Jacques Rivette hailed Mizoguchi as a master of mise-en-scene. Mizoguchi’s arrangements of objects and characters in front of the camera where after all undeniably beautiful. I wonder how far back Rivette likes to think this goes.
Compare his somewhat glossier productions of 1950s to those earlier, grittier films of the 1930s. These, especially Osaka Elegy & Sisters of the Gion(both 1936), seem almost starkly real in comparison with films like Ugetsu (1953) & Sansho Dayu (1954). He himself believed them to be his first works of any real importance. His personal vision had never before been truly expressed up until that time. And I feel that this half-trademark brand of realism displayed in them was, in a way, the perfect style for a Mizoguchi film; conveying his ultimate message in a more perfect way than any other film he ever made.