Priest of Darkness
Dir: Yamanaka Sadao
Japan, 1936, 82minmins
Cast: Kawarasaki Chojuro, Nakamura Kanemon, Hara Setsuko
One of the three existing films from Yamanaka Sadao – preceding his masterpiece Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) – Priest of Darkness is a refreshing jidai-geki based on a Kabuki play. A blossoming Hara Setsuko plays the elder sister of a good-for-nothing, persistently searching for her brother whose thoughtless behavior has made him a target of mercenaries and ronin. Hara’s delicate yet determined demeanour subverts the maledominated world, inspiring a kind of bonding and humanity among the disreputable priest, Kochiyama, and the mercenaries. Yamanaka masterfully infuses this ninjo into his swordplay film, transforming it into a reflection of the everyday life of ordinary men.
19/6/2016(Sun): Post-screening seminar with Grace Ng and Li Cheuk-to
Screening:
In-theatre Screening
2016-06-19 (Sun)
13:302016-07-10 (Sun)
17:30
Hong Kong Film Archive
Chinese Subtitles
Post-screening talk
Remarks
* Please click here for the footnote on Dogme 95.
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