Japanese Religion in Film

[Bernardi-Buralli]

These are just two random titles that came to mind reading Tim's message
below:

Miyazaki's _Kaze no tani no Naushika_ (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
(Christian imagery);

_Ginga tetsudo no yoru_ (Night on the Galactic Railway, animated adaptation
of story by poet Miyazawa Kenji) = scientific/religious fable about
compassion, acceptance, also lots of Christian references, imagery;

_Oritsu uchugun: Oneamisu no tsubasa_ (Yamaga Hiroyuki, Royal Space Force:
The Wings of Honneamise) = spiritual journey; meaning of life;
soul-searching monologue on God from the depths of outer space

There are also Oshii Mamoru's ruminating sequences or dialogue with biblical
references (Patlabor 1, Patlabor 2, Ghost in the Shell 1) and especially his
baffling _Tenshi no tamago_ (Angel's Egg).

Turned out to be more than two.....religion/anime may be a special case of
Religion/Film deserving it's own niche.

Joanne Bernardi
U Rochester


> From: tim.iles at utoronto.ca
> Reply-To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 20:32:53 -0400 (EDT)
> To: KineJapan <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Cc: mitchellk at cofc.edu
> Subject: Re: Fwd: Japanese Religion in Film
> 
> Just a few thoughts to start off what surely will be a more complete list:
> 
> Miyazakai Hayao's films all seem to have a definite religious
> (spiritual/Shinto) component, with _Tonari no Totoro_ (_My Neighbour
> Totoro_) working almost as a Shinto how-to manual. _Sen to Chihiro no
> kamikakushi_ (_Spirited Away_) of course, set as it is in a bath house for
> _kami_ comes immediately to mind.
> 
> Two older films are _Enjo_ by Ichikawa Kon, from 1958, and _Sansho dayu_
> by Mizoguchi Kenji, from 1954. This latter one presents a very critical
> opinion of the deceitfulness or self-centred fatalism of organised
> religion while highlighting the positive qualities of action--ie., "Buddha
> helps those who seek to help others." Well, something like that!
> 
> A not-too recent film by Nagasaki Shunichi, _Shikoku_ (_Land of the
> Dead_), while not a groundbreaking work, features shamanism and Shinto
> symbolism in a vaguely creepy ghost-story package.
> 
> Kore-eda Hirokazu's _Wandafuru raifu_ (_Afterlife_) from 1998 is set in a
> "waystation" for the recently deceased, but while this may be an
> interesting work in terms of its imagining of the afterlife, it doesn't
> have a religious focus per se.
> 
> Even Kurosawa's _Doudesukaden_ may work, featuring as it does the devout
> mother/mocking son pair...
> 
> I'm sure there are many more, and better, works to suggest--looking
> forward to reading other replies,
> 
> 
> Tim Iles
> University of Victoria
>