The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, March 1-7
Ugetsu (1953)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
It’s probably fair to call Mizoguchi a “filmmaker’s filmmaker”; this Japanese director—whose oeuvre mostly belongs in the first half of the 20th century—was a huge influence on many of your faves, including one Jean-Luc Godard, though he remains underseen by many. Mizoguchi’s films, with his signature long takes, look like grand-scale paintings that have had life breathed into them, and Ugetsu, his later masterpiece, is easily regarded his best. Shot in ghostly atmosphere, this is as much a literal ghost story as it is a tragedy of two families torn by warring circumstances in 16th century Japan and patriarchal egotism and greed: one man pursues life as a samurai against his wife’s wishes while the other leaves his spouse to sell pottery and ends up entangled in a love affair with a ghost woman (they’re Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, a Rashomon reunion). Playing with light and shadow in beautiful black and white, Mizoguchi maintains a dreamlike fog even when illusions are eventually shattered. This tale of war, fantasy, and heartbreak screens in a gorgeous new 4k restoration. Kristen Yoonsoo Kim (March 3–9 at Film Forum)