The Beauty and the Water Dragon / 美女と怪龍 / Bijo to umi ryu (1955)

Obscure Japanese Film #86

Nobuko Otowa

This Toei production filmed at their Kyoto studios is an adaptation of a kabuki play dating back to 1684 entitled Narukami after one of its main characters, a monk (here played by Chojuro Kawarasaki) who has been promised a new temple by the local lord for supposedly changing the sex of the lord’s heir from female to male by means of prayer while the child was still in the womb. However, Prince Hayakumo (Kunitaro Kawarasaki) suspects Narukami of being a Tartuffe-like charlatan and fears that providing a new temple for him will anger a group of monks from a different sect, so he cancels the project. 

Prince Hayakumo (Hayakumo = fast spider, hence the cool kimono)

 

In revenge, Narukami creates a drought by imprisoning the dragon god in a waterfall. After 100 days without rain, the crops have failed and the peasants are revolting, so something must be done. It is said that the reading of a certain scroll will break Narukami’s spell, but the only person who might be able to decipher the ancient characters is Lady Taema (Nobuko Otowa). Although in reality she also has no clue how to read it, Taema keeps this to herself and decides to use her womanly charms against the celibate priest instead… 

Chojuro Kawarasaki flanked by Shinosuke Ichikawa and Taiji Tonoyama

 

Kozaburo Yoshimura’s film was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Zenshinza, a Tokyo-based kabuki troupe, and many Zenshinza actors are featured among the cast, including Chojuro Kawarasaki as Narukami. However, this was not the first time Zenshinza had been involved in a film project (the 1937 picture Humanity and Paper Balloons being another example), and not all of the actors featured here were members of the troupe. The most familiar faces to film fans will probably be Nobuko Otowa and Taiji Tonoyama, both favourites of filmmaker Kaneto Shindo, who wrote the witty screenplay for this adaptation. 

Shinosuke Ichikawa (left) and Taiji Tonoyama (right)

Tonoyama and Shinosuke Ichikawa (in his only film role; presumably a member of Zenshinza) are great fun as Hakkun and Kokkun, bickering apprentice monks/servants to Narukami who are more interested in alcohol, women and forbidden snack foods than spiritual training. This is purely speculative, but I wonder whether they might have inspired Kurosawa to create the two squabbling peasants played by Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara in The Hidden Fortress (1958), which later famously inspired George Lucas to create C-3PO and R2-D2 in Star Wars. We’ll probably never know, but the date fits and it’s highly likely that Kurosawa would have seen The Beauty and the Water Dragon.

Nobuko Otowa

Considering its basis in one of the canonical kabuki plays and the fact that a kabuki company was heavily involved in the production, it’s somewhat surprising that director Kozaburo Yoshimura’s film is not in the least precious, even at one point featuring a clearly anachronistic dance which looks like something you might see in a 1950s nightclub, but probably not in the Heian era, during which this story is set.  However, it’s worth noting that Zenshinza were one of the more progressive kabuki troupes at the time, featuring as they did a number of female performers when the majority of such theatre companies still used only male actors even in the female roles. 

The film is bookended by scenes of the play being performed in traditional style in a theatre, but the bulk of the film abandons the kabuki style and features more naturalistic acting. In Yoshimura’s version, The Beauty and the Water Dragon is very much a comedy, and I would assume that it was traditionally played straighter than it is here. In any case, of the 10 Yoshimura films I’ve seen so far, this is my joint favourite alongside his 1951 version of The Tale of Genji, and in my opinion it’s a very fine film quite unlike anything else I’ve seen. Special mention should be made of the beautiful cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima, who later became Masaki Kobayashi’s right-hand man. 

Note about the title:

The complete title is 歌舞伎十八番「鳴神」美女と海龍 / Kabuki juhachiban ‘Narukami’ Bijo to umi ryu, which translates as Kabuki 18 "Narukami": The Beauty and the Water Dragon (the ‘18’ refers to the fact that Narukami is one of the 18 kabuki plays selected by top kabuki actor Danjuro Ichikawa VII [1791-1859] as having special merit).

Doro inu / どろ犬 (aka 'The Desperate', 1964)

Obscure Japanese Film #85

Minoru Oki

This Toei production stars Minoru Oki (perhaps best known as the main cop in the 1958 classic Stakeout) in another rare leading role as Cho, a respected senior detective with 20 years’ service under his belt. He sees himself as a good guy and hates criminals with a passion, but he also secretly keeps a mistress, Chiyo (Chisako Hara), who is the wife of a yakuza currently spending time behind bars. Unfortunately for him, a slimy blackmailer, Yamaguchi (Ko Nishimura, who else?), finds out about this relationship and uses the information to compromise Cho. Things are further complicated by an unlikely friendship that develops between Chiyo and Yamaguchi’s brother (Kunie Tanaka), who has learning difficulties, and by Cho’s colleague, Detective Tokumochi (Hisashi Igawa), who has known Yamaguchi since they were children. As Cho struggles to keep both his reputation and self-respect intact, he finds himself increasingly on the wrong side of the law he has sworn to uphold…

Ko Nishimura

 

Based on a 1963 novel by Shoji Yuki entitled Yoru no owaru toki (‘When the Night Ends’), this obscure noir is a real find. The dark, shadowy cinematography of Masahiko Iimura suggests a world of perpetual night, Masaru Sato provides an excellent modernist score, and there’s a typically memorable performance by the great Ko Nishimura, probably the closest thing the Japanese cinema had to Peter Lorre. He must have been a dedicated actor, too, as in one scene he allows himself to be literally thrown around a room for several minutes – without the aid of a stunt double – by Minoru Oki, perhaps as punishment for stealing the movie. 

 

Kunie Tanaka and Chisako Hara

 

Debut director Takaharu Saeki (1927-2018), who had worked as an assistant to Tomotoka Tasaka, handles all aspects with admirable skill, so why, you may ask, did he not make another feature film for 20 years? It turns out that shortly after completing this picture, he led a demonstration outside the home of Toei president Hiroshi Okawa, who promptly had him exiled to their TV production arm. In 1984, he finally got a chance to make one more film; entitled A Train Ran on the Plateau, it has long since fallen into obscurity. 

 

Hisashi Igawa

 

The Japanese title translates uneasily to English. ‘Inu’ means ‘dog’, but ‘doro’ can mean ‘mud’ or ‘thief’, so it’s unclear which meaning is intended, which is perhaps why the subtitler of the print I saw has christened the film ‘The Desperate.’ Kudos to them, anyway, as they have done a fine job. 

 

Ko Nishimura