Of the two Cinema Kabuki performances coming to Vancouver this year, "Murder in a Hell of Oil" is being screened here for the first time. As with Tamasaburo's "Heron Maiden" performance, Cinema Kabuki offers the opportunity to see great actors in their signature roles in some of the greatest performances in kabuki theatre. "Murder in a Hell of Oil" presents Kataoka Nizaemon in his most famous role as the degenerate Yohei. Live theatre-goers can wait years, even decades, for such a chance to come along. This too is not to be missed!!

女殺油地獄
Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku
Murder in a Hell of Oil
By Chikamatsu Monzaemon

The story of the Murder in a Hell of Oil was originally written as a puppet play in 1709 and was not performed as a kabuki play until two hundred years later in 1909.

Yohei, the son of an oil merchant, lives a life of abandon, squandering his family's money on extravagances and spending all his time in the pleasure quarters. Okichi, the wife of another oil merchant, develops feelings for him and takes him in, but his debauchery runs to excess. As his debts mount higher and higher, Yohei's parents come to Okichi begging her to persuade him to return home, offering their small savings as an incentive. Watching secretly, Yohei is touched by his parents' concern, but his debts have become too great. In desperation, he begs Okichi to lend him more money, but she adamantly refuses. At a loss as to what to do, Yohei lashes out at her in frenzied despair, bringing the play to the climactic moment that gives it its title. 

Kataoka Nizaemon (b. 1944) debuted in the role of Yahei in 1964 to such widespread acclaim that it has become his signature role. He reprises it here in a June 2009 performance that was part of the farewell series marking the closing of the Tokyo Kabukiza Theatre (now undergoing a complete rebuild). This performance also costars Nizaemon's son Takataro (b. 1968) and grandson Sennosuke (b. 2000), for a rare three-generation joint appearance.

---------
DOUBLE-BILL, ONE SHOWING ONLY
at the Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, 88 West Pender Street
Sunday, February 26: 
1:00 p.m.  Murder in a Hell of Oil 女殺し油の地獄, 110 minutes, VANCOUVER PREMIER
3:30 p.m. Heron Maiden 鷺娘, 32 minutes

Tickets are $20 (plus tax) for Murder in a Hell of Oil and
$15 (plus tax) for Heron Maiden.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.cineplex.com or in person at the theatre.
---------

This spring has just been loaded with Japanese cultural events, and here's the scoop on another exciting upcoming program. My friends at TomoeArts are supporting the Japan Foundation and Shochiku in promoting Cinema Kabuki's return to Vancouver. If you missed it last year, the gorgeous Bando Tamasaburo V will appear once again in the "Heron Maiden"--a performance not to be missed!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DOUBLE-BILL ONE DAY ONLY VANCOUVER SCREENINGS
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, 88 West Pender Street, Vancouver
Sunday, February 26: 
1:00 p.m.  Murder in a Hell of Oil 女殺し油の地獄, 110 minutes, VANCOUVER PREMIER
3:30 p.m. Heron Maiden 鷺娘, 32 minutes

Tickets are $20 (plus tax) for Murder in a Hell of Oil and
$15 (plus tax) for Heron Maiden .
Tickets can be purchased online at www.cineplex.com or in person at the theatre.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bando Tamasaburo V in SAGIMUSUME  坂東玉三郎の「鷺娘」

A central dance piece in the kabuki repertoire, Heron Maiden (Sagimusume) features a single dancer in an onnagata, female role. The scene opens with the spirit of a white heron wandering desperately in the snow, then a spectacular quick-change (hikinuki) transformation reveals the heron to have been a beautiful young maiden in a previous life. The maiden's dance relates the joys of finding love and ultimately the tragedy of betrayal that dashes her into hell to be reborn as a beast--the white heron--in her next life. The final moments trace the tragic death of the heron itself, bringing the cycle of death and rebirth full circle.  

This relatively short dance number is packed with numerous favorite features of kabuki dance, that are doubly impressive on the big screen. For one, it includes not one, but four hikinuki quick-change transformations, which are always a dramatic (and technical) highlight of such dance numbers. This piece also includes a superb ebizori pose, the exaggerated backward arch featured in the press photo above that expresses heightened dramatic tension and emotion, often reserved for non-human or otherworldly characters. Bando Tamasaburo's performance is mesmerizing and confirms his position as one of the leading (and in many minds THE leading) onnagata performer in kabuki today.

The (pirated) YouTube clips below are taken from a DVD recording of a performance of the same piece and includes invaluable English commentary by Paul M. Griffith (the voice of the Kabuki-za "earphone guide") particularly helpful for those who are not familiar with the piece in particular or with kabuki more generally. I highly recommend taking a look at these before seeing the Cinema Kabuki film. They'll add immensely to the experience.

But don't for a minute think that if you watch these videos on YouTube you don't have to see the film! (I saw it last year and I'll be back to see it again this year!) The fabulous thing about Cinema Kabuki is that it records live productions featuring the greatest Kabuki actors with multiple HD cameras giving you an intimate experience of the performance that is in some ways (dare I say it?) even better than seeing it live! Apparently the screening of these films themselves is an art that requires a technician from Japan to screen properly and is only permitted to be screened in movie theatres on high-quality digital projectors with 6-channel sound.

One rarely has the opportunity to see Tamasaburo--one of the most beautiful and most widely-adored female role dancers in kabuki--perform this, one of his signature roles, in person. With Cinema Kabuki we'll all get a front-row seat!

(Coming soon, more on the Murder in a Hell of Oil performance that will be making its Vancouver premiere with Cinema Kabuki this year.)

Just spent a fascinating afternoon and evening with Ishii Kaori, director of the film "Meguru"/"Chain of Life" about the work of artisan Fujimoto Yoshikazu, one of only two practitioners of mokuhanzome woodblock print dyeing still active in Japan.
I'd never heard of mokuhanzome before seeing this film, but it turns out that in this case the artisan didn't learn the craft as an apprentice to other artisans to whom it had been passed from generation to generation. While studying Edo komon stencil dyeing technique, Fujimoto encountered an ancient piece of fabric with a woodblock printed pattern, rediscovering and perhaps even reinventing a technique that had been all but abandoned in the Edo period with the rise of stencil printing.

Ishii-san's documentary film goes a step beyond describing and documenting the artisan's technique and process and delves into the spirit of what it means to be an artisan and what it means to create for the love of creation in our modern world. I was honored to be asked to facilitate her post-screening director's talk, so had the extra good fortune to to be able to speak with her a bit in private before the screening.

The film not only tells the story of the work and lifestyle of the artisan, but is also a very personal account of the director's encounter with the artist and the impact it had on her own outlook on life. The artisan remarks at one point in the film that he never once felt tired making mokuhanzome because it was so much fun. Ishii-san jokingly remarked that she hadn't quite achieved that level of oneness with her work--she was absolutely exhausted at the end of each day of filming! :)

But the result is a mesmerizing one. Even the brief preview gives you a sense of the dream-like feel of the film. I ended up watching it a few times as I prepared for the interview, but the simple piano melody running throughout and the impossibly perfectly captured plunk and squish (?) of the block stamp being impressed on then lifted from the silk still haunt me. Ishii-san described the vision she had for the film as being as a fairy tale--a story of a single person and his approach to life that is symbolic of a larger story, one that could just has easily have been told about some other person. It just happened that Fujimoto-san was the right person at the time.

Would I really have thought that closely about the structure of the film if I hadn't been asked to lead a discussion with the director? If I had been interviewing the artisan, I'm sure I would have experienced the film very differently. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to watch the film not once but a few times, to see and hear some of the "behind-the-scenes" stories, and to get to know the charming director.

I was so engrossed in talking with her that I even forgot to take a photo of her in her beautiful furisode kimono!!

In any case, for those who have the chance, I highly recommend the film!

For those interested specifically in the mokuhanzome technique and unable to see the "Chain of Life" film, the below is not the same film, but gives a more practical overview of the work of the same artist.

Documentary film & director's talk
Thursday, Feb 7 - 7:30 pm
Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre, UBC
6265 Crescent Road

Free admission
Reservations: 604-684-5868 ext 370
[email protected]

The director will also be in attendance, so this should be a particularly interesting occasion to learn about a traditional Japanese craft technique.

Presented by Japan Foundation & the Consulate General of Japan, Vancouver

Tomoe Arts is a presenting sponsor for a Japanese film shot in Toronto being screened in Richmond on Thursday night as part of the Richmond International Film and Media Arts Festival. Colleen invited me along, so I'm going to check it out. Sounds like fun.

Thursday, July 21, 9:00 pm
at the Richmond Cultural Centre
7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC

Get a sneak peek with the trailer below: