Final Paper Ugetsu Analysis

Elias Gelpi

Prof. Sicker

World Cinema

December 5, 2014

Ghostly Encounters in Ugetsu

Released in 1953, Ugetsu is a cinematic masterpiece that tells the story of desperate men, war, and unappreciated love. It is at about the midpoint of the film that Genjuro has brought his pottery to Lady Wakasa’s manor. Unaware that Lady Wakasa is a ghost, Genjuro submits to her seductive tactics and is ushered into a wedding ceremony.

The scene starts with a crane shot of the street from above, showing Lady Wakasa and her servent. Without cutting, the camera lowers to street level as we follow them while they approach Genjuro. Now, when Genuro looks up he is mesmorized by Wakasa’s white painted face, flowing robes, and mysterious veil. Her appearance here is that of an otherworldly apparition. She is meant to suggest alternate worlds and represent the distant past where her sort of dress was commonplace. Now, we later find out that Wakasa is actually dead and has been so for many decades. So, her appearance actually conveys both the unearthly and the ancient. Genjuro will eventually fall victim to her sexual allure, but at first sight is captivated by her beauty. This makes sense being that Genjuro considers himself a sort of artist and is attune to beauty. In a later scene he buys his wife a kimono and fantasizes about how she will love the gift when he returns, but she has already told him that she cares only about being with him, not beautiful objects. So, when Genjuro buys it for her, although he loves his wife, he is moved in purchasing it more by desire to see her model the exquisite garment than by her own needs. Still, his fond recollection of his wife as he buys the kimono is an attempt to resist Wasaka’s enchantment which began when he first saw her. At this moment, Genjuro stands in contrast to Tobee. That is, in trying to buy something for his wife. This is because that this point in time Tobee is addicted to the idea of becoming a samurai so much that he flees both his wife and Genjuro, even when they both attempt to restrain him. Alas, before Genjuro and purchase the kimono, Wasaka appears and guides him to her ghostly castle dwelling. A medium shot of her face seems to erase all memories Genjuro has of his wife. He now mentally abandons her just as he physically abandoned her at the shore.

While walking with Genjuro along a shoreline, both individuals seem to float through the tall reeds. Wasaka does not even appear human, rather is only seen as a white figure gliding across the fields. The overcast day, peaceful water, and deserted landscape conjure supernatural feelings about the lake as a sort of mystical place. All throughout, Genjuro follows as if in a trance. His fanatasy of his wife in the kimono has given way to the much more dangerous dreamlike state in which Wasaka is casting him.

The scene opens with both Lady Wasaka and Genjuro entering the frame and kneeling on the floor. The camera, as it moves in closer, also is pulled up into a  high angle camera shot of Genjuro which suggests some higher perspective or hidden knowledge that he is unaware of, much like how he is unaware that Lady Wakasa is a ghost. Genjuro now falls prey to the first, of what will turn out to be, many gestures of flattery and eroticism. Wakasa appeals to Genjuro’s narcissism by praising him not only as an artist, but also as a creator of beautiful things, a master whose crafts are worthy to hold her royal sake. When Genjuro speaks of his pieces as his children we recall that his poverty has in fact displaced his actual child who he has abandoned.

        Still marveling at his own work, Genjuro notes that the value of things are contingent upon their setting. In his own new setting, he sees himself as elevated above his status as a farmer. The mentioning of “setting” reminds us that Mizoguchi’s characters are always defined in relation to their setting, their surroundings. They are always mastered by those surrounding even as they attempt to master their own lives. Genjuro is clearly being mastered here by a supernatural force that he has yet to recognize. Wakasa’s desire for him as a husband is blatantly sexual, and her final overpowering appeal to him is to Genjuro’s own erotic longing. It is noteworthy that in this scene that Lady Wakasa shows her long black hair that was conceled earlier when she was in town. Also, she has changed from into a more contemporary kimono that accentuates her tall, slender, form. After Genjuro is told that he is to marry Wakasa, the camera pulls back and, rises up with her. She stands over Genjuro, her figure dominating his. Again, this elevation suggests that she knows something he does not and thus has power over him. Genjuro appears to realize this as his face grows a look of concern and he himself begins to rise from his knees.