UGETSU (1953) -- Lady Wakasa

A product of the male imagination who ultimately becomes too powerful to be contained by the limitations of fantasy, Mizoguchi's Lady Wakasa is quite possibly the most compelling female character in a filmography that's brimming with them. Totally subservient to the patriarchy, yet nonetheless motivated wholly by her own self-fulfilment (her sexuality is used to ensnare men), her eerie presence in Ugetsu's mystical sub-narrative births all sorts of ambiguities and contradictions that scintillate to this very day. This sequence engrossingly summarises her ephemeral nature: from subservience to eroticism to outright possession.

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Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Mizoguchi
• Kenji
• Ugetsu
• classical
• Japanese
• cinema
• masayuki
• mori
• machiko
• kyo
• male
• fantasy
• desire
• ghost

[mizofan]

Magnificent film, among many masterpieces by Mizoguchi!