UGETSU



UGETSU

Assignment

Ugetsu as a Buddhist sermon

The Ugetsu purports an outstanding message through showing awful and dreadful corollaries of the characters whose eyes have been blind folded by gluttony, lust and desire. The happy characters were transformed into dismal and obliterated characters. Their lust to attain a higher class of the society is some how acceptable but their departure from their families and village is completely objectionable. Their actions represent that their intentions were to satisfy their egos and these actions were carried on for their self purposes. This misfortune and less sympathetic conclusion is an obvious example of the famous Fire sermon of Buddha. The sermon speaks about the burning of human life with the fires of desires. The lust will ultimately drag a human being into darkness as the sermon teaches about the right actions which will lead to right endings and wrong actions which will lead to wrong endings. Therefore, it can be said that Ugetsu can be viewed as a Buddhist sermon.

Reliance on Supernatural

The both under discussed films rely on death, the after life, and/or the supernatural. In Ugetsu there were four ghosts in the film. The end is also a big show of Japanese dependence of culture on supernatural beings when the ghost of wife, Miyaji, met her husband, Genjuro, and handed over the kid to him and made her way to heaven. The Lady Wakasa, who is an important character and seduced and enchanted Genjuro and fell in love with him before his returning to home, is a ghost too. The attendant of Lady Wakasa is also happened to be a ghost. On the whole this seems to be a ghost story. The same is the case with Shinoda's Shinju. The prostitute and the merchant ended their lives in Buddha style by relying on after life and super natural. They gave up their lives, their families and their statuses. The both male central characters of the story are ambitious but some how could not attain the goals because of the social statuses for which they belong. They both wanted to run away and search new means in lives. The social pressure and the chaos of the surrounding diverted them to sacrifice the lives of their own and/or their loved ones.

Engagement of Historical Settings to Modern Issues

The nature of women and the treatment of Japanese society, loyalty to the social responsibility and the balance between lust and ambition are some of the modern issues which have been addressed in the film. It can be observed a great gender dynamics in Japan in 1953.

Theatrical Themes and Dramatic Effects

The theme was more like classic Japanese cinema and the dispute between social responsibility and personal feelings. The set up of the film was given a color of Buddhist symbol of liberation. There were images of water, network of windows and grids and checkered walls. Music for giving erotic or social conflict effects was used. An expensive interior was used around Genjiro to give the romantic and real ...