Il pittore dei draghi

The film produced by Hayakawa's own production company Hayworth indeed has a different "look" from the contemporaneous Orientalist productions of Hollywood. Although it does fulfill the almost obligatory casting of Caucasian actors playing yellowface, Edward Peil Sr.'s Japanese art master Kano Indara doesn't seem at all attempt to be "authentic" oriental, not to mention to compete with his Japanese/Asian co-actors as one would find with Warner Oland in films such as The Daughter of Dragon and Shanghai Express. Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki are without the doubt the focus of this film. The scenic design also avoids the extravagant Orientalist/art deco ornaments popular at that time, opting for a simple interior design, while lavishing on the natural landscapes framed as quintessential Japanese (despite the fact that they were shot in California). Moreover, the Japaneseness of this film has something to do with the occasional violation of the classical Hollywood editing rules; for instance, the eye-line match in the scene in which the surveyor finds out the talent of the dragon painter by the waterfall is completely off, creating a sense of spatial disorientation that predates Ozu.

As a sidenote, Hayakawa's madman also foresees the famous acting of Toshiro Mifune.

"The Dragon Painter" is an interesting silent film; it's about a painter, his art and, of course for the drama, his love story, which I've found to be a promising setup in various films. Among other silent films, Carl Dreyer's "Michael" (1924) and some of the films by Yevgeni Bauer, mostly "The Dying Swan" (1917), come to mind as other worthwhile explorations of these themes. In being art about art, it naturally lends itself to self-reflexivity. In "The Dragon Painter", we don't actually get to see much of the artist's paintings--besides a couple sketches he tosses over a waterfall and a painting at the exhibition--but that's probably for the best, rather than having imitations shown off instead of art. The art in this film is in the photography of landscapes and nature (waterfalls, horizons overlooking canyons, lush gardens and such), which is pictorially beautiful (inexplicably, this film's cinematographer Frank D. Williams learned his craft at Keystone of all places). For one scene, however, a moonlit sky is actually a painted backdrop, which I think nicely reinforces the narrative's self-reflexivity.

In addition to the art about art, Sessue Hayakawa gives an outstanding performance as the painter. I haven't seen him so lively before, although I've only been privileged to see a couple others of his silent films thus far and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957). He was great in "The Cheat" (1915), but he displayed a different sort of acting, characterization there. Hayakawa in "The Dragon Painter" seems closer to Toshirô Mifune, of Akira Kurosawa's films, than to the Hayakawa of "The Cheat" or "The Bridge on the River Kwai". It's appropriate and displays his versatility well. Sessue's real-life wife, Tsuru Aoki, who steals the other film, "The Wrath of the Gods" (1914) available on the same DVD away from him, is also good. Her role in this one could've been rather thankless, but she makes the most of it. On the other hand, this isn't a perfect gem; too many intertitles and some overly quick shot successions seem to be it's most significant weaknesses. Regardless, I'd recommend this for being one of the better films of its time--or, rather, for being a good movie.

Dragon Painter, The (1919)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

At times haunting, at times romantic, this once thought lost silent film turned out to be one of the crowning gems of its era. The film tells the story of Tatsu (Sessue Hayakawa), a madman who has become known as The Dragon Painter. Tatsu believes that a thousand years earlier his one and only love had her spirit taken away by a dragon so all he paints in dragons hoping that one day she will return to him. A master painter (Edward Peil, Sr.) living in Tokyo soon learns of Tatsu's great paintings and brings him in telling Tatsu that he knows where the spirit of his love is. The painter offers up his daughter (Toyo Fujita) in return that Tatsu make great paintings but after Tatsu gets his love back he doesn't feel the need to paint anymore. This film was thought lost for decades until a print turned up in 1977 and thankfully one did because this is a rare case where a lost film turns out to be well worth being found. The movie runs just over 50-minutes and it contains some very strong scenes as well as some great performances. The film was done by Hayakawa's own studio so needless to say the budget isn't the biggest but this works well for the film as it creates a tight and unique atmosphere and really captures the culture of Japan. The set design is also very well done and the new music score serves the film very well. For those of you who only know Hayakawa from his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai then you should certainly seek this film out. The Japanese born actor gives a very strong performance here and his scenes as the madman are right on the mark as are the scenes with him stricken with grief. Peil and Fujita also deliver fine performances. It's also nice seeing a film from this period that show a foreign man doing something other than being a gangster or villain.

A silent film from 1919, this is a story about Tatsu, the Dragon Painter, played by Sessue Hayakawa, who was quite a big star in American silent film ( he won an Oscar for his work decades later in "Bridge Over The River Kwai"). He is seeking an enchanted princess whom the gods took from him. He paints pictures of dragons because of this. An older artist named Indara, seeking to find an heir to his artistry, hears about Tatsu and summons him. He realizes Tatsu is the real thing and lures him by using his daughter Ume-Ko (played by Hayakawa's real life wife, Tsuru Aoki)to act as the princess Tatsu seeks. This film is great. It is a simple story told perfectly, in less than an hour. It was part of a TCM network retrospective on Asian images in cinema. The film is beautifully restored and even has great music, played on instruments from Japan. This is a silent film that you should enjoy, it tells the tale wonderfully. I recommend it.

Actor Sessue Hayakawa, after his role in 1915's "The Cheat," became extremely upset how Hollywood was portraying Asians in unflattering steorotypical images. Securing start-up funding, the Japanese-born Hayakawa set out to establish the first Asian-owned film production company in the United States, Haworth Pictures Corporation. Its owners set out to portray Asians in their own environment, interacting in their own customs and traditions, a much more realistic portrayal of the millions of people an ocean away from North America than they were being seen on the screen.

The earliest surviving film of Haworth Pictures Corp. Is September 1919's "The Dragon Painter." Adapted from a 1906 novel of the same name, the studio's ninth movie depicted a mad, solitary artist (Hayakawa) who believed his wife of 1,000 years ago was a dragon hidden in the wilds of Japan (the stunning mountains were filmed in Yosemite National Park). A few of his paintings end up in the hands of a famous aging painter who is seeking a protege to take over his mantle once he dies. Trouble is, the nutty painter draws inspiration on his late imaginary 1,000 year-old wife. The master artist sets up his daughter to transform into that dragon wife to encourage him to remain in his household. When the young painter falls in love with the daughter (played by Hayakawa's actual wife, Tsuru Aoki), he loses all inspiration in painting, causing a dilemma in the master's plans.

In its three years of existence, Haworth Pictures was a reasonable success, producing 23 movies and making enough money for Hayakawa to pay off the initial one million dollar loan as well as enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, complete with a gold-plated Pierce-Arrow car. Anticipating Prohibition in 1920, the actor purchased an enormous amount of liquor, allowing him to hold elaborate parties fortified with plenty of booze when a legal drop of alcohol couldn't be bought anywhere.