Ugetsu

This Edo-period ghost story is a haunting parable on the evils of war and reckless male greed.

In this atmospheric 16th-century ghost story, two peasants, Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) and Tobei (Sakae Ozawa), sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, despite warnings from the local sage not to seek profit from warfare. Genjuro’s pursuit of wealth and the mysterious Lady Wakasa (the enigmatic Machiko Kyō) and Tobei’s desire to become a samurai lead them down a dark supernatural path that threatens to destroy them and their wives.

Drawing on disparate literary sources—two short stories by eighteenth-century Japanese writer Akinari Ueda and one by French master Guy de Maupassant, Kenji Mizoghuchi has created a haunting masterpiece that effortlessly blends harsh realism with intoxicating fantasy. Recently included in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time poll, Ugetsu is a bewitching parable on the evils of war and the careless greed of man.

– Spiro Economopoulos (Guest Curator)

Restored by The Film Foundation and KADOKAWA Corporation at Cineric Laboratories. Special thanks to Masahiro Miyajima and Martin Scorsese for their consultation on this restoration. Restoration funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in association with The Film Foundation and KADOKAWA Corporation.