︎
 

Dvadesete FILMSKE MUTACIJE: FESTIVAL NEVIDLJIVOG FILMA pozivaju vas na program U POHVALU BENSHIJA za preozvučavanja japanskog filma atrakcija, koji počinje u kinu Kinoteka 5. listopada 2026. jednim od rijetkih sačuvanih filmova Kenjija Mizoguchija iz nijemog razdoblja Bijela nit vodopada (Taki no shiraito) čiji je naslov scensko ime tragičke protagonistice, izvođačice tradicionalne mađioničarske vodene umjetnosti. Film prikazujemo u izvornoj japanskoj scensko-filmskoj formi s benshijem Ichirom Kataokom i pijanisticom Makijom Matsumurom. Naš dugogodišnji umjetnički suradnik Ichiro Kataoka u proteklih je dvadeset godina izveo desetak svojih benshi scenarija na našim programima za kultne filmove japanske kinematografije, a glazbu za ovaj program komponira i izvodi njegova stalna umjetnička suradnica, pijanistica Makia Matsumura.

Benshi ili katsuben su filmski pjesnici iz mraka, izvođači koji uživo tijekom projekcije filma govore svoj izvedbeni script koji čine dijalozi, filmski natpisi, poetski komentari. Njihova umjetnost uključuje pisanje izvedbenog scenarija prema izvornim predlošcima povijesnih benshija i izvedbu za novu formu koja povezuje elemente književne, vizualne, kazališne i vokalne tradicije. Film s benshijem jedna je ranih višemedijskih formi ili heterogenih miješanih medija koje su se razvijale u Japanu početkom filmskog stoljeća.  

The twentieth edition of FILM MUTATIONS: FESTIVAL OF THE INVISIBLE CINEMA invites you to the programme In Praise of Benshi – Re-soundings of Japanese Cinema of Attraction, which begins at Cinema Kinoteka in Zagreb on October 5, 2026 with one of the few surviving cinematic attractions by Kenji Mizoguchi from the silent period, The Water Magician or White Thread of Waterfall (Taki no shiraito), whose original title is the stage name of its tragic protagonist, a performer of the traditional magical water art. The film will be presented in the original Japanese silent-film tradition, with a live benshi performance by Ichiro Kataoka and piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura. Over the past two decades, our long-standing artistic collaborator Ichiro Kataoka has presented some ten of his benshi performances as part of our programs devoted to cult films of Japanese cinema. The music for this program has been composed and will be performed by his long-standing artistic collaborator, pianist Makia Matsumura.

Benshi, or katsuben, are poets of the darkness of the cinema, performers who speak live alongside the projected image, weaving together dialogue, film intertitles, and poetic commentary in their own performance scripts. Their art combines the writing of scripts inspired by the work of historical benshi with live performance, creating a new form that brings together literary, visual, theatrical, and vocal traditions. The benshi film is one of the earliest multimedia forms or heterogenous commingled media to have developed in Japan at the dawn of the cinematic age.


Ichiro Kataoka diplomirao je na Kazališnom odsjeku Fakulteta za umjetnost Sveučilišta Nihon, s posebnim zanimanjem za glumu i koreografiju scenskih izvedbi, a 2020. je objavio knjigu o povijesti umjetnosti benshija. Jedan je od najuglednijih suvremenih benshi izvođača širokog raspona žanrova i stilova. Njegov repertoar za više od 400 naslova obuhvaća povijesne, suvremene i strane filmove, a autorski i izvedbeni stil povezuje povijesne tehnike filmske naracije i glume te suvremene prakse izvedbene umjetnosti sa zvučnim eksperimentima. Njegova benshi umjetnost omogućuje gledateljima ponovno ozvučavanje specifične povijesne multimedijalne prakse koja se u Japanu razvijala usporedno s različitim filmskim žanrovima i sve do sredine 1930-ih bila dijelom filmskog iskustva.

Makia Matsumura japanska je skladateljica, pijanistica i izvođačica glazbene pratnje uz nijeme filmove, česta suradnica benshija Ichira Kataoke. Rođena je u Tokiju, diplomirala je skladanje na Tokyo University of the Arts, a magistrirala na Juilliard School u New Yorku. S nijemim se filmom počela intenzivnije baviti 2003., kada je otkrila mogućnosti improvizirane klavirske pratnje. Godine 2007. sudjelovala je na prestižnom Pordenone Silent Film Festival Masterclassu, nakon čega je razvila međunarodnu karijeru pijanistice za nijeme filmove. Nastupala je u institucijama kao što su MoMA, Lincoln Center, Smithsonian i American Film Institute, kao i na festivalima u Europi i Japanu.


Ichiro Kataoka graduated from the Theatre Department of the Faculty of Art at Nihon University, with a particular interest in acting and the choreography of stage performances, and in 2020 published a book on the history of the art of the benshi. He is one of the most distinguished contemporary benshi performers, working across a wide range of genres and styles. His repertoire of more than 400 titles encompasses historical, contemporary and foreign films, while his authorial and performance style connects historical techniques of film narration and acting with contemporary practices of performance art and experiments with sound. His benshi art enables audiences to re-sound a specific historical multimedia practice that developed in Japan alongside different film genres and remained part of the cinematic experience until the mid-1930s.

Makia Matsumura is a Japanese composer, pianist and performer of musical accompaniment for silent films, and a frequent collaborator of benshi Ichiro Kataoka. Born in Tokyo, she studied composition at Tokyo University of the Arts and received her master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York. She began working more intensively with silent film in 2003, when she discovered the possibilities of improvised piano accompaniment. In 2007, she participated in the prestigious Pordenone Silent Film Festival Masterclass, after which she developed an international career as a silent-film pianist. She has performed at institutions including MoMA, Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian and the American Film Institute, as well as at festivals in Europe and Japan.



JAPANSKI FILM ATRAKCIJA se nastavlja 12. listopada 2026. u Muzeju suvremene umjetnosti u Zagrebu s dvostrukim filmskim programom u izvedbi benshija Ichira Kataoke i pijanistice Makije Matsumure: Heroj Jiraiya (Goketsu Jiraiya / Jiraiya the Hero, Shozo Makino, 1921., 21 min) i jedinim predstavnikom povijesne filmske avangarde: Stranica ludila (The Page of Madness / Kurutta Ippeji, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926., 70 min).

Također, Ichiro Kataoka i Tanja Vrvilo održat će izvedbeno predavanje o umjetnosti benshija 10. listopada 2026. u 13:30 na manifestaciji Dan Japana koju Veleposlanstvo Japana u Hrvatskoj organizira u Hotelu Sheraton u Zagrebu, uz film Krvoproliće u Takatanobabi (Chikemuri Takata no baba / Blood-Splattered Takatanobaba), Daisuke Ito, 1928., 13 min.

JAPANESE CINEMA OF ATTRACTIONS continues on 12 October 2026 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb with a double film programme performed by benshi Ichiro Kataoka and pianist Makia Matsumura: Jiraiya the Hero (Goketsu Jiraiya, Shozo Makino, 1921, 21 min) and the sole representative of the historical film avant-garde, The Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippeiji, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926, 70 min).

Ichiro Kataoka and Tanja Vrvilo will also give a performance-lecture on the art of the benshi on 10 October 2026 at 13:30 at the Japan Day, an event organized by the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Croatia at the Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb, accompanied by the film Blood-Splattered Takatanobaba (Chikemuri Takata no baba, Daisuke Ito, 1928, 13 min).

Program se odvija u partnerstvu s Kinom Kinoteka i Muzejom suvremene umjetnosti u Zagrebu, Veleposlanstvom Japana Republike Hrvatske, uz podršku i suradnju Japanske fondacije u Budimpešti te japanskih filmskih organizacija i institucija Yanai Initiative i Sveučilište Waseda, National Film Archive of Japan, Matsuda Film Productions koji organiziraju programe umjetnosti benshija u Maison de la culture du Japon u Parizu i Festivalu nijemog filma u Pordenoneu – Le Giornate del Cinema Muto. | The programme takes place in partnership with Cinema Kinoteka and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, and the Embassy of Japan in Croatia, with the support and collaboration of The Japan Foundation, Budapest, as well as Japanese film organisations and institutions including the Yanai Initiative – Waseda University, the National Film Archive of Japan, and Matsuda Film Productions, with benshi programmes at the Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival.

Prikazivanje filmova su omogućili | The films were made available courtesy of: The National Film Archive of Japan, Matsuda Film Productions, u suradnji s Le Giornate del Cinema Muto.

Izvedbeni tekst benshija Ichira Kataoke preveli su Petra Jaklin i Marko Godeč. | The benshi performance script by Ichiro Kataoka was translated by Petra Jaklin and Marko Godeč.

Ovim programom najavljujemo 20. izdanje festivala o politikama filmskog kustostva FILMSKE MUTACIJE: FESTIVAL NEVIDLJIVOG FILMA pod naslovom FANTOM EKLIPSE za međunarodnu rizomatsku Odiseju crnog svjetonazora, kako je Ante Peterlić naslovio déjà-vu film noira. U pohvalu sjene, filmski kaosmos preuzima totalitet eklipse kao trop ustrajne inverzije hladnoće i usijanja medija prema recentnim istraživanjima liminalnih zona penumbre i pomrčine pokretnih slika. Festivalski program otvaramo 19. studenoga 2026. u kinu Kinoteka s Albertom Serrom i njegovim novim filmom u izvedbi Ingrid Caven Šesnaest trenutaka moga života (Seize moments de ma vie).



With this programme, we announce the 20th edition of FILMSKE MUTACIJE: FESTIVAL OF INVISIBLE CINEMA, a festival devoted to the politics of film curatorship, under the title PHANTOM OF THE ECLIPSE, conceived as an international rhizomatic Odyssey of the black worldview, as Ante Peterlić called the déjà-vu of film noir. In praise of the shadow, the cinematic chaosmos takes up the totality of the eclipse as a trope of the persistent inversion of the medium’s coldness and heat, in response to recent explorations of the liminal zones of the penumbra and the eclipse of moving images. We open the festival programme on 19 November 2026 at Kinoteka with Albert Serra and his new film, performed by Ingrid Caven, Sixteen Moments of My Life (Seize moments de ma vie).

Filmske mutacije: festival nevidljivog filma su projekt o politikama filmskog kustostva i promišljanje modusa prijenosa filmskog dispozitiva u digitalnom dobu, koji je pokrenula 2007. godine u Zagrebu izvedbena umjetnica i filmska kustos Tanja Vrvilo. | Film Mutations: Festival of Invisible Cinema is a project on the politics of film curatorship and modes of migration of the cinematic dispositif in the digital era, initiated in 2007 by pereformance artist and filmologist Tanja Vrvilo.

Dio programa Filmskih mutacija odvija se u sklopu programske aktivnosti Filmski festival – mjesto za sve koju provodi Hrvatski savez slijepih u okviru Javnog poziva za predlaganje programa koji omogućuju pristup i dostupnost kulturnih sadržaja za osobe s invaliditetom i djecu i mlade s teškoćama u razvoju u Republici Hrvatskoj u 2026. godini. | Part of the Film Mutations is co-organized in the framework of Film Festival – A Place for Everyone, a programme implemented by the Croatian Blind Union under the 2026 Public Call for Proposals supporting access to and availability of cultural content for persons with disabilities and children and young people with developmental difficulties in the Republic of Croatia.



Produkcija i podrška | Production and support: Umjetnička organizacija Film-protufilm, Hrvatski audiovizualni centar, Ministarstvo kulture i medija Republike Hrvatske, Grad Zagreb – Ured za kulturu i civilno društvo, Zaklada Kultura nova, Veleposlanstvo Japana u RH, The Japan Foundation – Budapest, Yanai Initiative, Waseda University.



ZAGREB
KINO KINOTEKA
05. 10. 2026.
20:00


BIJELA NIT VODOPADA | TAKI NO SHIRAITO 滝の白糸 |  THE WATER MAGICIAN
Kenji Mizoguchi

1933., c/b | b/w, nijemi | silent, 98 min

Film uz izvedbu Ichira Kataoke, benshija – pripovjedača za nijeme filmove i glazbenu pratnju pijanistice Makije Matsumure. | A film with a live performance by benshi Ichiro Kataoka, a narrator for silent films, accompanied by pianist Makia Matsumura.

Redatelj | Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Izvorna priča | Original Story: Kyoka Izumi
Scenaristi | Screenwriters: Yasunaga Higashibojo, Shinji Masuda, Kennosuke Tateoka
Snimatelj | Cinematographer: Shigeru Miki
Glume | Cast: Takako Irie, Tokihiko Okada, Ichiro Sugai, Koju Murata
Produkcija | Production: Irie Production
Benshi: Ichiro Kataoka
Pijanistica | Pianist: Makia Matsumura





Sluteći lunarno-vodenu snovitost zvučnih priča kiše i mjeseca, izvorni naslov jednog od ključnih nijemih filmova Kenjija Mizoguchija Bijela nit vodopada umjetničko je ime čarobnice vode, putujuće izvođačice tradicionalne mađioničarske vodene umjetnosti – mizugei u kojoj je voda glavni element scenske iluzije. Iluzionistica Shiraito, pravim imenom Tomo Mizoshima, poznata je po svojoj ljepoti i vodnim majstorijama koje u Mizoguchijevom filmu zrcali svjetlucava rijeka Asano u japanskoj Kanazawi. Nakon sudbinskog susreta s mladim kočijašem samurajskih korijena Kinyom Murakoshijem koji sanja o karijeri pravnika, Shiraito se posvećuje financiranju njegovog studija u Tokiju, a očaj samožrtvovanja je vodi od ljubavi do zločina. Shiraito je prototip Mizoguchijeve tragičke buntovnice, nije samo zvijezda klasičnog izvedbenog spektakla japanske magije ženskog tijela i muškog pogleda, već utjelovljuje protuslovnu fluidnost percepcije Mizoguchijevih filmova.

Mizoguchijeva melodrama snažno potisnutog erosa u stilu nove škole shinpa adaptacija je romana Kyoke Izumija i prvo filmsko djelo o popularnoj junakinji koju utjelovljuje žena, a ne onnagata, glumac ženskih uloga. Glumi je Takako Irie, najpopularnija japanska glumica 1930-ih, ikona moge – moderne djevojke, u prvome filmu njezine produkcijske kuće Irie Productions za koji su redatelj i glumica oblikovali stradanje lika Shiraito prema lutkarskom kazalištu i kabukiju, osobito u scenama ubojstva i suđenja, vrhuncima glumačkog patosa u filmu. Tekuće stanje filma prelijeva se površinama lica,  čarolijama filmskog afekta u krupnim planovima, prekrivenog suzama i lunarnim mijenama. Mjesec i voda bijele su niti oniričke katarze između života i smrti, a lirska akrobatika putujuće izvođačice prožeta je Mizoguchijevim razradama ponavljajućih motiva iz kazališne umjetnosti, poput žene/izvođačice kao žrtve, dvostrukog samoubojstva, kružnog putovanja i povratka, trenutka susreta koji životu donosi smisao. Japanska tragedija ukletih ljubavnika povijest je žudnje mlade žene u modernizirajućem Japanu, njezinog samožrtvovanja u težnji da oboje dosegnu društveni uspon, kao stalne Mizoguchijeve teme – risshin shusse iz ženske perspektive koji je protagonistici unatoč zvjezdanom i slobodarskom statusu nedostižan. Preokretni edipski motiv kastriranog ženskog glasa osobito je fascinantan u kontekstu japanskog povijesnog slušanja nijemog filma u interpretaciji filmskih pripovjedača – benshija. Akuzmatični glas filmu i protagonistici Shiraito otkrit ćemo u izvedbi slavnog benshija Ichira Kataoke i glazbenoj pratnji kompozitorice i pijanistice Makije Matsumure.

(Tanja Vrvilo)


Foreshadowing the lunar-water dreamscape of the sound stories of rain and the moon, the original title of one of Kenji Mizoguchi’s key silent films, White Treads of the Waterfall, is the stage name of a water magician, a travelling performer of the traditional Japanese magical water art known as mizugei, in which water is the principal element of stage illusion. The illusionist Shiraito, whose real name is Tomo Mizoshima, is renowned for her beauty and her water tricks, mirrored in Mizoguchi’s film by the shimmering Asano River in Kanazawa, Japan. Following a fateful encounter with Kinya Murakoshi, a young coachman of samurai lineage who dreams of becoming a lawyer, Shiraito devotes herself to financing his studies in Tokyo, while the despair of her self-sacrifice leads her from love to crime. Shiraito is the prototype of Mizoguchi’s tragic rebellious woman: she is not merely the star of a classical performative spectacle of Japanese magic involving the female body and the male gaze, but embodies the contradictory fluidity of perception characteristic of Mizoguchi’s films.

Mizoguchi’s melodrama of radically repressed eros in the style of the new shinpa school, is an adaptation of Kyoka Izumi’s novel and the first cinematic work about the popular heroine in which she is embodied by a woman rather than an onnagata, a male actor playing female roles. She is played by Takako Irie, the most popular Japanese actress of the 1930s and an icon of the moga – the modern girl, in the first film produced by her production company Irie Productions. For the film, the director and actress shaped Shiraito’s passion through the forms of puppet theatre and kabuki, particularly in the murder and trial scenes, the culminations of the film’s histrionic pathos. The film’s fluid state flows across the surfaces of faces, into the enchantments of cinematic affect in close-ups covered with tears and lunar transformations. The moon and water are the white threads of an oneiric catharsis between life and death, while the lyrical acrobatics of the travelling performer are permeated by Mizoguchi’s elaboration of recurring motifs from the theatrical arts, such as the self-sacrificing woman/performer, double suicide, circular journey and return, and the moment of significant encounter that gives meaning to life. The Japanese tragedy of cursed lovers is the history of a young woman’s desire in a modernizing Japan, of her self-sacrifice in striving for both of them to attain a persistent Mizoguchian theme of social rise and prosperity – risshin shusse from a female perspective, which remains unattainable to the protagonist despite her status as a star and her liberated spirit. The Oedipal reversal embodied in the motif of the castrated female voice is particularly fascinating in the context of the historical Japanese experience of listening to silent film through the interpretation of film narrators, the benshi. We will discover the acousmatic voice of the film and its protagonist Shiraito in the performance of the celebrated benshi Ichiro Kataoka, accompanied by composer and pianist Makia Matsumura.

(Tanja Vrvilo)



ZAGREB
 HOTEL SHERATON
10. 10. 2026.
13:30
PROGRAM VELEPOSLANSTVA JAPANA U HRVATSKOJ |
PROGRAMME OF THE EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN CROATIA
DAN JAPANA | DAY OF JAPAN


U POHVALU BENSHIJA | IN PRAISE OF BENSHI



Tanja Vrvilo, izvedbeno predavanje | lecture performance
Ichiro Kataoka, predstavljanje umjetnosti benshija uz film | introducing the art of the benshi alongside the film:


KRVOPROLIĆE U TAKADANOBABI | CHIKEMURI TAKADANOBABA 血煙高田馬場 | BLOOD SPATTERED TAKADANOBABA
Daisuke Ito

1933., c/b | b/w, nijemi | silent, 98 min


Film uz izvedbu Ichira Kataoke, benshija – pripovjedača za nijeme filmove. | A film with a live performance by benshi Ichiro Kataoka, a narrator for silent films.

Redatelj, pripovijest, scenarist | Director, original story, screenwriter: Daisuke Ito
Snimatelj | Cinematographer: Hiromitsu Karasawa
Glume | Cast: Denjiro Okochi, Enichiro Jitsukawa, Harue Ichikawa, Kan Togi
Produkcija | Production: Nikkatsu Uzumasa
Benshi: Ichiro Kataoka



Yasu, punim imenom Yasubei Nakayama, živi u sirotinjskom kvartu Eda kao ronin, samuraj bez gospodara i uspješno rješava tučnjave u susjedstvu kako bi zaradio za sake. Dana 21. srpnja 1694., nakon još jedne ulične pobjede, vraća se u poprilično pijanom stanju kući gdje ga čeka ujak koji treba pomoć u borbi protiv skupine nečasnih samuraja. Krvoproliće samo što nije počelo, Yasuova komička jurnjava do poprišta pokreće sve koje susreće – svi trče prema Takadanobabi. Yasu zadivljuje svojom filmskom brzinom, gipkim kretnjama i chambara vještinama u događaju koji prethodi njegovu sudjelovanju u legendi o 47 ronina.

Daisuke Ito, majstor povijesnih priča jidai-geki i mačevalačkog žanra chambara, u skladu sa svojim nadimkom ido daisuki – obožava pokret i u sačuvanom fragmentu dugometražnog filma stvara frenetičnu slapstickovsku kinetiku potjere, fizičke karakterizacije likova i slikovne dinamike komedije nonsense u majstorskom srazu s trikovima kamere, posebice ubrzanim kretanjem. Koreografija nestabilnih tijela i filmske slike apsurdno se stabilizira u nezaustavljivom trku junaka i gomile. Komično je u filmovima o samurajima najčešće prepušteno običnim ljudima, ali za razliku od konvencionalnog povijesnog žanra Ito je u svojim filmovima mahom prikazivao marginalizirane, pobunjene ili društveno obespravljene junake. Njegov je jidaigeki zbog toga dobio i izrazitu društvenu i političku dimenziju, osobito u djelima koja se povezuju s keiko eiga – tendencijskim filmovima. Rekonstruirani farsični komad krasi vitalnost i optimizam nestabilne zajednice i same filmske slike, unatoč naslovnom krvoproliću. Yasu, kojeg glumi zvijezda japanskog nijemog filma Denjiro Okochi, simpatičan je momak iz susjedstva i nezaustavljiv filmski nomadski stroj u opijenom kretanju čovjeka-kamere-mača.

(Tanja Vrvilo)


Yasu, whose full name is Yasubei Nakayama, lives in the poor quarters of Edo as a ronin, a masterless samurai, and makes a living by successfully settling fights in the neighborhood so he can afford his sake. On July 21, 1694, after yet another street victory, he returns home in a rather drunken state, only to find his uncle waiting for him and in need of help in a fight against a gang of corrupt samurai. Blood-spatter is just about to begin, and Yasu’s comic dash to the scene sets everyone he encounters in motion – everyone is running toward Takadanobaba. Yasu dazzles with his cinematic speed, agile movements, and chambara skills in an event that precedes his part in the legend of the 47 ronin.

Daisuke Ito, a master of historical jidai-geki and the sword-fighting genre chambara, lives up to his nickname, ido daisuki – he loves movement – and, in the surviving fragment of this feature film, creates the frantic slapstick kineticism of the chase, the physicality of its characters, and the visual dynamics of a comedy of nonsense, in a masterful interplay with camera tricks, particularly accelerated motion. The choreography of unstable bodies and cinematic images becomes absurdly stabilized in the unstoppable run of the hero and the crowd. In samurai films, comedy is most often left to ordinary people, but unlike the conventional historical genre, Ito predominantly portrayed marginalized, rebellious, or socially disenfranchised protagonists in his films. As a result, his jidaigeki acquired a pronounced social and political dimension, particularly in works associated with keiko eiga – tendency films. The reconstructed farcical fragment is imbued with the vitality and optimism of an unstable community and of the cinematic image itself, despite the blood-spatter announced in the title. Yasu, played by Japanese silent-film star Denjiro Okochi, is a likable guy-next-door and an unstoppable cinematic nomadic machine, moving in a state of intoxication as a man-camera-sword.

(Tanja Vrvilo)



ZAGREB
MUZEJ SUVREMENE UMJETNOSTI
12. 10. 2026.
20:00


Dvostruki program uz izvedbu Ichira Kataoke, benshija – pripovjedača za nijeme filmove i glazbenu pratnju pijanistice Makije Matsumure. | Double bill with a live performance by benshi Ichiro Kataoka, a narrator for silent films, accompanied by pianist Makia Matsumura.


HEROJ JIRAIYA | GOKETSU JIRAIYA 豪傑児雷也 | JIRAIYA THE HERO
Shozo Makino

1921., c/b | b/w, nijemi | silent, 21 min

Redatelj | Director: Shozo Makino
Snimatelj | Cinematographer: Minoru Miki
Glume | Cast: Matsunosuke Onoe (Jiraiya |  Ogata Shuma), Shoen Kataoka (Takasago Yuminosuke), Suminojo Ichikawa (Orochimaru); Kijaku Otani (Tsukikage Gunryo Miyukinosuke); Chosei Kataoka (Tsunade-hime).
Produkcija | Production: Nikkatsu Taishogun Studio
Benshi: Ichiro Kataoka
Pijanistica | Pianist: Makia Matsumura



Dječak Shuma, koji će postati legendarni ninja Jiraiya, ostao je bez roditelja nakon ratnih stradanja u Sarashini, pokrajini Shinano. Već tada je ulovio monstruma groma Raiju, pa ga zovu Jiraiya: dijete koje je uhvatilo grom. Nakon ubojstva njegova oca Ogate Hirozumija, Shuma kreće na fantastično putovanje kako bi ga osvetio. Besmrtni pustinjak Senso Dojin daruje mu čarobnu tehniku žabe koja mu omogućuje da postane heroj Jiraiya. U montaži atrakcija, vodenih čuda, metamorfoza i nestanaka, Jiraiya savladava neprijatelje uz pomoć djevojke princeze Tsunade koja posjeduje magiju puža i suočava se sa suparnikom Orochimaruom koji se magično preobražava u zmiju.

Jedan od ranih japanskih ninjutsu filmova fantastike “oca japanskog filma” Shoza Makine s najpopularnijim glumcem nijemog razdoblja Matsunosukeom Onoeom unosi obrasce elemenata kabuki izvedbe, popularne kulture i otkrića filmskih trikova. Makino je pionir trik-filma tokusatsu, japanski Méliès, a s Matsunosukeom Onoem je od 1909. do 1926. snimio više od 1000 filmova, najčešće od jedne role. Dvostruke ekspozicije, zaustavljena kamera, životinjska čudovišta i koreografirani pokret pretvaraju tradicionalni repertoar preobrazbe u spektakl filmske domišljatosti. Priča o Jiraiyi pripada dugoj tradiciji japanske fantastične književnosti s poznatim imaginarnim bestijarijem u kome su životinjske preobrazbe nositelji nadnaravnih moći i posrednici između ljudskog i neljudskog svijeta. Središnji motiv transformacije razvija se oko trostrukog odnosa žabe-zmije-puža, cikličke nadmoći bez pobjednika sansukumi. Zasnovan je na Pripovijesti o Jiraiyinoj odvažnosti iz 19. stoljeća te odnosu koji persofinificiraju tri lika: Jiraiya za magiju žabe, Tsunade za magiju puža i Orochimaru za magiju zmije. Makino uprizoruje filmsko dvojstvo preobrazbe, lik Jiraiye i njegovi životinjski suigrači mijenjaju svoj oblik i stanje, a film otkriva vlastitu magiju metisa. Kompanija Nikkatsu navodi izvornu duljinu filma od 65 minuta, a sačuvanu filmsku atrakciju u trajanju od 21 minute dodatno preobražava i preozvučava interpretacija japanskog filmskog pripovjedača benshija Ichire Kataoke.

(Tanja Vrvilo)



Shuma, the boy who would become the legendary ninja Jiraiya, is orphaned amid the wartime devastation of Sarashina in the province of Shinano. Already as a child, he captured the thunder monster Raiju, earning the name Jiraiya: the boy who captured the thunder. When his father the castle lord Ogata Hirozumi is murdered, Shuma embarks on a fantastic journey to avenge him. The immortal hermit Senso Dojin bestows upon him the magical toad technique, enabling him to become the hero Jiraiya. In a montage of attractions, aquatic wonders, metamorphoses, transformations and disappearances, Jiraiya overcomes his enemies with the help of princess Tsunade, a young woman endowed with the magic of the slug, while confronting his rival Orochimaru, who magically transforms into a serpent.

One of the early Japanese ninjutsu fantasy films by the “father of Japanese cinema,” Shozo Makino and starring Matsunosuke Onoe, the most celebrated actor of Japan’s silent era, brings together elements of kabuki performance, popular culture, and the newly emerging language of cinematic trickery. Makino was a pioneer of the Japanese trick-film tokusatsu, a Japanese Méliès, and with Matsunosuke Onoe he made more than 1000 films between 1909 and 1926, mostly one-reelers. Double exposures, stop-camera effects, monstrous animals, and choreographed movement transform a traditional repertoire of metamorphosis into a spectacle of cinematic ingenuity. The story of Jiraiya belongs to a long tradition of Japanese fantastic literature, with its familiar imaginary bestiary in which animal transformations embody supernatural powers and mediate between the human and the non-human worlds. The central motif of transformation unfolds through the triadic relationship of toad-serpent-slug, a cyclical structure of mutual supremacy known as sansukumi, in which no one power ultimately prevails. The story is rooted in the nineteenth-century legend The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant and in the relationship personified by its three protagonists: Jiraiya, associated with the magic of the toad, Tsunade with the magic of the slug and Orochimaru with the magic of the serpent. Makino stages the cinematic duality of transformation: Jiraiya and his animal counterparts continually shift between forms and states, while the film reveals its own magic of metis. Nikkatsu gives the film’s original running time as 65 minutes, while the surviving 21-minute fragment of Makino’s cinematic attraction is further transformed and re-sounded through the live interpretation of the Japanese film narrator, the benshi Ichiro Kataoka and pianist Makia Matsumura.

(Tanja Vrvilo)