# The best Kenji Mizoguchi films

Ugetsu, The Life of Oharu, Sansho the Bailiff and more: the Kenji Mizoguchi films most highly regarded as masterpieces (Filmarks FILMAGA, Cinema-rank, YCAM).

- 53 votes · 13 items
- Mar 14, 2021 · 浩二
- https://even.best/en/l/2362/the-best-kenji-mizoguchi-films

## Top 12

1. **The Life of Oharu (1952)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a life of decline.
2. **A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Kazuo Hasegawa and Kyōko Kagawa on the run.
3. **Ugetsu (1953)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — A potter in the warring-states era and a ghostly woman; Silver Lion in Venice.
4. **The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — A kabuki actor and a nursemaid in love.
5. **Sansho the Bailiff (1954)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — A brother and sister sold into slavery; Silver Lion in Venice.
6. **A Geisha (1953)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — A geisha and her young apprentice in Gion.
7. **Street of Shame (1956)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Yoshiwara on the eve of the anti-prostitution law; his last film.
8. **Sisters of the Gion (1936)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Two very different geisha sisters.
9. **Princess Yang Kwei-Fei (1955)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Tang emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
10. **The 47 Ronin (1941-1942)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The tale of the forty-seven ronin in two parts.
11. **Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — The sensuality and tragedy of a noblewoman.
12. **The Water Magician (1933)** (-1 · ▲1 ▼2) — A silent classic: a water-trick performer and a young man.
13. **Osaka Elegy (1936)** (-2 · ▲0 ▼2) — The fall of an Osaka switchboard operator.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.