#NipPop at Cinema Ritrovato 2016: Ugetsu monogatari

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Written by Ester De Anna

On the 26th of June, in the context of the 'Ritrovati e Restaurati' panel at the yearly Cinema Ritrovato festival, the screens of Bologna's Cinema Arlecchino hosted a classic of Japanese cinema: Ugetsu monogatari (雨月物語), internationally known as Ugetsu and rendered in Italian as I Racconti della Luna Pallida d'Agosto.

Inspired by two short stories from a collection by Ueda Akinari (Lust of the White Serpent and House Amid the Thickets), the film could be considered, well over 60 years since its first showings, a classic of Japanese cinema and beyond.

The story is set amid the civil uprisings of XVI century's Japan, in the Omi region close to Biwa lake. There are four protagonists: greedy artisan Genjurō, his wife Miyagi, farmer Tobei who nurtures the impossible dream of becoming a samurai, and his wife Ohama. The two men abandon th countryside for the city, in search of success and glory, and leave their respective families without hesitation. Their reckless choice ends up having catastrophic consequences for their wives, whose lives end up utterly destroyed.

At the same time, the success the two men reach turns out to be fleeting: from this, they attain a newfound wisdom. Most impactful is the character of the noblewoman who seduces Genjurō: she turns out to be a ghost that returned to earth, hoping to finally find love. Liberation from this bond makes the man wise of the dangers of delusions, and convinces him to undertake a belated return to the village.

The film represents an important testimony of the historical period, but also a psychological study of its own characters. Also notable are the directing and the screenwriting, heavily influenced by Nō theater. Kenji Mizoguchi's style is evocative: it alternates more grounded sequences with dreamlike interludes, marked by shifts into slower, more abstract rhythms.

Scenography is also a strong point. One could think of the evocative scene set in a boat on Biwa lake, during the protagonists' journey to the city: the beautifully rendered morning mists create a mysterious atmosphere, where a fisherman's boat could be easily mistaken for a ghost ship.