In feudal Japan during the 16th Century, the Shibata army are approaching a village. Genjuro is a greedy craftsman, who travels to the town of Nagahama to sell his pottery. He returns with lots of money, and vows to travel there again, this time with Tobei, his neighbour. As the Shibata army starts pillaging the town, enslaving families, and stealing food, Tobei and Genjuro try to keep the flame alight on the pottery they are creating. Genjuro's wife, Miyage, and Tobei's wife, Ohama, try and prevent them from this dangerous task. After narrowly avoiding the army, they set sail for Nagahama to sell their wares.
This is my second time watching this, and it was better than I remember it. This is one of those few Mizoguchi films which are not about geishas, but feels completely different from his other films. To see a film set in 16th Century Japan and not a samurai film, is incredibly rare. The best thing about this film may be the time period. The film is set 80% outside, showing impressive sets, beautiful countryside and Mizoguchi's trademark cinematography. Every shot is appealing, but at the same time strange and intriguing, as this is a world no-one has seen before. Watching this movie is like being taken in a time machine as the setting is scarily realistic.
The film's portrayal of feudal Japan is frightening and hard-hitting. There are realistic and unsettling scenes like the starving samurai scavenging the houses of the village looking for food and the startling non-dramatised death of one of the main characters. This isn't improvised fiction, but real-life horror, as all of this actually happened.
The story of greed, and it's corruption, is still relevant today. As the husbands got more corrupted, their bad luck was inflicted on their innocent wives. The message is 'greed corrupts and ruins the lives of those around you'.
The film is partially a Japanese ghost story. Similar to 'Kwaidan' and 'Kuroneko', 'Ugetsu' featuring curses and forest spirits. This adds a sense of mystery and unknown to the events, while simultaneously terrifying the bejesus out of me.
TO CONCLUDE
Haunting, and crafted to perfection.
SCORE
83
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