Know of a Heian period movie?
Brian Goldsmith
| Hello all, I was thinking about adding a movie about Heian Japan to my pre-mod Japanese history class. Does any one know of a good, sub-titled on the period? Thanks in advance! Brian Goldsmith |
Anthony Chambers
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Janet R. Goodwin
Kurosawa's Rashomon is set in the late Heian period, but I've always felt
it said more about postwar Japan than about Heian times.
--Jan Goodwin
Travis Seifman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355857
Travis Seifman
U Hawaii, MA Art History '12
On Jun 27, 2011, at 5:07 PM, "Janet R. Goodwin" <j...@cs.csustan.edu> wrote:
>
> Kurosawa's Rashomon is set in the late Heian period, but I've always felt it said more about postwar Japan than about Heian times.
>
> --Jan Goodwin
>
JL Badgley
> Onmyoji (2001), a film about Abe no Seimei, contains lots of magic and evil spirits and other totally fantasy fictional elements, but is a beautiful film in terms of showing Heian court costume, architecture, etc. Also, magic aside, as far as I know, I believe the plot of the film is based fairly closely on the actual legends of Seimei, featuring many actual historical figures, court politics, etc.
>
I completely agree that it is beautiful in showing the court, etc.
There are still some typically anachronistic elements to it, along
with the fantasy (the fantasy is based largely on Heian stories,
though, so seems to fit within the overall film). Mostly, as I
recall, we noticed what appeared to be laxity in the sokutai and there
were some eyebrow-raising moments when examining the arm or of the
guards (and just completely ignore "Mitsumushi"). Still, the views
of the wide avenues, the ox-carts, the palace court--those were all
beautiful. As with all things--it is a movie, not a history book, and
it is still one of things I make people watch when I'm introducing
them to that period, especially if they are more accustomed to
chambara about the Edo or Sengoku periods.
-Joshua Badgley
Shalmit Bejarano
Shalmit Bejarano, PhD
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:00:27 -0700
From: shinda...@yahoo.com
Subject: [PMJS] Know of a Heian period movie?
To: pm...@googlegroups.com
| Hello all, I was thinking about adding a movie about Heian Japan to my pre-mod Japanese history class. Does any one know of a good, sub-titled on the period? Thanks in advance! Brian Goldsmith |
Anthony Bryant
On Jun 27, 2011, at 3:00 PM, Brian Goldsmith wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I was thinking about adding a movie about Heian Japan to my pre-mod Japanese history class. Does any one know of a good, sub-titled on the period? Thanks in advance!
Several titles come to mind.
There's "Gate of Hell" (Jigokumon) about the tale of the samurai Endo Morito and his tragic love for Kasa, the wife of another man. It takes place at the time of the Hogen and Heiji insurrections. In color. Damned good film, although you will spend most of your time wanting to put a boot up Morito's oshiri.
There's also a black and white "Tale of Genji" made sometime in the fifties. If I recall, it really only covers the first two or three chapters of the book, but it's gorgeous albeit B&W. Very moody. It's available subbed, but may be harder than hen's teeth to find.
If you want to cover more political/samurai stuff, there's Ishikawa's "Shin Heike Monogatari," about the rise of Kiyomori. Also color, and available subbed.
If you can overlook the fantasy aspects, I have to echo the suggestions for "Onmyôji." It's just such a gorgeous film. (Onmyôji 2 is a last resort....)
There's also "Sen nen no koi: Genji" (A thousand years of love), which is kind of a twitchy telling of the story of Murasaki Shikibu writing Genji, interspersed with scenes from the novel. If you can get past the over-the-top artsiness (including the casting of a woman from Takarazuka as Genji (!)) it's... well, it's watchable. More or less. Makes me want to take up drinking.
There was a very famous anime version of Genji made in the late 80s that won all sorts of culture awards, but I can't get past the fact that the effeminate Genji seems to be sporting garnet stud ear-rings. It may be one of the most easily found of the films listed here, other than Onmyôji.
I think "Jigoku hen" ("Portrait of Hell") might also work -- it's about a lord who makes a painter make a screen depicting the horrors of hell for him to meditate on, and the depths both sink to in order to gain inspiration -- including the lord's chaining the artist's daughter into a kuruma and setting it on fire.
Although set in the Heian period, few of them really touch on the court life. Only the Genji titles and Onmyôji really foot that bill.
I have to admit that my great fantasy is that ONE day, SOME day, NHK will bite the bullet and make the Taiga Drama for some year be Genji Monogatari. I can't believe that they've never done it. Sigh. (Oh, and if you want a good chuckle, some day check out "Chikujô seyo!" ("Raise the Castle!") -- Netflix has it, and it's a hoot.)
If you don't know about http://www.kurotokagi.com/, you should check them out. They should have many of these titles.
Tony