Ugetsu monogatari

Kenji Mizoguchi (1898-1956) had made dozens of films when he shot Ugetsu Monogatari in 1953. Though this magnificent film won him a Silver Lion in Venice, it was only released in France in 1959 – and critics applauded.

The Japanese filmmaker adapts two of his motherland's popular tales, and adds a few touches from Guy de Maupassant's short stories (1). He stages the action in the 16th century, when civil war is ravaging Lake Biwa. A potter (Genjuro) and his peasant brother in law (Tobei) leave for the city. While he is selling pots in the market, Genjuro meets princess Wakasa and she takes him as her lover. He goes on to enjoy the aesthetic delights, if artificial and illusory.

Genjuro's wife, Miyagi, is confined to the role of a submissive wife and careful, affectionate mother. Her headscarf and her peasant looks deprive her of elegance and appeal. Princess Wakasa, to the contrary, is the projection of Genjuro's erotic desire. But, in this scene, he is only embracing a phantom, a fantasy. Wakasa offers him her shimmering hair, symbolising a fetish of femininity.

Like the rest of Mizoguchi's work, Ugetsu Monogatari sides with women. They are the social victims of male craving, and deal with reality by themselves while men indulge their avidness, ambition and need to dominate.