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Mizoguchi Kenji’s staggering Ugetsu is a film of many riddles and paradoxes that unfolds with the illusory simplicity of a fable. Its initial straightforwardness, as a parable against the pitfalls of human greed, is a misdirection that leads us into a void in which objectivity and subjectivity intermingle, hopelessly and invigoratingly clouding rationality.

The narrative begins on the shore of Japan’s Lake Biwa in the 16th century, when the country was engulfed in civil war. Mizoguchi spotlights two neighboring families: Genjurô (Mori Masayuki), his wife Miyagi (Tanaka Kinuyo), and their child (Sawamura Ichisaburo); and Tôbei (Ozawa Eitarô) and his wife Ohama (Mito Mitsuko). The heads of these families are broadly contrasted, as Genjurô is a serious potter while Tôbei is a stumbling ne’er-do-well whose dreams of becoming a samurai are ridiculous in lieu of his humble origins. (The film is alert to the classism of the samurai code.

Marcel Pagnols’ Marseille Trilogy, Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog” and Nicholas Ray’s “They Live by Night” are among the new titles joining the Criterion Collection this June. In addition, Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu” and Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs” are being upgraded in new Blu-ray editions. More information below.

Read More: The Criterion Collection Announces May Titles: ‘Ghost World,’ ‘Dheepan,’ ‘Jeanne Dielman’ and More

“Ugetsu”

“Having refined his craft in the silent era, Kenji Mizoguchi was an elder statesman of Japanese cinema-fiercely revered by Akira Kurosawa and other younger directors-by the time he made ‘Ugetsu.’ And with this exquisite ghost story, a fatalistic wartime tragedy derived from stories by Akinari Ueda and Guy de Maupassant, he created a touchstone of his art, his long takes and sweeping camera guiding the viewer through a delirious narrative about two villagers whose pursuit of fame and...

This week Joakim and Trevor Barrett from the Eclipse Viewer podcast discuss Ugetsu Monogatari.

From the Criterion Collection:

“Quite simply one of the greatest of filmmakers,” said Jean-Luc Godard of Kenji Mizoguchi. And Ugetsu, a ghost story like no other, is surely the Japanese director’s supreme achievement. Derived from stories by Akinari Ueda and Guy de Maupassant, this haunting tale of love and loss—with its exquisite blending of the otherworldly and the real—is one of the most beautiful films ever made.

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Episode Credits:

Masters Of Cinema Cast (Twitter / Website / Instagram / Tumblr / Facebook) Joakim Thiesen (Twitter) Tom Jennings (Twitter / Website) Trevor Barrett (Twitter / Website)...