Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ten Best Kenji Mizoguchi Directed Films

Ugetsu Monogatari
1. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
2. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
3. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
4. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
5. The Straights of Love and Hate (1937)
6. The Life of Oharu (1952)
7. Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954)
8. Street of Shame (1956)
9. The Love of Sumako the Actress (1947)
10. Osaka Elegy (1936)

Runners-up: Utamaro and His Five Women (1946), Tokyo March (1929), Shin Heike Monogatari (1955), The Downfall of Osen (1935)

1 comment:

Shamus said...

Michael,

What a wonderful surprise. (I was half joking when I posted the last comment.) Thank you.

I have only seen about half the films on the list so I am greedily anticipating their delights, (which, judging from the one's I've seen, are like nothing else in cinema).

Somehow, I always connected Zangiku Monogatari with Chaplin's Limelight, two completely different films (again, somewhat overlooked), but converging at the profoundly moving ending sequences: the real cost of life for the sake of vitality in art.