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


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)