Ugetsu

, is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the jidaigeki (period drama) genre with a ghost story. Drawing from Ueda's tales "The House in the Thicket" and "The Lust of the White Serpent", the film is set in Japan's civil war torn Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600). In a small rural community, a potter leaves his wife and young son behind to make money selling pottery and ends up being seduced by a spirit that makes him forget all about his family. A subplot, inspired by Guy de Maupassant's 1883 short story "How He Got the Legion of Honor" ("Décoré !"), involves his brother-in-law, who dreams of becoming a samurai and chases this goal at the unintended expense of his wife. The film won the Silver Lion Award at the 1953 Venice Film Festival and other honours. Ugetsu is one of Mizoguchi's most celebrated films, regarded by critics as a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, credited with simultaneously helping to popularize Japanese cinema in the West and influencing later Japanese film. Plot In the farming village Nakanogō, on the shore of Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province in the Sengoku period, Genjūrō, a potter, takes his wares to nearby Ōmizo. He is accompanied by his brother-in-law Tōbei, who dreams of becoming a samurai. A respected sage tells Genjūrō's wife Miyagi to warn him about seeking profit in times of upheaval, and to prepare for an attack on the village. Returning with profits, Miyagi asks him to stop but Genjūrō nevertheless works to finish his pottery. That night, Shibata Katsuie's army sweeps through Nakanogō, uprooting Genjūrō, Tōbei and their wives; Genjūrō decides to take his pots to a different marketplace. As the couples travel across Lake Biwa, a boat appears out of the thick fog. The sole passenger tells them he was attacked by pirates, warns them, and dies. The men decide to return their wives to the shore but Tōbei's wife Ohama refuses to go. Miyagi begs Genjūrō not to leave her, but is left on the shore with their young son Genichi clasped to her back. At market, Genjūrō's pottery sells well. After taking his share of the profits, Tōbei buys samurai armor and sneaks into a samurai clan. Lost from her companions, Ohama wanders beyond Nagahama searching for Tōbei and gets raped by soldiers.