Tales of the Taira Clan
(Shin Heike Monogatari)
Screening on Film
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.
With Ichijiro Oya, Raizo Ichikawa.
Japan, 1955, 16mm, color, 108 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
With Ichijiro Oya, Raizo Ichikawa.
Japan, 1955, 16mm, color, 108 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
This historical epic remains overshadowed by Mizoguchi’s other late films. While many of those are masterpieces of female suffering, Tales of the Taira Clan is a samurai film, which follows the rise of a warrior during a 12th-century power struggle between the imperial court and a powerful monastic order. In fact, Mizoguchi imbues the young man’s struggle with something of the emotional power of his great melodramas. The film’s burnished colors exist in ironic contrast to the depiction of medieval Kyoto as a brutal and frenzied place. More recently, critics have pointed to the film’s portrait of a Japan striving to turn from chaos, elitism and corruption to peace and democracy.
Part of film series
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Utamaro and His Five Women
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White Threads of the Waterfall
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The Life of Oharu
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The 47 Ronin, Parts I & II
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1941
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
Tales of the Taira Clan
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1955
Screening on Film
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
Victory of Women
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1946
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The Love of Sumako, the Actress
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1947
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The Tales and Tragedies of Kenji Mizoguchi. ...
The Woman of the Rumor
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954
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