Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

Wed Jan 26 12:33:24 EST 2011

Dear Markus and others,
I don't recall this specific scene in Those Who Tread,
but it is hard not to associate this description with
a classic scene from Chushingura where the leader
of the vendetta is traveling with a fake pass and
the real person whose name he is using initially accuses
him of misrepresentation until he observes the Ako crest on his 
personal belongings. The audience and the accuser then
both see that the scroll is blank but the diegetic audience
is listening rather than looking and they are left only with
the accuser retraction of the accusation. At that point,
he switches the blank fake travel documents for the real
thing and the leader of the vendetta is back on his way.
According to my recollection at least three different productions 
of Chushingura from the 30s on all show the blank scroll 
in that context. For example, I'm sure the blank scroll is shown in Makino's
wartime production.
Best,
Mark Anderson

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:30:12 -0500
From: maline at maine.edu
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

I wonder if that's because in the scene we ultimately are most moved by Togashi's response, so we are given something approximating his point of view.  As Togashi realizes that Benkei's Benkei's virtuoso performance/deception is driven by his passionate loyalty to his master, Togashi basically gives up his life to allow the group to pass.  

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 11:19 AM, Nornes, Markus <amnornes at umich.edu> wrote:

Thanks for the info. On Jonathan Zwicker's advice, I looked at the database of kabuki prints at Enpaku and it was rather stunning that none of them show the blank page, like Kurosawa. They are all frontal images showing the back of the scroll. 

Markus

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=201-0950

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=201-0983

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=201-2164

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=201-0962

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=201-0993

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=101-5163

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=101-5163

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-8088

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2751

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2782

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2799

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2805

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2824

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2824

http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/enpakunishik/results-big.php?shiryo_no=100-2839

A. M. NornesChair, Dept. of Screen Arts & Cultures
Professor of Asian Film, Dept. of Asian Languages & CulturesProfessor, School of Art & Design
===============================Department of Screen Arts & Cultures

University of Michigan
6330 North Quad
105 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1285
----------------------------------------------
Office: 734-764-0147
FAX: 734-936-1846

On Jan 26, 2011, at 10:40 AM, Junkerman John wrote:

Hey Markus,
I think this is a reference to the Kabuki play "Kanjincho" (The Subscription List). Benkei and Yoshitsune get through a checkpoint disguised as Buddhist priests, but since they're only in disguise, the "subscription list" Benkei reads from is actually blank. After they're let through the checkpoint, the chorus sings

Having trod the tiger's tail
and escaped the viper's venom,they go on their way, 
on to the province of Mutsu.

John

On Jan 27, 2011, at 12:22 AM, Nornes, Markus wrote:
In Kurosawa's Men Who Tread, there is a scene where Okochi Denjiro takes out a scroll, unravels it and reads it. However, Enoken is thrown for a loop when he sees that the paper is completely blank, which the camera dramatically emphasizes with a wonderful truck up and around the scroll. 

Is this a convention of Noh or Kabuki performance, writing not being necessary because of the formalist nature of the dramaturgy? Or is it a reference to a specific play (or plays?)?

I have heard of Chinese opera films with the same phenomenon. Can anyone think of other examples?
Markus

A. M. NornesChair, Dept. of Screen Arts & Cultures
Professor of Asian Film, Dept. of Asian Languages & CulturesProfessor, School of Art & Design
===============================Department of Screen Arts & Cultures

University of Michigan
6330 North Quad
105 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1285
----------------------------------------------
Office: 734-764-0147
FAX: 734-936-1846

-- 
Sarah Maline, PhD
Chair, Department of Sound, Performance, and Visual Inquiry

Associate Professor of Art History
University of Maine Farmington
Farmington, Maine 04938
207.778.7321

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