Late Mizoguchi - Eight Films 1951-1956
Details by Film
Ugetsu
Streaming Options
Sansho the Bailiff
Streaming Options
A Story from Chikamatsu
Streaming Options
Street of Shame
Streaming Options
Ugetsu Monogatari
Mizoguchi's Ugetsu Monogatari [Tales of the Rain and Moon, aka Ugetsu] is a highly acclaimed masterwork of Japanese cinema. Based on a pair of 18th century ghost stories by Ueda Akinari, the film's release continued Mizoguchi's introduction to the West, where it was nominated for an Oscar and won the the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion award (for Best Direction).
In 16th century Japan, amidst the pandemonium of civil war, potter Genj r (Mori Masayuki) and samurai-aspirant Tobei (Ozawa Sakae) set out with their wives in search of wealth and military glory respectively. Two parallel tales ensue when the men are lured from their wives: Genj r by the ghostly charm of Lady Wakasa (Kyo Machiko); Tobei by the dream of military glory.
Famed for its meticulously orchestrated long takes and its subtle blending of realistic period reconstruction and lyrical supernaturalism, Ugetsu Monogatari is an intensely poetic tragedy that consistently features on polls of the best films ever made.
Sansho Dayu
Based on an ancient legend, as recounted by celebrated author Mori gai (in his short story of the same name, written in 1915), and adapted by Mizoguchi, Sansho Dayu [Sansho the Steward, aka Sansho the Bailiff] is both distinctively Japanese and as deeply affecting as a Greek tragedy. Described in its opening title as 'one of the oldest and most tragic in Japan's history', Mizoguchi depicts an unforgettably sad story of social injustice, family love, and personal sacrifice all conveyed with exquisite tone and purity of emotion.
Set in Heian era (11th century) Japan, it follows an aristocratic woman, Tamaki (played by Tanaka Kinuyo, who also stars in Mizoguchi's Ugetsu Monogatari), and her two children, Zushi (Hanayagi Yoshiaki) and Anju (Kagawa Ky ko), who are separated by feudal tyranny from Tamaki's husband. When the children are kidnapped and sold into slavery to the eponymous 'Sansho'; (Shind Eitar ), the lives of each of the family members follow very different paths each course uniquely, and insufferably, tragic.
Famed for its period reconstructions and powerful imagery, often through the director's trademark long takes, Sansho Dayu is one of the most critically revered of all of japanese cinema a Venice Film Festival Silver Lion winner that often appears in lists of the greatest films ever made.
Chikamatsu Monogatari
Chikamatsu monogatari (1954), aka The Crucified Lovers, is the tragic story of a forbidden love affair between a merchant's wife and her husband's employee, was hailed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa as "a great masterpiece that could only have been made by Mizoguchi. "
Akasen Chitai
Akasen chitai (1956), aka Street of Shame, is Mizoguchi's final masterpiece and one of the greatest last films ever made, depicting the goings-on in a Tokyo brothel carrying the name "Dreamland, " where dreams are nevertheless shattered beneath the weight of financial necessity and all questions of conscience - a last testament which inspired the great French critic Jean Douchet to proclaim: "For me, along with Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux and Renoir's La Règle du jeu, the greatest film in the history of the cinema. "
Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Supplements
- Mizoguchi's Oyu-sama [Miss Oyu] (also in 1080p on the Blu-ray)
- Mizoguchi's Gion Bayashi [A Geisha] (also in 1080p on the Blu-ray)
- Mizoguchi's Uwasa No Onna [The Woman of Rumor] (also in 1080p on the Blu-ray)
- Mizoguchi's Yokihi [Princess Yang Kwei-fei] (also in 1080p on the Blu-ray)
- 344-PAGE ACCOMPANYING BOOK compiling writing about all eight films, original story source material, and rare archival imagery
- Tony Rayns on Ugetsu Monogatari
- Tony Rayns on Mizoguchi, Sansho Dayu and Gion Bayash
- Tony Rayns on Akasen Chitai
- Trailers for Chikamatsu Monogatari
- Tony Rayns on Oyû-sama
- Trailers for Gion Bayashi
- Tony Rayns on Yokihi
- Theatrical trailers
- Trailer for Uwasa no Onna
- Original trailer for Yokihi
- Video discussions about Chikamatsu Monogatari by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns
- Feature commentary for Akasen Chitai by Tony Rayns
- Video discussions about Uwasa no Onna by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns