Review: Tales of Ugetsu


(Originally at Epinions.com Date written 2003, by a very angry Uni student)

 

In my Asian Cinema class at Uni, we watched some pretty decent films ("Chinese Ghost Story" the best of the bunch), but we also watched our fair share of tedious, pretentious, archaic, intellectual/arthouse claptrap. Welcome to the world of Kenji Mizoguchi, folks, or as I like to call it, Celluloid Hell.

 

During the Civil War, peasant Masayuki Mori leaves his wife and kid behind to go on a perilous (and interminable) journey with brother Eitaro Ozawa and meets eccentric Machiko Kyo (From Kurosawa's interesting, if long-winded "Rashomon") who may or may not be a ghost.

 

At least I THINK that was the plot, I might've slept through great chunks of it. This was the only film I saw in class where I had a blank sheet of paper after the screening. I followed the narrative comfortably, there was simply nothing I had to say about the film...at least not positive.

 

The film has some rather effectively creepy moments early on, where it actually reminded me a little of John Carpenter's "The Fog" by way of "Grapes of Wrath", but after that, the fog loses its welcome and the film plays its one note over and over, interminably. This is a trademark of Mizoguchi- scenes so drawn-out as to rob them of any suspense or intrigue whatsoever.

 

Save for a clever but eventually obvious "Sixth Sense" type of ending, the film hasn't even got an entertaining or original bone in its body. When not ripping from "Grapes of Wrath" (those journey scenes, etc.) the film even borrows from Mizoguchi's better, but frankly AIP-ish "Sisters of Gion". Seriously, take away the ghosts and you'd have almost the same film! The acting isn't awful, but the cast are at the mercy of a narcoleptic overrated director who doesn't have a clue about editing or pacing whatsoever.

 

Rating: D

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