This is the first of my film reviews

Ugetsu monogatari (1953) is directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, quite a famous director between the 1920s through to the 1950s. The story is set in the civil wars of the 16th century, it centers on 2 farmers, Genjuro who aims to become rich by making pottery, and Tobei wants to become famous by being a samurai. After almost losing their pots on a raid on their village, they travel to the city in order to sell their wares. There Tobei uses his share in the sale to buy armour to become a samurai, much to the annoyance of his wife. Genjuro meanwhile sells some of his pots to an strange aristocratic lady. Who then manages to lure potter Genjuro to her house, he is then enchanted by her as she turns out to be a ghost.

To begin with, the story doesn’t come across as a ghost story, but as the story progresses, the atmosphere becomes more haunting. The cinematography is very iconic, the fog on the lake scenes and the haunted house. Overall a good movie

4 out of 5