Directed by the legendary Kenji Mizoguchi, Ugetsu (also known as Ugetsu Monogatari) is a haunting masterpiece of Japanese cinema. It is a ghost story that blends historical realism with ethereal fantasy, set against the backdrop of the bloody civil wars of 16th-century Sengoku-era Japan.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, The Idiot (Hakuchi) is a bold, atmospheric adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic novel. Relocating the story from 19th-century Russia to the stark, snow-covered landscapes of post-WWII Hokkaido, Kurosawa transforms the Russian masterpiece into a haunting Japanese melodrama about the fragility of goodness in a cynical world.