Kōchiyama Sōshun (film)

Kōchiyama Sōshun (河内山宗俊), also known in English as Priest of Darkness, is a 1936 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Sadao Yamanaka.[3] It is one of three surviving films by the director.

Kōchiyama Sōshun
Scene from Kōchiyama Sōshun
Directed bySadao Yamanaka
Written by
  • Shintarō Mimura (screenplay)
  • Sadao Yamanaka (story)
Produced by
CinematographyHarumi Machii
Music byGorō Nishi
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
  • 30 April 1936 (1936-04-30) (Japan)
[1][2]
Running time
87 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Cast

Production

The original idea for Kōchiyama Sōshun came from a Kabuki play by Kawatake Mokuami, known as Kochiyama to naozamurai. In the play, the two title characters are petty criminals from the Ueno district of Edo (now Tokyo).[3] Yamanaka changed some of the characters from the play to be more good-natured, in keeping with his film aesthetic.[4] He also modernized the Kabuki play by casting actors from the Zenshin-za Group, which aimed to bring modern acting techniques to traditional Kabuki plays.[3]

References

  1. "河内山宗俊 (Kōchiyama Sōshun)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. "河内山宗俊(1936) (Kōchiyama Sōshun)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. McDonald, Keiko (1994). Japanese classical theater in films. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 158–164. ISBN 978-0-8386-3502-5.
  4. Richie, Donald (2005). A hundred years of Japanese film: a concise history, with a selective guide to DVDs and videos. Kodansha International. p. 73. ISBN 978-4-7700-2995-9.


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