Ugetsu (Ugetsu monogatari)
Dir. by Kenji Mizoguchi
1953. 97 min. 35 mm. B&W.

In Japanese, with English subtitles.

Ugetsu is a ghost tale like no other, telling the story of two brothers, one consumed by greed, the other by envy. In an era when armies savage the land, the brothers risk their families and their lives to pursue their obsessions, actively defying rulings of the time. Based on the story of the same name by Akinari Ueda, this haunting tale of love and loss—with its exquisite blend of reality with otherworldliness—is a cinematic masterpiece.

Print courtesy of Janus Films.

Part of the series Of Ghosts, Samurai and War: A Series of Classic Japanese Film, held in conjunction with the exhibition Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan, on view at Asia Society Museum from February 9 to May 8, 2016.