The Million Ryo Pot

The Million Ryo Pot[lower-alpha 1] is a 1935 black and white Japanese comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka and starring Denjirō Ōkōchi as the fictional samurai Tange Sazen.[1][2]

The Million Ryo Pot
丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySadao Yamanaka
Produced byNikkatsu
StarringDenjirō Ōkōchi
Kiyozo
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
15 June 1935
Running time
92 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Cast

Story

A man gives an old pot to his brother, not realizing there is a treasure map inside. His sister-in-law sells the pot to a junk dealer, who in turn sells it to a boy named Yasu. A cast of colorful characters are all looking for this pot, and when the child runs away after being chided by Ogino, everyone goes after him. The end, however, is covered in disappointment - the hope of each character that their world will get better is each individually crushed, in a humorous manner.

Reception

Mark Schilling of The Japan Times noted that the film was "universally considered the best of all the Tange Sazen lot."[3]

The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited this movie as one of his 100 favorite films.[4]

Restoration

In 2020, Nikkatsu premiered a 4K digital restoration of the film at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival, including additional scenes (discovered at Kyōto's Toy Film Museum) that were missing from the previous surviving footage. [5][6] The Japan Society organization held the North American premiere of the restored print the following year. [7]

Home media

To commemorate Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary, a Japanese Blu-ray of the 4K restoration was released by the company. [8]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺, Hepburn: Tange Sazen Yowa: Hyakuman Ryō no Tsubo

References
  1. "丹下 左膳" (in Japanese). kotobank. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. "丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺" (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. Schilling, Mark (7 July 2004). "A classic -- by the numbers". The Japan Times.
  4. Thomas-Mason, Lee (12 January 2021). "From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  5. "【Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo [4K Digitally Restored and the Longest Version]】｜ 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival(2020)". 2020.tiff-jp.net. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  6. "Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo | IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  7. Newman, Nick (9 December 2021). "NYC Weekend Watch: On the Silver Globe, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Sadao Yamanaka & More". Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  8. "Tange Sazen Yowa Hyakumanryo no Tsubo [Digitally Restored in 4K] Japanese Movie Blu-ray". CDJapan. Retrieved 18 June 2023.


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