Author Archives: Sekenbanashi

Kochiyama Soshun (河内山宗俊)

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  • 河内山宗俊 (Kochiyama Soshun), 2/14/23 (Tues)

The 1936 jidaimono Kochiyama Soshun, given the inexplicable English title of Priest of Darkness, is the second of only three surviving films (out of around two dozen) by the prewar director Yamanaka Sadao. While generally considered the weakest of the three, that’s still a pretty high bar; it’s interestingly one of animator Miyazaki Hayao’s all-time favorites.

The film draws loosely from both the Kochiyama and Naojiro plot strands of the Meiji Era (1881) Kabuki play Kumo ni Magou Ueno no Hatsuhana (The First Flowers of Ueno), one of the all-day extravaganzas by the prolific Kawatake Mokuami. Those stories are usually performed these days as separate plays, but Yamanaka brings them together in an ingenious restructuring of the original. (He did a similar impressive overhaul of another Mokuami work in his next and final film, the supreme Humanity and Paper Balloons.)

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Pacific Overtures (太平洋序曲, UK-Japan co-production)

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  • 太平洋序曲 (Pacific Overtures), 3/12/23 (Sun), Tokyo

Pacific Overtures

British director Matthew White doesn’t let the script get in the way of his vision in his Japanese-language version of Pacific Overtures, a co-production between London’s Menier Chocolate Factory and Osaka’s Umeda Arts Theater that debuted in Tokyo a few days ago. He makes his ideas clear in his statement on the show’s website: “At a time when my own country, through Brexit, has opted to isolate itself from its European neighbors, I find it both fascinating and enlightening to investigate a period in recent history when Japan came to the opposite conclusion – that the only sensible option was to engage with the rest of the world to embrace new technologies and to demonstrate that anything the West could do, Japan could do better.”

He doesn’t note that Japan’s decision was forced upon it by the overt threat of military force from the Western powers, resulting in civil war, a wholesale upheaval of society, and the rise of a military regime that led the nation ultimately to disaster. The show’s original ending features a touching twinge of regret for a lost innocence, questioning whether the nation’s choices have been all for the good. The only other Tokyo production of this show some two decades ago, helmed by a Japanese director, enhanced that with a scene alluding to the nation’s unhappy experience in WWII to highlight the high price it has paid for its actions. That’s without mentioning that Japan has managed to engage with the world even with its Westernized ways without compromising its independence. The show seems a strange place to preach the evils of Brexit.

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Kabuki: The Blood Revenge at Kameyama (霊験亀山鉾)

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  • Kabuki: 霊験亀山鉾  (The Blood Revenge at Kameyama), Tokyo Kabukiza

One of the prolific Tsuruya Nanboku’s typical madcap stories making its Kabukiza debut. I was mainly interested in seeing Kataoka Nizaemon, a National Living Treasure, in an evil role, where he’s pretty much unequaled on the Kabuki stage.

It’s as impossible to sum up the full story as it was to follow it, with its huge cast of characters, interlocking stories, and numerous twists and turns, not to mention the double-casting of key roles. The Kameyama vendetta is a famous example of the genre (though not one of the Three Great Vendettas as the program claims), and that story lies at the heart of this complex play. Basically, the evil Mizuemon has killed a man in a surprise attack, then poisons the man’s brother in a cowardly trick without fighting the official vendetta honorably. Their adopted brother then vows to avenge their death.

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Putney Swope

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  • Putney Swope, 1/18/23 (Wed)

It’s hard to know what to make of Robert Downey Sr.’s insane scattershot satire on the advertising world. He seems to throw everything he can think of at his many targets hoping something will land. A lot of its irreverent jokes on race, religion, sexuality, weight and more would be verboten in today’s sensitive world, and the entire thing reeks of a long-lost era. That doesn’t make it good, but it’s eye-opening for sure – and a lot of laughs.

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A Colt Is My Passport (拳銃は俺のパスポート)

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  • 拳銃は俺のパスポート (A Colt Is My Passport), 1/9/23 (Mon)

If Sergio Leone had made a yakuza flick, it would probably look a lot like Nomura Takashi’s fine A Colt Is My Passport, including its no-talk-all-action star Shishido Joe in the Clint Eastwood role, the final shootout in a deserted landscape, and Ibe Harumi’s superb Morricone-like score. (The film was released a year after the completion of Leone’s Dollars Trilogy.) It also borrows a moment from Hawks’ Rio Bravo when Joe’s erstwhile companion, played by half-British pop singer Jerry Fujio, is handed a guitar that just happens to be sitting there (“It’s been a while. Sing something”) and croons a ballad. Itami Juzo’s 1980s comedy Tampopo is famous as a takeoff on a spaghetti Western, but this film beat that by two decades, though as homage rather than parody. Others have noted touches of the French New Wave in the detailed way that Joe puts together his weapon for the initial kill and later carefully builds the bomb for the climactic scene.

Still, the creative and confident way these elements are used gives the film a vibe all its own. Continue reading →

This Gun for Hire

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  • This Gun for Hire, 1/3/23 (Tues)

Frank Tuttle’s 1942 film is supposedly a pioneering noir classic, but it has aged badly in its stale dialogue, stereotypical characterizations, and limp acting. A killer named Raven is hired to retrieve some valuable information for a client but is double-crossed when the money received from the client turns out to be marked bills that have been reported as stolen. He then becomes both hunter and hunted as he seeks revenge on the client while being sought by the police. Continue reading →

Burt Bacharach

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  • Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach’s death isn’t really the end of an era since his era ended a long time ago. But his overall work with Hal David marked the last great contribution to the classic American songbook, and his catchy melodies and quirky rhythms made him one of the most distinctive composers of his day back when musical styles were going in a completely different direction. I remember wondering even at the time how “Close to You” became such a massive hit on normal rock stations, but I’m glad it did. I’ve written about him before in a West End show dedicated to his music, Close to You. I also recalled a concert he gave in Tokyo some years back and am reprinting my thoughts below. RIP.

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Assassination (暗殺)

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  • 暗殺 (Assassination)

1/1/23 (Sun)

The Edo government, aiming to make peace with rival forces in Kyoto, hires a local ronin (unemployed samurai) for protection as its representatives travel to forge an agreement. The ronin agrees to help but turns on the government once in Kyoto. He is subsequently assassinated for his betrayal.

That’s the simple version of the story underlying Shinoda Masahiro’s ever-shifting 1964 kaleidoscope of a biography of Kiyokawa Hachiro, the two-timing ronin who played a minor role in Japanese history. Continue reading →