Abnégation

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.

A mentally disturbed artist (Sessue Hayakawa), from the mountains of Japan, is convinced that his fiancee, a beautiful princess, has been captured and turned into a dragon. His obsession with his fictitious loss, leads to his artistic inspiration.

It isn't until a young surveyor, (Toyo Fujita) comes across some of Tatsu's artwork, that his genius is discovered. The surveyor then informs the famous artist, Kano Indara about his discovery, who immediately agrees to meet Tatsu.

Indara, his daughter Ume-Ko, and Undobuchida soon realise that they cannot persuade Tetsu to come down from the mountains to further his talent as an artist, without a ploy.

Ume-Ko consequently dresses up as a Princess, and the promise of Tatsu being re-united with his long lost love, lures him into Kano Indara's house. Of course, the family realises that Tatsu has a lot of uncivilized and crazy habits which he needs to get rid of, if he is going to fit into civilized Japanese society.

Overall, the movie is a very sweet and interesting piece. There is great use of color-tinting throughout the film, which perfectly reflects the mood and theme. Hayakawa does an awesome job at playing a madman- a good combination of dramatic and comical acting.

Although it is not the best silent movie I've ever seen, it is definitely worth watching. It's a lovely little fairy tale which puts a smile on your face!

This is a lyrical, visually arresting Japanese fairy-tale about a mad artist who is under the impression that the princess of his dreams lurks in an enchanted lake which has turned her into a dragon. SESSUE HAYAKAWA is the intense young man who becomes the protégé of a painter who is looking for new talent. When the man threatens to walk away, the painter reveals that he has a daughter whom he passes off as the princess the painter is looking for.

The trick works and before you know it, the two young people fall in love. But the art of painting eludes him once he has found his lost princess and therein lies the crux of the plot. How will he get it back unless she gives up her life so that her loss will be his gain?

It's an intriguing premise and it's artfully crafted from the very opening scene with outdoor backgrounds photographed in Yosemite to give an authentic feel to the settings. The print shown on TCM is in fairly good condition considering the age and the tinted effects for moonlight give it a haunting spell.

SESSUE HAYAKAWA makes a convincing mad genius and TSURU AOKI is fine as the princess of his dreams, in real life, his wife.

Summing up: For silent film fans, well worth watching with an appropriate background score and acting that is more natural than the usual silent screen technique you might expect. The photography throughout is on the artistic side.

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.