Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

[Nornes, Markus]

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. Nornes
Chair, Dept. of Screen Arts & Cultures
Professor of Asian Film, Dept. of Asian Languages & Cultures
Professor, 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. Nornes
Chair, Dept. of Screen Arts & Cultures
Professor of Asian Film, Dept. of Asian Languages & Cultures
Professor, 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



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20110126/be967bff/attachment.html