Tag Archive: Kenji Mizoguchi


FAVOURITE MOVIES SEEN DURING 2012

Scenes from the movie that make the biggest impression on me in 2012

I watched a lot of movies this year but not that many in the cinema and not that many new releases.

Only one of my top ten movies actually came out this year and none were made by Americans.

Mostly, I’ve been going backwards with the Sight & Sound list of the best 50 films ever made being a constant point of reference.

A common thread running through most of these movies is that glib and preconceived notions of good and evil need to be constantly challenged.

I wrote short pieces about all of these films on this blog – hit the search button to find out more about why they made such an impression on me.

1. JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES directed by Chantal Akerman (1975)
2. A SEPARATION directed by Asghar Farhadl (2011)
3. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN directed by Lynne Ramsey (2011)
4. COME AND SEE directed by Elem Klimov (1985)
5. SHAME directed by Steve McQueen (2011)
6. AMELIE directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001)
7. L’UOMO CHE VERRA’ directed by Giorgio Diritti (2009)
8. RASHOMAN directed by Akira Kurosawa (1950)
9. CESERE DEVE MORIRE directed by Taviani Brothers (2012)
10. UGETSU MONOGATARI directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (1953)

UGETSU MONOGATARI directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan, 1953)

This is not so much a ghost story as a story with ghosts and a far cry from mainstream horror flicks such as Paranormal Activity.

The depth and lyricism of classic Japanese movies like this make most contemporary films look shallow and superficial. It is justifiably included in the BFI/Sight & Sound list of the top 50 greatest ever films.

Mizoguchi began making films in the silent era, then with a burst of creativity in the last decade of his life, he made six celebrated films before his death in 1956 aged 58.

This masterpiece works on so many different levels that to focus on just one risks reducing the overall impact.

The plot centres on two couples whose simple lives are disrupted by civil war. It is based on two short novels by Akinari Ueda (from his collection Tales of Moonlight and Rain) and a story titled Décoré by Guy de Maupassant. Continue reading