Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

[Nornes, Markus]

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
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Department of Screen Arts & Cultures
University of Michigan
6330 North Quad
105 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1285
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