One thing people around me can probably tell you is that I just won't shut up about how much I love the movie Ugetsu, and I have watched it several times now, each time finding some new bit or piece to enjoy. Originally produced and released in 1953 by director Kenji Mizoguchi, Ugetsu is a period piece set durng a period of civil war in the 16th century in Japan. While it is, strictly speaking, not a horror film it is almost more of a blend of genres, reflecting the kwaidan tradition of the period in which it is set, in which weird tales can often blend with more conventional narratives to tell a fable and perhaps even a moral lesson (or, just as often, a "just so" story).
The story focuses on two families in a small village near Lake Biwa, trying desperately to survive during an eruption of civil war in which the peasantry of the land are treated as nothing more than a resource to be abused and discarded. Genjuro and his friend Tobei conspire to take their ceramic wares across the lake to the city where it is still possible to make a living, and while they try to bring their wives along at first, fear of the risk overcomes Genjuro who leaves his wife Miyage behind with their young child. Tobei's wife Ohama stayes with him.....but as things progress, everything falls apart.
Genjuro makes money selling his wares, but he encounters the beautiful noblewoman Wakasa, who quickly lures him to her estates, despite mysterious warning from the locals, where he becomes enmeshed in an affair with her. Tobei aspires to become a real warrior, and to seek the status of a samurai; by pure luck he manages to be in the right spot at the right time and manages to ambush a warrior with a suit of armor, which he takes and then presents himself to the army where he quickly advances in status. His wife, now lost in the conflict, ends up recruited into prostitution.
Without saying anymore, I will right off the bat identify this as a solid A+ film, absolutely worth a watch from the perspective of a haunting tale of historical drama mixed with the weird horror conventions of a kwaidan. Read on for spoilers of this 72 year old movie!
SPOILER SECTION
So far the horror of the story is primarily of small town folk getting swept up in a time of severe conflict and the damage it does to their otherwise more innocent natures....but the horror creeps in with Genjuro's tale as he eventually discovers that his new love, Lady Wakasa, is in fact a yurei, a ghost woman who perished and her estate burned to the ground as a result of the civil wars. Her covetous ghost does not want to let him go, until he at last realizes what he has fallen victim to and manages to escape. Meanwhile Tobei is reveling in his barely earned military success when, taking his men to a brotherl, he runs into his forgotten wife and realizes suddenly what he lost in order to gain his warrior's status.
Eventually, the three converge back on their home village, realizing they enjoye the simpler life so much better. For poor Genjuro his descent into the haunted world is not yet over, as he returns to his wife and home, seemingly intact as she has waited for him all this time, only to discover the following morning that she, too, was a yurei, and she held on only long enough to see his return.
Ugetsu is such an amazing movie, it is absolutely worth watching for anyone who meets one of these criteria: enjoys Japanese weird tales (kwaidan), enjoy Japanese cinema in general, enjoy period piece films, enjoy engaging historial dramas, or enjoy ghost stories in general. As I said above...this is a solid A+ for me in and my short list of all time favorite movies. It's available on streaming in various places and I believe Criterion has it on blu-ray.
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