Musume Dôjôji (1946)

Another of the multitudinous versions of Dojoji; the famous Noh play, so old it's authorship is unknown (the earliest written version dating from 1040A.D.). There is a stairway to heaven ... See full synopsis »

Director:

Kon Ichikawa

Writer:

Keiji Hasebe

Storyline

Another of the multitudinous versions of Dojoji; the famous Noh play, so old it's authorship is unknown (the earliest written version dating from 1040A.D.). There is a stairway to heaven showered with flower petals, telling us the afterlife is involved in the telling of this tale. In a flashback, men work on a new bell for the temple, and a lady flirts with one of them. He ignores her and the bell shatters, crashing everyone to the ground. In the present, a man sits until a lady approaches him and offers a cherry blossom branch. He considers the proposition, but when someone spies the two of them, he turns away. Spurned, she prays at the foot of a Nyoirin Kannon statue while he sits alone in darkness. The sun sparks his return to the kiln, where workers throw in material for making another bell. Once it's built, the men celebrate until he dances off to discover her dead in front of the statue. A Buddhist priest and young monks sing a song to celebrate the new bell, but when they ...

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Genres:

Short

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Banned by US occupational forces on the grounds of being "too traditional". Long believed to be lost, a surviving copy still exists

User Reviews

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Also Known As:

A Girl at Dojo Temple

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Kyoiku Eiga

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1