in 1953, director Kenji Mizoguchi undertook a similar task of reconfiguring well-known stories into a new cinematic incarnation though, in his case, he was handling two 18th century stories penned by Ueda Akinari that would make up the groundwork for the motion picture known as Ugetsu.
In an unspecified year during the 16th century, war has ravaged a countryside where everyday individuals try to make their way through their lives in the midst of chaotic bloodshed that is consuming their surroundings. One such person just attempting to get through the day is Genjuro (Masayuki Mori), a guy who makes various pots and such items as a way to earn a living for himself and his family, which includes a young son and his wife Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka). While trying to sell his wares, Genjuro encounters a woman who not only wants to purchase some of his items but urges him to deliver them to a location known as Kutsuki manor.
It is here that Genjuro finds himself in a paradise like no other wherein he's engaged to a young woman to be her permanent companion and is residing in tranquil surroundings that make his concerns of the real world fade away. Running parallel to this plotline is the quest of Genjuro's buddy, Ohama (Mitsuko Mito), trying to become a well-known samurai by any means necessary. His quest to escape his mundane life that finds him at the whims and mercy of massive wars also ends up getting people he loves into massive amounts of trouble. It isn't long before Ugetsu reveals itself to be a parable about the cost of immersing yourself in escapism to an unhealthy degree.
Both Genjuro and Ohama are attempting to escape their normal wretched war-ridden lives at the cost of the well-being of their own wives, not to mention that each of these happier existences they experience are in differing ways built upon massive lies, though even realizing that doesn't immediately deter either of them from their newfound lives of false prosperity. Screenwriters Matsutaro Kawaguchi and Yoshikata Yoda do an excellent job of making the harshness of reality so palpable for these two characters that we don't immediately lost interest in them when they give in to more selfish tendencies, we and the two writers of this movie both fully understand why the prospect of leaving a world so cruel could be so tempting.
But Kawaguchi and Yoda are also smart enough to realize such a story can't just be a wish-fulfillment fantasy where the two manage to find an escape from reality and it all works out hunky-dory. Instead, their actions have very very real consequences that stem from the beautifully-handled characterization building sequences early on in the movie that helped to make one invested enough in the two lead characters that you still understand them when they make more self-centered choices. The individuals in this story become so well-rounded that the more somber conclusion to Ugetsu becomes quite the gut-wrenching experience, one made all the more powerful by the across-the-board top-notch acting found here.
Masayuki Mori, particularly, is exceptional as Genjuro and his interactions with the ladies of Kutsuki manor are filled with this authentic sense of wonder at all the surroundings he encounters so well-realized it can't help but rub off on the audience. Mutsuko Mito also deserves major kudos for his performance here in a physicality-driven role that combines brashness with confidence that makes the character delightfully unpredictable. It's fascinating to watch these two leads navigate the world of Ugetsu, a realm of tremendously powerful escapism but also hauntingly powerful consequences to one's own actions that make this Kenji Mizoguchi directorial effort incredibly memorable.
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