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First Sunday Samurai Film Series
Sundays, July 5, August 2, and September 6
Screenings at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, Samsung Hall
Free general admission courtesy of Target. Space is limited and is on first-come, first served basis.
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED:
Due to the violent material contained in many samurai films, parents may wish to preview films before allowing their children to view them. Few foreign films have been assigned a rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, but when available we have indicated them below.
*Target First Free Sundays—free admission on the first Sunday of every month and the family programs offered on that day—is made possible by Target. Free admission to Target First Free Sundays is granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to capacity restrictions, admission is not guaranteed.
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Stills from Yojimbo (top) and Sanjuro.
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Films by Akira Kurosawa
Sunday, July 5
Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. With the production of Seven Samurai (1954), the most popular and important Japanese film of its time, Kurosawa began a long and fruitful obsession with medieval Japan. Kurosawa pioneered widescreen cinematography in Japan, and his films inspired the “Spaghetti Western” genre in Italy. Kurosawa reinvigorated the samurai film genre in Japan and revitalized the American Western in the process.
11:00 am
Yojimbo (The Bodyguard)
Japan, 1961, 110 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
2:00 pm
Sanjuro
Japan, 1962, 96 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
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Stills from Samurai Spy and Kill!
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Sixties Swordplay Classics
Sunday, August 2
The political and cultural tumult of the early 1960s shook Japan as it did the rest of the world. Japanese filmmakers responded to the changing times by disguising themes of dissent in the traditional form of the swordplay film, or chanbara. Previously populated by heroic samurai, self-sacrificing masterless samurai (ronin), and historical figures who exemplified noble Japanese virtues, the genre began embracing a new kind of hero, or antihero: the lone outcast, distrustful of authority but maintaining a personal code of honor. Samurai Spy and Kill! films from two masters of Japanese cinema, redefine for a modern generation the meaning of loyalty and honor, as embodied by the iconic figure of the samurai.
11:00 am
Samurai Spy (Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke)
Masahiro Shinoda
Japan, 1965, 100 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
2:00 pm
Kill! (Kiru)
Kihachi Okamoto
Japan, 1968, 114 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
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Stills from Twilight Samurai and Hidden Blade.
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Films by Yoji Yamada
Sunday, September 6
Born in 1931, Director Yoji Yamada is now in his 44th year of filmmaking. He has won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture four times and his film Twilight Samurai was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards. The museum will screen Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004) as part of the Target Sunday Samurai Film Series.
11:00 am
The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)
Japan, 2002, 129 minutes, Color, DVD
Japanese with English subtitles
2:00 pm
The Hidden Blade (Kakushi ken oni no tsume)
Japan, 2004, 132 minutes, Color, DVD, rated R for some violent material
Japanese with English subtitles
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Daimyo for a Day Samurai Video Schedule
Daimyo for a Day Art and Activity Room (aka: Education Resource Room)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 10:00 am–5:00 pm
Thursdays (following Samurai stories): 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Films will be screened on loop. Schedule is subject to change without notice.
Growing up, I always watched Japanese samurai TV dramas with my grandmother. Instead of cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers, my childhood heroic realm consisted of samurai and ninja, duels and ambushes, honor and deception. This series highlights different aspects of the samurai genre. From classic to contemporary, tragic to light-hearted, here is a broad sampling of the world of the samurai as envisioned in film and TV.
—Ken Ikemoto, School Programs Associate and samurai film buff
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED:
Due to the violent material contained in many samurai films, parents may wish to preview films before allowing their children to view them. Few foreign films have been assigned a rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, but when available we have indicated them below.
Friday, June 12 – Tuesday, June 23
Throne of Blood (Kumonosu jo)
Not Rated, Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1957, 110 minutes, Black and White, Japanese with English subtitles.
Samurai MacBeth! Lady Washizu (Lady MacBeth) is creeptacular. One of my personal favorite Kurosawa movies.
Wednesday, June 24 – Sunday, July 12
Samurai Banners (Furin kazan)
Not Rated, Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, 1969, 165 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
This film shows that a daimyo of this period was truly a warlord, at times ruthless, cunning, and brutal, especially when caught in a love triangle.
Tuesday, July 14 – Sunday, August 2
Samurai Champloo
Not Rated, Fuji TV animated series, Directed by Watanabe Shinichiro, 2004–2005, Episodes 1-4, 25 minutes each, Color, English
This anime is notable for its hip-hop culture references and soundtrack, dynamic fight scenes, and slick character design.
Tuesday, August 4 –Sunday, August 23
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart on the River Styx (Kozure Okami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma)
Not Rated, Directed by Misumi Kenji, 1972, 81 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
The film adaptation bursts with over-the-top stylized samurai action. Stretches of long tension-building are capped with almost revelatory violence.
Tuesday, August 25 – Wednesday, September 9
Zatoichi (The Blind Swordsman)
Rated R, Directed by Takeshi Kitano, 2003, 116 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
Kitano Takeshi's version of the story of the blind swordsman uses rhythm to great effect. They even have a tap-dancing festival finale!
Thursday, September 10 – Sunday, September 20
Sword of Doom (Dai-bosatsu toge)
Not Rated, Directed by Okamoto Kihachi, 1966, 119 minutes, Black and White, , Japanese with English subtitles.
The film asks: how far should or can a person go in the quest to become the most deadly swordsman before self-destructing?
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Gohatto
From the series "In the Realm of Oshima" at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley
Saturday, July 18, 2009, 8:30 pm
By Nagisa Oshima (Japan, 2000, 101 mins, In Japanese with English subtitles, Color, 35mm)
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
2625 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720-2250
(a.k.a. Taboo). The subject of countless films and novels, favored by Japanese nationalists for their strict samurai codes of honor and death, the Shinsengumi were a notoriously brutal militia sworn to protect the shogunate during its final days. Leave it to Oshima to place a tender, operatic story of manly love in their midst. In Kyoto in 1865, two new recruits join up: the ruggedly handsome Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano) and the fey, feminine Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda), whose ruby lips and girlish locks cause even the militia's leaders (including Takeshi Kitano) to falter. "I don’t want to die without making love to you," says one, who gets only a blade against the throat; for others, something else awaits. His camera lingering on faces like a caressing lover, filming on highly stylized stages reminiscent of opera sets, Oshima brings forward a neglected aspect of one of Japan's best-known symbols, turning the manly art of Japanese swordplay, and its bushido codes, into erotic revelry.
—Jason Sanders
Cosponsored by the Consulate General of Japan, San Francisco.
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event category (i.e. asiaalive, family art encounter, etc.)
Samurai Rebellion
Sunday, August 30, 2009
2:00 pm
San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Free Admission
The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Library are proud to co present, "Samurai Rebellion," a film by Masaki Kobayashi as part of the ongoing exhibit, "Lords of Samurai" at the Asian Art Museum.
During peace in 1725, aging swordsman Isaburo is living a henpecked life when his clan lord requests that Isaburo's son marry the lord's mistress, with whom he's displeased, even though she's born him a son. Isaburo wants to refuse, but his son Yogoro accepts the woman, Ichi, and they fall deeply in love. Their love renews Isaburo, so when the clan lord's elder son dies and the lord sends for Ichi to return to his side as mother of his heir, Isaburo opposes his lord. Yogoro and Ichi, who now have a baby daughter, stand with him. The clan orders their suicide, then sends soldiers to kill them. Isaburo's only hope is to take his case to Edo to expose the clan's cruelty. Can he?
Sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Library
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Educational videos
MATCHA VIDEOS
These short documentaries tell the story of the 2008 MATCHA public programs series with artist interviews, clips of the performances, and crowd shots.
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