Kenji Mizoguchi

Kenji Mizoguchi

1)Mizoguchi began his career in the 1920s,
2) He is probably most well known for a pair of films he made
    in the 1950s: Sansho the Bailiff (1954) and Ugetsu (1953).
3)Mizoguchi specializes in period dramas.
4) Many of his films revolve around artists and the connection between art and nature.
5) While Kurosawa often uses a traveling camera and deep focus,
6) Mizoguchi uses long takes, a fixed camera, and a softer focus.
7) The major structural device in his films is the separation of the leading characters, each of them taking
    different paths.

Ugetsu (1953)
1) Set in the late 16th century, two couples each travel a different path:
2) The men pursue money and fame
3) The women follow paths that lead to their demise.
4) In the following scene, two families Genjūrō, Tōbei, Miyagi, Ohama and Gen'ichi) encounter a man
    who has been attacked by pirates.
5)Notice the long takes in the scene
6)How the setting and camerawork reinforce the contrast
    "between the terrestrial and the otherworldly."

Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953):
This is the clip we saw in class Click Here

Roger Ebert review Click Here

"The famous lake scene is the most beautiful in the film. Shot partly on a tank with studio backdrops, it creates a world of fog and mist, out of which emerges a lone boatman who warns them of pirates. Genjuro returns to leave his wife and child on the shore, and continues with Tobei and Ohama. In the city, his work sells quickly, and he is invited to the castle of a beautiful noblewoman named Lady Wakasa, who admires his craftsmanship. She's played by Machiko Kyo, one of the greatest stars of the period, who was also the woman in "Rashomon.""

Saw this post 70th Anniversary of 
PORTRAIT OF MADAME YUKI - YUKI FUJIN EZU - 雪夫人絵図 by Kenji Mizoguchi Stars: Michiyo Kogure, Yoshiko Kuga, Ken Uehara, Eijirô Yanagi

                                        PORTRAIT OF MADAME YUKI (1950)