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TOCHUKEN KUMOEMON
A P. C. L. Production
The hero of this motion picture, Tochuken Kumoemon, is an artiste of the rokyoku , also called naniwa-bushi, a popular entertainment which has been performed in Japan since the Meiji Era. This performance consists of a recital by the entertainer, before a group of people, of tales having to do with such themes as Bushido, loyalty, filial piety, and self-sacrifice; and its piece de resistance is the singing accompaniment that occurs between passages in the story’s recital. Tochuken Kumoemon is a character who actual¬ ly lived. He was the daring, independent sort who refused to submit to men of power or influence. He was a man who raised the standards of the rokyoku , which had there¬ tofore been considered as a vulgar type of entertainment, and strove to invest it with a spirit, a soul. Whether or not he succeeded in elevating it to the realm of art, however, is another question.
“Tochuken Kumoemon” is the film version of Seika Mayama’s dramatic work. Its adaptation to the screen and its direction were undertaken by young Mikio Naruse, who is being watched as a new talent in filmdom. Naruse excels in work of an emotion¬ al character, is well known for the delicate yet facile quality of his literary style; and in “Tochuken Kumoemon” he has grappled with the mighty spirit of the dramatist Mayama. It was a plunge from emotion to a stalwart theme. But for the most part the splendid aims of Naruse have not been fulfilled, though one notes evidences of his strenuous efforts in the resultant work.
The screen version deals with that side of Tochuken Kumoemon’s life which shows him ignoring the men and women of his immediate circle out of the desire to pursue his own wilful inclinations and of his excessive preoccupation with the mastery of his own art, and — more particularly — causing grief to his wife, Otsuma, who had shared his hardships for many years. But though he endeavoured to live for his art alone, he too had the milk of human kindness and suffered alone in the depths of his own heart. And with the final scenes showing him reciting his own rokyoku before his dead wife’s coffin and dedicating it to her spirit, the picture comes to an end.
Tochuken Kumoemon is played by Ryunosuke Tsukigata, while Otsuma is acted by Chikako Hosokawa. The latter’s performance, which shows a deep understanding of her role, has been very favourably commented upon. Further, the part of the geisha Chidori, who at one time became the object of Tochuken’s infatuation, is taken by Sachiko Chiba.
Kisao U chid a
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