Utamaro Yume to Shiriseba
aka: Utamaro's World
Directed by: Akio Jissoji
Cast: Shin Kishida, Mikijiro Hira and Shingo Yamashiro
Utamaro: Yume to shiriseba (歌麿 夢と知りせば, Utamaro’s World, 1977), a visually sumptous telling of the famed Japanese printmaker’s life centering around the years he was forced to make pornographic prints for a living.
The key figure in this film, Kitagawa Utamaro (Shin Kishida), explores the Yoshiwara (pleasure district) of Edo as a voyeur, questing for inspiration. Kishida's performance is as pensive as it is perverse.
A secondary character is a kabuki actor of great fame. He lives a secret life as a Robin Hood sort of thif called "Floating Bridge of Dreams," played by Mikijiro Hira. He is a protector & avenger for the inhabitants of the Yoshiwara, His role is definitely of interest to martial arts film fans. using tanto knife effectively against a samurai bodyguard's katana, & killing the bad guys in a grand one-against-all scene, always affecting a fighting style influenced by his parallel performances on the kabuki stage.
The main tale regards the government's persecution of Utamaro for his erotic art. He is arrested, sentenced to three days in prison, handcuffed for fifty days so that he cannot draw anything at all. His publisher (Mikio Narita) is likewise arrested, shouting at the police, "Art cannot be evil! You are evil!"
Remastered Print
1977 Color 16:9 Anamorphic 140 Mins.
Japanese with English subtitles
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