is a 1925 black and white

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

with

benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films (both Japanese films and Western films). ''Benshi'' are sometimes called or . Role The earliest films available for public display were produced by Western studios, portray ...

accompaniment directed by Buntarō Futagawa. It is the most popular and beloved film of

Tsumasaburō Bandō was one of the most prominent Japanese actors of the twentieth century. Famous for his rebellious, sword fighting roles in many jidaigeki silent films, he rose to fame after joining the Tōjiin Studio of Makino Film Productions in Kyoto in ...

, featuring the star at the height of his fame.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

who falls on hard times due to misunderstandings and explains the plots of his enemies. Such explanations superbly depict the absurdity of the samurai's unjust world, making this work pertinent even today.

Analysis

The kinetic sword fighting scenes masterfully performed by Bandō were novel in an age when

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

-style, leisurely and dignified movies were the norm. This style was passed onto modern

chambara , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

films. Additionally, the sword fighting style's aesthetic value is slightly lost in ''Orochi'' due to the pace at which the fight scenes were filmed (fast-forward motion). Due to the kabuki style, the makeup on the characters transformed them into almost identical representations of

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...

(woodblock prints), a major Japanese art form.

Title

The original title of the movie was supposed to be "Outlaw," but the Japanese censors and police banned it, because the depiction of an outlaw as a hero was seen as very dangerous. The title was later changed to "Serpent," describing how Bando Tsumasaburo wiggles when he fights back and how, even in death, a serpent looks terrifying. Confused, the censors allowed the title.

References

External links

Orochi on IMDb.com
1925 films Japanese silent films Japanese historical films 1920s Japanese films Japanese black-and-white films 1920s historical films {{1920s-Japan-film-stub