Ugetsu
Directed by	Kenji Mizoguchi
Produced by	Masaichi Nagata
Written by	Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Akinari Ueda, Yoshikata Yoda
Starring	Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyō, Kinuyo Tanaka
Distributed by	Daiei
Released	March 26, 1953 (Japan) September 7, 1954 (USA)
Running time	94 min.
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

Ugetsu, aka Ugetsu Monogatari (雨月物語), is a 1953 film by acclaimed Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi. The film, set in Medieval Japan, stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is based on Ugetsu monogatari, a 1776 collection of stories written by Ueda Akinari. Image File history File links Ugetsu_DVDcover. ... Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二 Mizoguchi Kenji; May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. ... Ueda Akinari (上田秋成, 1734 - August 8, 1809) was a Japanese novelist, scholar, and waka poet. ... Machiko Kyo Machiko Kyō (京マチ子 Kyō Machiko) (born March 25, 1924 in Osaka) was a Japanese actress who worked primarily during the 1950s. ... Kinuyo Tanaka (田中絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 28 November 1910 - 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. ... Daiei Motion Picture Company, Ltd. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二 Mizoguchi Kenji; May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. ... Machiko Kyo Machiko Kyō (京マチ子 Kyō Machiko) (born March 25, 1924 in Osaka) was a Japanese actress who worked primarily during the 1950s. ... This article is about the year 1776. ... Ueda Akinari (上田秋成, 1734 - August 8, 1809) was a Japanese novelist, scholar, and waka poet. ...

It is perhaps Mizoguchi's most celebrated film, and is regarded by many critics as one of the seminal masterworks of Japanese cinema. Cinema has a history in Japan that spans more than 100 years. ...

Ugetsu is ostensibly a ghost story, in which a peasant craftsman in Medieval Japan is undone by his greed. Typical of Mizoguchi's films, Ugetsu is politically oriented toward the ways women suffer at the hands of men; also typically, it features stunning visual arrangements and meticulously orchestrated long takes, as well as obfuscating elements like fog and silence. See Ghost Story (film) for the 1981 motion picture starring Fred Astaire. ...

Ugetsu won the Silver Lion Award for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival in 1953. The film has made multiple appearances in Sight and Sound magazine's top ten critics poll of the greatest movies ever made, which is held once every decade. In 2000, The Village Voice newspaper ranked Ugetsu at #29 on their list of the 100 best films of the 20th century. The Venice Film Festival (it: Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (began in the 1932) and takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ... Sight and Sound is a British monthly magazine about film. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Village Voice is a weekly newspaper in New York City featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

On November 8, 2005, Ugetsu became available for the first time on Region 1 DVD when The Criterion Collection released a 2-disc edition of the film, which included numerous special features such as a 150-minute documentary on Mizoguchi. November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The following is an excerpt of the article entitled DVD. For the sake of convenience, the terms Region 0, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 redirect to this page. ... The official DVD logo. ... The Criterion Collection is a line of authoritative consumer versions of classic and important contemporary films on laserdisc and, later, DVD. It was established as a joint venture between Janus Films and The Voyager Company in the mid-1980s. ...

External links

• Ugetsu monogatari at The Internet Movie Database
• The Criterion Collection DVD
• Phillip Lopate