I just had the chance to see this incredible movie, and I haven't had many experiences like this when I was watching a movie. The story is amazing, telling of the hardships of women at the time and the acting blew me away. I could rant on this movie all day, and I have basically seen all of Kurosawa's films and the Life of Oharu by the same director and this has to be the best film I have ever seen.
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I dont think this is the greatest film ever made. But japanese movies top 5 (no animations) is like this: 1. Seven Samurai 2. Kwaidan 3. Lady Snowblood 4. Onibaba 5. Tales of Ugetsu. If I say more so 6. Tokyo Story and after that Harakiri, Ikiru, High & Low, Rashomon.
shareReally? Better than Ran? I had better give it a try then; maybe I'll love it, maybe I'll like it or maybe I will be amazed by it. Whatever happens, I doubt I will be disappointed.
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It is certainly a masterpiece, but I wouldn't call it a superior film to Sansho the Bailiff, and its much to hard trying to compare Mizoguchi to Kurosawa, Kobayashi or Ozu.
Still it remains possibly the most visually beautiful B&W film I've ever seen.
Last film seen: You Only Live Twice 7/10
When you say that Ozu had a style,what style did he have,boredom
holy epic fail, bat-man.
But yeah, Ugetsu, while not the best film of all time, is certainly an undisputed masterpiece.
So I suppose you haven't seen Tokyo Monogateri (Tokyo Story) by Ozu Yasujiro? See this and then get back to us.
shareYep, I just watched this for myself after buying the Criterion Collection from Amazon.com. I thought it was quite remarkable to say the least. It got right to the point from the get-go and never really lets up, excellent story-telling. It was haunting and beautifully shot. Great film! 8/10 (but I'll give it a 10/10 for the time being!)
I also ordered Sansho the Bailiff, will be seeing it soon!
On my top 25 list, for sure.
It is for me, in addition to all else that the film is, a meaningful meditation on the nature of love and art.
"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx
It's a solid piece of work, but for me Mizoguchi's style is a bit too straightforward compared to the much richer poetry of '60s new wave films like Onibaba and Woman of the Dunes.
shareWhile a fan of bold, the statement that this is the greatest film ever made, is just a touch too bold.
Still: it's a great film. And I agree about the magical Woman in the Dunes. Onibaba I haven't seen. I will now. Thanks for noting it!
I wouldn't vote it the best movie ever made, or even rate it in the top ten Japanese films made. But I would say that it may be the most beautifully photographed Japanese film. Kazuo Miyagawa is the greatest cinematographer ever in Japan. He was going to be the principle cinematographer on KAGEMUSHA (Kurosawa always used multiple cinematographers - on KAGEMUSHA he had to shift Takao Saitô from the B camera to the A camera because Miyagawa was unwell and couldn't work on the film - he was in poor health and would be well enough to do only a few more films). He did the photography on RASHOMON and did the A camera on YOJIMBO, which were the only two films he did with Kurosawa because they worked at different studios.
I think it may also be the greatest fantasy film ever done in Japan. But I wouldn't rank it with SEVEN SAMURAI or TOKYO STORY or FLOATING CLOUDS or IKIRU or TWENTY-FOUR EYES or a few other films.