"Ugetsu Monogatari"

Key points: female film masters and neat long shots

Mizoguchi Kenji is called the "feminist master". Through the emotions and lives of women at the bottom, the imbalance and hegemony of the patriarchal society are contrasted. Let’s briefly talk about it, taking "The Story of Ugetsu" (1953, Douban 8.6) as an example.

Female film master. Due to family reasons, in Mizoguchi's movies, we can always see the fearless qualities of women at the bottom who tolerate the suffering life and have the courage to bear it. Whether it is the hard-working and kind-hearted Miyagi, the husband-loving Abin and the love-hungry Ruoxia in this film, or the dignified and kind-hearted Miyoshi and the playful and lively Miko in "Gion Sisters", and the desolate "Saizuru Generation Girl" The noble Haruko and the sisters who support each other in "Miss Ayu", Mizoguchi Kenji speaks for women and denounces the viciousness, cowardice and ugliness of the patriarchal society.

State your ambitions. The movie "Ugetsu Monogatari" is adapted from Ueda Akinari's collection of novels of the same name, "A Place in the Grass" and "The Love of Snakes" (derived from "The Legend of Ai Qing" by Qu You of China, "Jian Deng Xin Hua" and "Warning Words" by Feng Menglong. "The White Snake Forever Towns Leifeng Pagoda") adopts a two-line narrative. The main line is that the ambitious Genjuro is busy with his career, and then falls into the love bubble of the female ghost Ruoxia, and is redeemed by Miyagi's kindness and forbearance; the second line is the unfortunate Ah Bin woke up her husband and returned home. In the resentful and desolate atmosphere, there is a warm undertone of humanity and the helplessness of being in the war. The metaphor of life is a quagmire, and the more you struggle, the deeper you fall. For example, Abin was raped on the way to find her husband and fell into the mire. It is a metaphor for the human heart of the world.

Noh. If Akira Kurosawa demonstrated the spiritual connotation of "no" in "Rashomon", then Kenji Mizoguchi expanded the picture space and ideological dimension of "no". For example, Ruoxia's gait is as if she is on a Noh performance stage, and her long-awaited steps wander through the deep and elegant corridors, making Genjuro fascinated. This is a typical example of form over content (the right form can actually help). Narrative), fully showing the evil charm and strangeness of Ruoxia.

Neat long shot. Mizoguchi Kenji's narrative logic is exquisite and neat, and he pays special attention to the shape of the picture and the flow of the shots. It can be said that "one scene is one shot", such as the most talked about classic clip - Miyagi's return to the soul to redeem Genjuro, Mizoguchi The physical space of the front and back doors is used to create a yin and yang separation between humans and ghosts. If you think about this section carefully and then look back at the entire movie, you will find that the small section and the entire film form an intertextual narrative pattern. This yin and yang, symmetrical thinking gives this ghost story a more profound humanistic theme.

Modernity in ancient rhyme. Mizoguchi Kenji is world-renowned, not only for his persistence in traditional culture, but more importantly for the modernity reflected in his works. For example, the denunciation of war, the rejection of the patriarchal society, the care for women, etc., can "find the noble spirit in the most humble people", demonstrating the thickness of his thoughts.