UGETSU 4K Review: Kenji Mizoguchi's Masterpiece

Our friends at the Criterion Collection continue to be champions of world cinema and film preservation. They recently released the new 4K/Blu-ray combo pack for Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1953 masterpiece, Ugetsu.

I reviewed Ugetsu the last time around in 2017, back when Criterion and every other company in the business were putting out Blu-rays. You can read the full review and watch an atmospheric clip from the film here.

In a nutshell, Ugetsu is a be-careful-what-you-wish-for film during a chaotic war in Japan, with villagers fending for themselves during an invasion. It takes place in the 1500s, if I recall correctly. Previously, I called it a morality play, and it is. (My last review goes much further on plot details.) The story focuses on two men and how the disastrous decisions they make bring about the downfalls of their families, especially the women, who are the only ones who pay dearly for their spouses’ lack of foresight and avarice with their bodies and lives. Fun how that keeps happening throughout all of civilization.

However, it’s the journey and not the destination that captivates, because when watching this film, it’s apparent that things are going to go very wrong for these couples. It’s almost like watching a trainwreck in slow motion, though of course Mizoguchi’s film is far more elegant than that. Long takes and wide shots keep the tension high-strung, if you’re paying attention. It’s as if fate has already decided that these couples’ happiness and livelihoods will come to bad ends. You know it’s going to happen and you can’t look away. It’s also beautifully shot and acted. Everyone in the cast and crew are at the peak of their craft. Among other accolades, Ugetsu was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design and took home the Silver Lion from Venice.

It’s interesting to note that for the previous release, there was already the Martin Scorsese-approved 4K restoration, but presented on Blu-ray. That release was stunning. However, this new UHD release played on a UHD player and television designed to handle 4K reveals some improvements over the previous release. It’s worth getting if you have such a player and TV.

The packaging itself is also quite similar; it’s nearly identical, really. The image on the booklet is slightly zoomed in. The awesome essay on the film by critic Phillip Lopate remains, as do the three short stories that influenced Ugetsu: Guy de Maupassant’s “How He Got the Legion of Honor” and Akinari Ueda’s “The House in the Thicket” and “The Serpent's Lust.” Those stories are still terrific and absolutely worth reading. As it should, the booklet provides greater enrichment and enjoyment of the film.

As before, the film looks stunning and sound is excellent. There are only marginal visual issues leftover from the source material, such as slight image instability in just a few cases, along with minor density oscillations. They’re not that noticeable to the casual viewer.

The special features are also ported over from Criterion’s other releases, and they’re enjoyable, especially if you love world cinema and it’s history.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary by critic, filmmaker, and festival programmer Tony Rayns
• Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director, a 1975 documentary by Kaneto Shindo
• Two Worlds Intertwined, a 2005 appreciation of Ugetsu by Masahiro Shinoda
• Process and Production, a 2005 interview with Tokuzo Tanaka, first assistant director on Ugetsu
• Interview from 1992 with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa
• Trailers
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Phillip Lopate and three short stories that inspired the film
• Cover by Michael Boland

If you love dark, dreamy world cinema with something to say, head over to the Criterion Collection’s page for the film here and treat yourself to a nice new 4K edition of Ugetsu.