The lovers' exile [videorecording] / the Bunraku Theatre of Japan in a film by Marty Gross ; from "Meido no Hikyaku" by Monzaemon Chikamatsu ; produced and directed by Marty Gross.
Format:
[videorecording] /
Publisher:
Marty Gross Film Productions,
Copyright Date:
2006
Description:
1 videodisc (90 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet ([32] p. : ill. ; 19 cm.)
Introduction, Jean-Louis Barrault. Puppet handlers: Tamao Yoshida, Minosuke Yoshida, Kanjuro Kiritake; joruri reciters: Oritayu Takemoto, Koshijidayu Takemoto, Mojidayu Takemoto; shamisen players: Enza Tsuruzawa, Seiji Tsuruzawa, Kinshi Nozawa. Originally produced in 1980. Adapted from Meido no hikyaku by Monzaemon Chikamatsu. The Bunraku Theatre has been designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Japan. Special features: Filming bunraku : The making of "The Lovers' Exile" [featurette] (12 min.); Picture gallery [slide show]; Documents [weblink]; booklet includes essays "Introduction" by Jean-Louis Barrault, "A Note on Bunraku" by Susan Sontag, "The Tradition of Bunraku" by Barbara C. Adachi, and "The Art of Bunraku" a conversation with Northrop Frye, Robert Fulford, and director Marty Gross.
Penniless clerk Chubei embezzles public funds to release his lover, the prostitute Unegawa, from her contract at the teahouse. This is the entire plot of "The Lovers' Exile," by classic Japanese dramatist Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1673-1724), the Shakespeare of Bunraku theatre. Bunraku combines the arts of puppetry, a particularly Japanese form of dramatic recitation called joruri, and musical accompaniment by the shamisen. This performance is by the Bunraku Ensemble of Osaka, which includes a number of players who are Living National Treasures of Japan. "The Lovers' Exile" is the only filmed adaptation of a classic Bunraku performance [at time of filming].
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.