Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi - 1953

The film Ugetsu, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, follows two couples during wartime in Edo-era Japan. Genjuro and Tobei have dreams of wealth and admiration: Genjuro wants to earn wealth through his pottery trade and Tobei dreams of becoming a samurai. Genjuro and Tobei seek to fulfill these dreams, though it is their partners who are sacrificed for their selfish determination. Ugetsu is a film about passion during wartime and the danger of selfish desire.
    Genjuro seeks success and admiration selling his pottery. He dries dozens of uniform bowls in assembly lines, revealing a lack of passion in his creations; his home is a factory for success. Genjuro's wife and son, are in the shadow of his pottery. When the village is invaded by soldiers, Genjuro keeps running back to his kiln while his wife, Miyagi, tries to pull him to safety as the soldiers close in. During the chaos he obsesses over keeping the kiln fire going before they venture off to safety; the concern for his pottery taking precedent over the safety of his family. The point is driven home when upon returning Genjuro is relieved to find his undisturbed pottery among the ransacked houses and the family leave their war torn village by boat, taking the pottery with them. They are stopped on the way by an omen, the ghost of the water, a wounded man who warns the group of danger ahead. Genjuro takes the advice and brings his wife and son home, leaving them alone on the shore. He continues to the village to sell his pottery.
         The desire for wealth and admiration take hold of Tobei when samurai soldiers walk through the village. He runs to them and invests his money in Samurai armor, abandoning his wife, Ohama. Tobei elevates his samurai status, earning respect of the other samurai's by stealing the head of a high-ranking army general and presenting it as his own kill. Though the work is doubted as his own, he is nonetheless celebrated as a hero and is rewarded with a parade in his honor. A fellow samurai comments that Tobei “has the air of a great samurai.” This comment is symbolic of the empty respect Tobei has earned through empty means. Soon after Tobei disappears, Ohama is shown walking alone in a field, cursing her husband for foolishly abandoning her to fulfill childish dreams. She is approached by a group of soldiers who attack her and pull her into a nearby house. They rape her, furthering her shame by throwing money at her feet as they leave. The shaming of Ohama is performed directly in view of a Buddha statue, symbolizing the sacrifice of her pride for the sins of her husband. Ohama cries, cursing Tobei, once again, for leaving her alone and for forcing her to turn to prostitution to support herself. When Tobei and Ohama are reunited, both wear fancy clothing: he wears the suit of a high ranking samurai as she wears the dress of a high class woman.  Ohama is ashamed and furious at what Tobei had allowed her to become, she explains that she only remained alive to see him one last time. He defends his actions, claiming that he did it all for her. Ohama retorts, “No, you did it to become a samurai... look at all the money your exploits earned you.” The passion that Tobei hopes to find as a samurai is due to a passionless life, driven by war. He sought fortune through shameful and dishonest means; it is Ohama who pays the price with her dignity.

            Admiration comes to Genjuro from a mysterious woman who asks for several of his pottery wares and requests that he personally deliver the pieces to her Manor. The woman, Lady Wakasa, is a collector of Genjuro's art, and refers to his wares as such. She flatters him, seducing him with compliments and asking him to marry her; he fulfills her request without hesitation. Lady Wakasa elevates Genjuro's status from poor to rich, peasant to lord and artisan to artist; instantly rescuing him from a life of poverty and war. The love shared between Lady Wakasa and Genjuro is forbidden not only because it is extramarital, but because it is between the dead and the living. Just as the strength of unfulfilled desire causes the ghost of Lady Wakasa to search for love after death, Genjuro seeks wealth and admiration, even if it comes to him without meaning -these soulless creations have attracted the wealth and admiration of an apparition. When it is revealed that Lady Wakasa is a ghost, he leaves her and returns to what looks like an empty home. He circles the house and re-enters to find Miyagi there, at the hearth, cooking a meal for her husband. The scene is tense, we had last seen Miyagi being stabbed by rival soldiers and collapse in a field. Genjuro attempts to apologize to her, but she stops him and will not hear it; she is happy to see him. He eats quickly and falls asleep beside his son, Genichi. Miyagi remains awake stiching her husband's kimono; her movements are slow and contemplative. He is finally able to appreciate what he has, though it is not as it seems. When Genjuro awakes, he is informed that Miyagi actually had been killed by soldiers. Once again, he was greeted by a ghost.

                In the final scene, Tobei is working hard at his garden. Ohama asks him to stop for dinner, but Tobei continues to labor. Genjuro concentrates at his pottery wheel with Miyagi's voice coaching him from the heavens; he has finally become the man she had wanted him to be, though it is a shame she cannot enjoy it. He has learned to create his art for self-growth and makes time for his son. At the beginning of the film, war was to blame for the lack of passion in day to day living. During wartime they could not realize the potential they felt they deserved. Genjuro and Tobei start out as boys who dream of admiration and wealth until the atrocities of war take what is actually most valuable to them, forcing them to grow up and face the reality that they must be men during dangerous times. Not for themselves, but for the people they love. The realization comes at a significant cost: during wartime, the stakes are high. 

Sansho the Baliff - Kenji Mizoguchi -1954

In Kenji Mizoguchi's film, Sansho the Bailiff, brother and sister Zushio and Anju (respectively) are kidnaped by slave traders and sold to Sansho's compound. Forced into hard labor, they toil throughout their adolescence for over 10 years, maturing as slaves. Mizoguchi's portrayal of Anju as an altruistic savior exposes his faith in, and his compassion for women, making Sansho the Bailiff a feminist film.
       Zushio embraces his role under Sansho by working hard. He rationalizes, if Sansho looks favorably upon him he will have an easier time living there. To gain Sansho's favor, Zushio does some morally questionable tasks. His devotion puts a rift between him and Anju as he avoids conversations about their parents and becomes enraged at her for holding onto the past.

      Anju is altruistic, she remains true to her roots and holds onto the values taught by her family. She follows the words of her father, who believed that all people are equal and should not be denied happiness. Despite having witnessed Zushio's weakness under the pressure of Sansho, she stands by him and decides to give her life in exchange for his escape. Anju's role could be viewed as mothering; she guides Zushio, making the plan for his escape, providing the exit and paving the way for his redemption. She convinces him to go without her, and he does, unaware that she will die after his departure. Without this sacrifice, Zushio's drive to end slavery within the state, and within Sansho's compound, would not have occurred; for he had to believe that Anju was still there to want to save her so desperately.

          Sansho's son Taro joins a monastery to redeem himself of the sins he has committed as an assistant to his father. The film portrays Taro as an autonomous thinker, who is reluctant to accept the role he has been handed. This is first evident in the way he observes Anju and Zushio's situation. It is obvious to Taro that they are not the children of slaves; this reveals that he takes interest in the slaves, he empathizes with them. Taro's kind nature is most obvious when he tucks Anju and Zushio into bed before departing Sansho's compound.

       Zushio discovers that Taro has joined a monastery when he seeks refuge there after having escaped with the sick Namiji. Both Zushio and Taro have left the compound in order to escape slavery and to seek redemption for their sins. Taro is born of a wealthy slave owner, and is forced into slave trading. He had profited from slavery, as he was provided for by it. Despite his having grown up with slavery as a norm, he turns away from it, seeking redemption through religion, a silent protest. Zushio was also raised as a wealthy heir, though of a virtuous governor. Zushio did not immediately learn from the teachings of his father; it is he who becomes the surrogate son of Sansho, even branding a fellow slave. Since Zushio fills the role of Taro in his absence, it is ironic that he is able to protest slavery through action. Perhaps it was that Taro could not appeal to the Emperor's Councillor as the son of Sansho, thus forcing him into a silent protest. Zushio is able to shout his family name, and be heard. By leaving the compound, Taro manages to break from the brutal rule of his father, and any direct association with the enslavement of people. However, this does not erase the slavery that is taking place in feudal Japan. Taro solves his personal conflict, but not the dilemma of society at large.

Zushio's reunion with his mother is sorrowful. One could view the reunion as a happy outcome, but it could not be called a happy ending. The mood of the scene could be described as exhausted. His mother is now elderly and blind, she has spent most of her life longing for her children. Zushio returns to her almost a stranger, he is grown and Tomiko cannot even see his face as he approaches her; she pushes him away from her, fearing it may be a trick. Zushio's accomplishments as governor that carry on the legacy of his father cannot be celebrated with Tomiko, the event is eclipsed by the death of Anju and his father. Tomiko replies to Zushio's pleas for forgiveness by explaining that she knows that because he followed the words of his father, they are able to be together again. Had Zushio never redeemed himself of the sins he committed as Sansho's "son," he would not have been reconciled as the son of his father, or mother, once again. Tomiko, of course, does not know this. She is only aware that the bonds shared within the family that kept her singing the names of her children, are the same bonds that sustained Zushio's faith in the teachings of his family, returning him to her. Their reunion marks the completion of Zushio's growth from adolescence to adulthood, for he has taken responsibility for his actions and reclaimed his place within his family.

Sansho the Bailiff portrays political actions that occur even still today. Sansho's funding of various leaders helps to maintain his business, just as the practice of bribery has always been conducted by people in power. Sansho the Bailiff depicts feudal Japan as a familiar society to an unfamiliar viewer.