The trilogy Martin Scorsese held up as “the summit of cinema”
Most filmmakers dream of delivering the pinnacle of cinema. It might be a dream, but working at the top of the cinema and trying to reach new heights is a demanding process. For the iconic American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, creating a cinematic masterpiece is never too much of a task. The director is responsible for some of the most influential movies in the modern industry.
Unable to be typecast into a particular genre, Scorsese transcends the boundaries set by cinema and, traversing his wide spectrum of films, one encounters violent noir films as well as aristocratic love stories, the conflict between divinity and humanity to dysfunctional relationships being disrupted by jealous insecurities. Along the way, he has shared a number of ionic partnerships, working with some of the industry’s finest minds, including actors like Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Frank Vincent.
Scorsese’s signature style, a kaleidoscope of visual brilliance, intricately weaves together rich character studies and vibrant cinematography. His movies, often a canvas of urban realism, etch the raw, pulsating heartbeats of cities onto the screen, rendering metropolises as characters in their own right.
While modern movies like The Irishman, Silence and the forthcoming Killers of the Flower Moon are emblazoned with Scorsese’s style, they are arguably echoes of his former quality. No doubt top-quality films, they still fall under the shadow of the director’s early works, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, Raging Bull, After Hours, The King of Comedy, Cape Fear and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Building a remarkable filmography of baffling quality, Scorsese learned from several industry greats in his ascension to the top of the movie industry, taking inspiration from such filmmakers as Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and John Ford. Though, despite his fondness for these aforementioned auteurs, there was one director the Goodfellas creator considered to be “one of the greatest masters”.
Director of the 1953 movie Ugetsu, Kenji Mizoguchi, is a name known in Japan alongside such greats as Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu, creating several classic films throughout his time in the industry. As per Scorsese’s glorious opinion from his interview with Criterion, “he’s right up there with Renoir and Murnau and Ford”.
Choosing Ugetsu as one of his favourite Criterion picks, speaking about the movie, which chronicles a tale of ambition, love and war in the midst of the Japanese Civil War of the 16th Century, the director states, “Ugetsu has the most powerful effect on me. There are moments in the picture, famous ones, that I’ve seen again and again, and that always take my breath away.”
Whilst Ugetsu is often considered to be his masterpiece, Mizoguchi is also known for Miss Oyu, Sansho Dayu and A Story from Chikamatsu, each created in Japan following the end of WWII. Though for Scorsese, nothing compares to three other post-war films, stating, “after the war he made three pictures—The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu, and Sansho the Bailiff—that stand at the summit of cinema”.
The cinema of Mizoguchi reflects the poetic style that Japanese cinema often adopts. The modern master Hirokazu Koreeda also displays this throughout his modern filmography, including the Palme d’Or-winning 2018 movie Shoplifters. Delicate and emotional, these films find beauty in moderate pacing, taking time to stroll with the lead characters as they muse about the workings of daily life.
Take a look at a haunting clip from Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu, below, and see for yourself the poetic style adopted by the filmmaker that draws realism from the constructed fiction.
