https://www.theyshootpictures.com/beyondtheSScanon_A-List.htm

I certainly can’t argue with the film they chose for the banner image.

Right after I found this list I wanted to watch something I hadn’t seen from it, so I found Portrait of Madame Yuki. I guess it turned out to be my least favorite Mizoguchi so far, but all Mizoguchi I’ve seen has been worthwhile, so that’s not a huge dig. Plus it lead to search for it and discover that some of his movies that haven’t been released by Criterion are on Tubi. Yeah it looks like a VHS tape and has commercials, but I watched movies under those conditions for decades before I was spoiled by DVD/Blu-ray and streaming. As far as I can tell there isn’t a better print available. Maybe the quality contributed to my thinking it was less divine than I’m accustomed to from him, but I didn’t find the protagonist in this one terribly sympathetic. She stays with an abusive asshole because the sex is great? That’s more interesting for 1950 that it is genuinely compelling. But there’s an amazing passage toward the end.