Double Feature: Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935), Akanishi Kakita (Capricious Young Man) (1936)

This screening event is part of the “Comic Legacies on the Japanese Silver Screen” film series taking place from February through April.

All films are screened in Japanese with English subtitles.

Second film begins at 8:45pm.

Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (丹下左膳餘話 百萬両の壷, 1935)
directed by Sadao Yamanaka
1h 32m, 35mm

Only three of Yamanaka’s films remain, but he is considered in Japan to be one of that country’s greatest directors. A highly enjoyable, comical take on the stereotypically somber samurai genre. A man gives away a crusty pot he inherited, but embarks on a madcap hunt to retrieve after discovering that it contains a treasure map revealing where a million ryo is hidden. (Mubi.com)

Akanishi Kakita (Capricious Young Man, 赤西蠣太, 1936)
directed by Mansaku Itami
1h 17m, 35mm

Itami, the father of Juzo Itami (Tampopo) and father-in-law to Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, was a leader in the Japanese film world. In this film, a samurai is ordered by his lord to go to Edo and investigate the truth behind the rumor of a rebellion against him. After collecting enough information to prove a conspiracy, the samurai needs to devise some way of leaving Edo without creating suspicion and comes up with a cockeyed plan. Chiezo Kataoka plays both the bad and the good guy. (Mubi.com)

This series is co-sponsored by The National Film Archive of Japan, Yale Film Archive, and Council on East Asian Studies, with support from the Japan Foundation.

Prints for this screening were provided by The National Film Archive of Japan.