Ugetsu - Movie of the mid week

Ugetsu tells the story of two families ... Genjiro the potter, his wife and son, and Tobei his brother who will do anything to become a warrior and live his dreams. It shows how in their greed to profit from the war, Genjiro loses his wife and finds himself again, and how Tobei pays the price through his wife's honor in pursuing his vainglorious dream of becoming a great soldier. And in between it weaves a story in flowing frames, that visually feels like silk on skin in the smoothness of the transitions between memory and reality.

There are many unforgettable scenes ... the slow boat ride through the night and fog of the pale lit lake, the buddhist statue staring serenely away at the scene of the rape, the masked look of Lady Wasaki as she conveys her horror at seeing the inscriptions on his skin, the slow run of shadows as they first approach the kutsuki residence together, the triumphant procession of Tobei through the streets of a town, the transition of the empty ruins of Genjiro's hut to a place filled with the radiance of the love of his wife ... it is a tale of very ordinary people, doing nothing extraordinary but in the process revealing to us the nature of humanity in ways that make us understand the world of our emotions a little bit better, a lot more deeper.

And the conclusion of the movie both sad and redemptive is the kind that lingers in memory like an experience that we have felt deeply

The version reviewed is the Criterion collection version of the movie.

Other movies selected for the midweek review include:
Chungking Express
The Third Man
El Mariachi / Desperado
Dragon Inn