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Ugetsu
''Ugetsu'' (雨月物語, ''Ugetsu Monogatari'', lit. "Rain-moon tales") is a 1953 Japanese period fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on the stories "The House in the Thicket" and "The Lust of the White Serpent" from Ueda Akinari's 1776 book '' Ugetsu Monogatari'', combining elements of the ''jidaigeki'' (period drama) genre with a ghost story. Drawing from Ueda's tales, the film is set in Japan's civil war–torn Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600). In a small rural community, a potter leaves his wife and young son behind to make money selling pottery and ends up being seduced by a spirit that makes him forget all about his family. A subplot, inspired by Guy de Maupassant's 1883 short story "How He Got the Legion of Honor" ("Décoré !"), involves his brother-in-law, who dreams of becoming a samurai and chases this goal at the unintended expense of his wife. The film won the Silver Lion Award at the 1953 Venice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ugetsu Monogatari
is a collection of nine supernatural tales first published in 1776. It is the best known work of Japanese author Ueda Akinari. Largely adapted from traditional Japanese and Chinese ghost stories, the collection is among the most important works of Edo period (1603–1867) and literature, and is considered a predecessor of the genre. Kenji Mizoguchi's award-winning film (1953), credited with helping popularize Japanese cinema in the West, was adapted from two of the collection's stories. Title The word is a compound word; means "rain", while translates to "moon". It derives from a passage in the book's preface describing "a night with a misty moon after the rains", and references a Noh play, also called , which also employs the common contemporary symbols of rain and moon. These images evoked the supernatural and mysterious in East Asian literature; Qu You's (; a story from , one of Ueda's major sources), indicates that a rainy night or a morning moon may presage the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ueda Akinari
was a Japanese author, scholar and '' waka'' poet, and a prominent literary figure in 18th-century Japan. He was an early writer in the '' yomihon'' genre and his two masterpieces, '' Ugetsu Monogatari'' ("Tales of Rain and the Moon") and '' Harusame Monogatari'' ("Tales of Spring Rain"), are central to the canon of Japanese literature. Biography Born to an Osaka prostitute and an unknown father, Ueda was adopted in his fourth year by a wealthy merchant who reared him in comfort and provided him with a good education. As a child he became gravely ill with smallpox, and although he survived, he was left with deformed fingers on both hands. During his illness, his parents prayed to the god of the Kashima Inari Shrine, and Ueda felt that this deity had intervened and saved his life. Throughout his life he remained a strong believer in the supernatural, and this belief seems to inform important elements of his literature and scholarship such as his most famous work, a collection o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenji Mizoguchi
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and '' Sansho the Bailiff'' (1954), with the latter three all being awarded at the Venice International Film Festival. A recurring theme of his films was the oppression of women in historical and contemporary Japan. Together with Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu, Mizoguchi is seen as a representative of the "golden age" of Japanese cinema. Biography Early years Mizoguchi was born in Hongō, Tokyo, as the second of three children, to Zentaro Miguchi, a roofing carpenter, and his wife Masa. The family's background was relatively humble until the father's failed business venture of selling raincoats to the Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War. The family was forced to move to the downtown district of Asakusa and gave Mizoguchi's older s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinuyo Tanaka
was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). With her 1953 directorial debut, ''Love Letter (1953 film), Love Letter'', Tanaka became the second Japanese woman to direct a film, after Tazuko Sakane. Biography Early life and career Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the youngest of nine children of Kumekichi and Yasu Tanaka. Her family were ''kimono'' merchants. Although her family was originally wealthy, after her father Kumekichi died in 1912, the family began having financial troubles. She learned playing the biwa at an early age and moved to Osaka in 1920, where she joined the Biwa Girls' Operetta Troupe. Tanaka's first credited film appearance was in ''Genroku Onna'' (lit. "A Woman of the Genroku era") in 1924, which also marked the start ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of Japan
The , also known domestically as , has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2022, it was the Film industry#Statistics, fourth largest by number of feature films produced, producing 634 films, and third largest in terms of box office revenue, standing at $1.5 billion. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897. During the 1950s, a period dubbed the "Golden Age of Japanese cinema", the ''jidaigeki'' films of Akira Kurosawa as well as the science fiction films of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya gained Japanese cinema international praise and made these directors universally renown and highly influential. Some of the Japanese films of this period are now rated some of the List of films considered the best, greatest of all time: ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) ranked number three in ''Sight & Sound'' critics' list of the 100 greatest films of all time and also topped the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
14th Venice International Film Festival
The 14th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 20 August to 4 September 1953. The Golden Lion of Saint Mark was not awarded this year. The jury, having examined the films in competition and noting the considerable average high level of the motion pictures presented, found that no work prevailed in terms of absolute value. In accordance with article 20 of the 1953 regulation, the jury requested from the president of the festival the authorization not to award the Grand Prix, which was finally granted. Instead, the jury decided to award the Silver Lion to six films. Jury * Eugenio Montale, Italian writer - Jury President * Gaetano Carancini * Sandro De Feo * Nino Ghelli * Gian Gaspare Napolitano * Antonio Petrucci * In Competition Official Awards Main Competition *Silver Lion: **''Thérèse Raquin'' by Marcel Carné **''Ugetsu'' by Kenji Mizoguchi **''Moulin Rouge'' by John Huston **''I Vitelloni'' by Federico Fellini **''Sadko'' by Aleksandr Ptushko ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masaichi Nagata
was a Japanese businessman and served as president of Daiei Film. The self-proclaimed creator of Gamera, he produced the kaiju's second film ''Gamera vs. Barugon'', with the remainder of the Gamera#Films, Showa ''Gamera'' films produced instead by his son Hidemasa Nagata. Either Masaichi or Hideo Matsuyama (:ja:松山英夫, jp), the inventor of the "Silver Week", was also the inventor of the advertising slogan "Golden Week (Japan), Golden Week", and the first president of the Pacific League. His achievements to contribute in the golden era of Japanese film industries granted a title "Father of the film industry" in Japan, while his well-known nicknames "Nagata Trumpet" and "Fixer of political world" were given due to his boasting behaviors and connections with political circles. Nagata was also known for his friendship with Walt Disney where Disney called him a "brother", and had associated in Disney-related businesses such as distributions of Disney films by Daiei Film, publicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuo Miyagawa
was a Japanese cinematographer. Career Born in Kyoto, Miyagawa was taken with sumi-e Chinese ink painting from the age of eleven and began to sell his work as an illustrator while a teenager. He became interested in the cinema during the 1920s, particularly admiring the German Expressionist silents. He joined the Nikkatsu film company in 1926 after graduating from Kyoto Commercial School. He began as a laboratory technician before becoming an assistant cameraman. Miyagawa cited the cinematography of Eiji Tsuburaya, and Kenzo Sakai as an influence on his career. Miyagawa is best known for his tracking shots, particularly those in '' Rashomon'' (1950), the first of his collaborations with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Other films with Kurosawa include '' Yojimbo'' (1961) and initial preparations for ''Kagemusha'' (1980). He also worked on multiple films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, including '' Ugetsu'' (1953). Still, only on a single Yasujirō Ozu production, '' Floating Weeds'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machiko Kyō
Motoko Yano, better known as , was a Japanese actress who was active primarily in the 1950s. Considered one of Japan's first sex symbols and one of its greatest screen actresses, Kyō is best known for her critically acclaimed work with directors Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Kon Ichikawa, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Shirō Toyoda and Hiroshi Teshigahara, appearing in films such as ''Rashomon'', '' Ugetsu'', '' Gate of Hell'', '' Street of Shame'', '' Floating Weeds'', '' Odd Obsession'' and '' The Face of Another''. Early life and education Kyō, an only child, was born in Osaka in 1924. Her father left when she was age 5, and she was raised by her mother and grandmother. She adopted Machiko Kyō as her stage name when she entered the Osaka Shochiku Kagekidan in 1936 at age 12. She trained as a revue dancer and then entered the film industry through Daiei Film in 1949. Two years later, she achieved international fame as the female l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masayuki Mori (actor)
was a Japanese actor and son of novelist Takeo Arishima. Mori appeared in many of Akira Kurosawa's films such as ''Rashomon'', ''The Idiot'' and ''The Bad Sleep Well''. He also starred in pictures by Kenji Mizoguchi ('' Ugetsu''), Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ... ('' Floating Clouds'') and other prominent directors. Selected filmography Films Television References External links * * Japanese male film actors Actors from Sapporo 1911 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Japanese male actors {{Japan-film-actor-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakae Ozawa
, also credited as Sakae Ozawa (小沢栄), was a Japanese film actor and stage actor and director. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1988, directed by notable filmmakers such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Kaneto Shindō. Biography After leaving high school prematurely, Ozawa started acting in the left-wing theatre groups Toho Sayoku Gekijo and Shinkyo Gekidan. He gave his film debut at the P.C.L. film studio (later Toho) in 1935. In 1940, the authorities ordered the dissolution of the Shinkyo Gekidan and arrested many of its members, including Ozawa, who was forced to change his stage name Sakae to his real name Eitarō. After his release, he joined the Shochiku studio and starred in films by Tomu Uchida, Tomotaka Tasaka and Keisuke Kinoshita. In 1944, he co-founded the Haiyuza theatre group, but was drafted in the same year. After the war, he returned to the Haiyuza and started appearing in films again such as Yasujirō Ozu's '' Record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumio Hayasaka
was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores. Early life Hayasaka was born in the city of Sendai on the main Japanese island of Honshū. In 1918, Hayasaka and his family moved to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaidō. In 1933, Hayasaka and Akira Ifukube organized the New Music League, which held a new music festival the year after. Hayasaka won a number of prizes for his early concert works; in 1935, his piece ''Futatsu no sanka e no zensōkyoku'' won first prize in a radio competition, and another concert piece, ''Kodai no bukyoku'', won the 1938 Weingartner Prize. Other early works include a ''Nocturne'' (1936) for piano and the orchestral ''Ancient Dance'' (1938). In 1939, Hayasaka moved to Tokyo to begin a career as film composer. By early 1940, Hayasaka was seen as "a major composer for Japanese Cinema". Post-War film music After the war, Hayasaka continued working on films, quickly winning recognition for his abilities. In 1946, he received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
