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YAMANAKA TOKIWA
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| Into the Picture Scroll - The Tale of
Yamanaka Tokiwa |
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Haneda Sumiko
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| This film presents the Yamanaka Tokiwa picture
scroll said to be the work of Iwasa Matabei, an artist who lived
in the 16-17th centuries. The scroll tells the then-famous puppet
theater story in a samurai family, of Ushiwaka-maru and his
mother, Lady Tokiwa. Ushiwaka-maru is the infant name of Minamoto
Yoshitsune, a hero in the 12th century, who is one of the most
beloved historical characters in Japan. The film revives the
world of the Yamanaka Tokiwa picture scroll through pictures
and words, with the joruri music (ballad and shamisen instrumental
accompaniment) newly composed for the film. Lady Tokiwa leaves
Kyoto to visit her son who lives in northern Japan. On her way,
she is cruelly attacked and murdered by bandits in Yamanaka
town. Then the ghost of the resentful Lady Tokiwa appears before
her son. Thus learning the tragic end of his mother, Ushiwaka-maru
slays the entire gang of bandits to avenge her. . |
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Screenplay Haneda Sumiko
Photography (colour) Wakabayashi Hiromitsu, Soda Kikumatsu
Editing Haneda Sumiko
Music Tsuruzawa Seiji, Joruri Reciter, Toyotake Rosetayu, Shamisen Musicians, Tsuruzawa Seijiro, Erhu
Production Kudo Mitsuru, Jiyu Kobo Co. Ltd
Year of production 2004
Running time 100'
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Haneda Sumiko
She was born in China in 1926. In 1957 she directed her
first work, Womenäs College in the Village. She directed more
than 90 documentaries and a number of educational, scientific
and industrial films. Among her works: Ancient Beauty (1958),
Fuzoku-ga (1967), Cabbage Butterflies (1968), Kyogen (1968),
The Cherry Tree with Gray Blossoms (1977), Ode to Mt. Hayachine
(1982), Music, The Charm of Kabuki and Akiko, A Portrait of
a Dancer (1985), How to Care for the Senile (1986), Kabuki
Actor Nizaemon Kataoka (1992), Womenäs Testimony È Pioneer
Women in Labor Movements (1996), In the Beginning Woman Was
the Sun, True to Her Own Self -The Life of Hiratsuka Raicho
(2001). Her works received several important awards in Japan.
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