"If you have never witnessed the visual equivalent of perfect pitch, or understood how a single tracking shot can feel like a declaration of faith, here is your chance." - Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

"There's more experience, more beauty and more elegant craftsmanship in these half-dozen pictures than most directors manage to get onto a movie screen in a lifetime." - Terrence Rafferty, New York Times

Kenji Mizoguchi is universally acknowledged as one of the masters of Japanese cinema, and for many, his name is included on the short list of world greats. Mizoguchi made the use of long-take scenes, long-shot compositions and a gently tracking camera his stylistic trademarks--his only peer being the great Max Ophuls. Mizoguchi's visual flair alone makes his films must-sees on the big screen, but when you consider his compelling stories and signature themes-characters' romantic idealism pitted against the constraints of society-the Japanese auteur's works become essential viewing. Despite Mizoguchi's reputation as a stern taskmaster on set, the great actress Kinuya Tanaka worked with him more than a dozen times, in some of her greatest roles, including UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN, THE LIFE OF OHARU, UGETSU and SANSHO THE BAILIFF. A landmark retrospective of Mizoguchi films toured North America 10 years ago; now AFI offers seven of his most accomplished films, all in stunning new 35mm prints.

Films include SISTERS OF THE GION, THE STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUM, UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN, UGETSU, THE LIFE OF OHARU, SANSHO THE BAILIFF, and STREET OF SHAME!

SISTERS OF THE GION [Gion No Shimai]

The first true burgeoning of Mizoguchi's long-shot, long-take, fluidly tracking camera style, and his only film to win Japan's Oscar equivalent. In the Gion, Kyoto's traditional pleasure quarter, siblings and geishas Yoko Umemura and the great Isuzu Yamada (later, Kurosawa's Lady Macbeth) bring different attitudes to their work, the first traditional, the latter cynically modern-until Yamada's smartmouth brings big trouble.

DIR/SCR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Yoshikata Yoda, based on the novel by Aleksandr Kuprin; PROD Masaichi Nagata. Japan, 1936, b&w, 95 min. NOT RATED

Friday, March 16, 6:00; Saturday March 17, 5:45; Tuesday, March 20, 7:00; Thursday, March 22, 7:30

"Kenji Mizoguchi's grand, ambitious melodrama has the timeless poignancy of legend. Mizoguchi sustains a faith in art even as he tallies its unbearable real-life price." - Richard Brody, The New Yorker

THE STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUM [Zangiku Monogatari]

Arguably Mizoguchi's greatest masterpiece, and one of the great films of the 1930s, this (Japanese) STAR IS BORN tells the tale of a young Kabuki actor who finds his only honest critic is a simple servant maid who eventually sacrifices all to make him great. Supposedly based on a true story, the film includes strong performances (especially from stage legend Shotaro Hanayagi, in his first film role), a rich evocation of an unfamiliar theatrical world and the ultimate expression of Mizoguchi's one-scene, one-shot method.

DIR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Matsutaro Kawaguchi and Yoshikata Yoda, based on the novel by Shofu Muramatsu; PROD Nobutaro Shirai. Japan, 1939, b&w, 148 min. NOT RATED

Friday, March 23, 7:00; Saturday, March 24, 3:30 & 9:30

UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN [Utamaro o Meguro Gonin No Onna]

Legendary 18th-century ukiyo-e printmaker Utamaro (Minosuke Bando) is the neutral center of a series of emotional intrigues among the five courtesans who are his favorite models. A rare period film from the early Occupation, this fictionalized portrait provides obvious parallels with its director-a painter in private life-as well as correlations to attitudes toward love and censorship.

DIR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Yoshikata Yoda, based on the novel by Kanji Kunieda; PROD Isamo Motoki. Japan, 1946, b&w, 106 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, March 31, 4:20; Sunday, April 1, 9:35; Wednesday April 4, 8:20

"No one will ever make a better ghost story than UGETSU." -Bruce Bennett, The New York Sun

UGETSU [Ugetsu Monogatari]

During the 16th-century civil wars in Japan, ambitious potter Masayuki Mori leaves his wife Kinuyo Tanaka to sell his wares in town, only to be seduced by the ghost princess Machiko Kyo. But when Kyo's spell is finally broken, Mori returns to a devastated village. The illusory nature of ambition and desire is reinforced by the superb photography of Kazuo Miyagawa and powerful acting from the star trio. Winner of the Silver Lion, 1953 Venice Film Festival, and number four on the British Film Institute 1962 Top Ten Poll.

DIR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Yoshikata Yoda, based on the stories of Akinari Ueda; PROD Masaichi Nagata. Japan, 1953, b&w, 94 min. NOT RATED

Sat, March 31, 8:30; Sunday, April 1, 3:00; Tuesday, April 3, 7:00; Thursday, April 5, 9:00

THE LIFE OF OHARU [Saikuku Ichidai Onna]

Mizoguchi considered this his own masterpiece, Adapted from a classic 17th-century novel by Saikaku. Edo Period court lady Kinuyo Tanaka-the great actress whose career was synonymous with Mizoguchi's for 15 films-is cast out for dallying with lower-class Toshiro Mifune (in his only Mizoguchi appearance). Sold to a feudal lord, Tanaka is subject to a series of humiliations and ends up a broken streetwalker. Winner of the Silver Lion, 1952 Venice Film Festival

DIR/SCR/PROD Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Yoshikata Yoda, based on the novel by Saikaku Ihara; PROD Hideo Koi. Japan, 1952, b&w, 133 min. NOT RATED

Friday, April 6, 7:00; Saturday, April 7, 3:30 & 8:20; Tuesday, April 10, 6:30

"I have seen SANSHO THE BAILIFF only once, a decade ago, emerging from the cinema a broken man but calm in my conviction that I had never seen anything better." -Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

SANSHO THE BAILIFF [Sansho Dayu]

Epic in sweep but poetic in its consideration of revenge and forgiveness. In medieval Japan, the family of a disgraced aristocrat is dispersed when the father is exiled, the son and daughter are enslaved and the mother is sold into prostitution. After many years, the grown son assumes his rightful post as provincial governor and sets about deposing the cruel bailiff who brought tragedy upon his family. Winner of the Silver Lion, 1954 Venice Film Festival

DIR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Fuji Yahiro and Yoshikata Yoda, based on the story by Ogai Mori; PROD Masaichi Nagata. Japan, 1954, b&w, 120 min. NOT RATED

Fri, April 13, 7:00; Sat, April 14, 1:00; Monday, April 16, 9:10; Thursday, April 19, 9:10

STREET OF SHAME [Akasen Chitai]

With this, his last film, Mizoguchi reportedly had a strong influence on Japan's anti-prostitution laws passed the year after his death. The Japanese title is Akasen Chitai, literally, Red Light District. As rumors buzz about an impending anti-prostitution law, the lives of the ladies of Tokyo's Dreamland brothel unfold-from bespectacled housewife Michiyo Kogure to yen-counting Ayako Wakao, to veteran period heroine Machiko Kyo's raucously Americanized "Mickey."

DIR Kenji Mizoguchi; SCR Masashige Narusawa, based on the novel by Yoshiko Shibaki; PROD Masaichi Nagata. Japan, 1956, b&w, 87 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, April 21, 3:15; Sunday, April 22, 9:15; Thursday, April 26, 6:30