, also known as ''Dun-Huang'', is a

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

directed by Junya Satō. The movie was adapted from the 1959 novel '' Tun-Huang'' by

Yasushi Inoue was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories, poetry and essays, noted for his historical and autobiographical fiction. His most acclaimed works include '' The Bullfight'' (''Tōgyū'', 1949), ''The Roof Tile of Tempyō'' (''Tenpyō no iraka' ...

. The backdrop of the plotline is the

Mogao Caves The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

, a Buddhist manuscript trove in Dunhuang,

Western China Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality ( Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai), and three autonomous re ...

, located along the Silk Road during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. ...

. The film was released in Japan and China on June 25, 1988. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony. It is one of the highest-grossing Japanese films of all time.

Cast

Toshiyuki Nishida is a Japanese actor. He has won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for '' The Silk Road'' (1988) and ''Tsuribaka Nisshi 6'' (1993). He has also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Get Up!'' and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (200 ...

as Zhu Wangli, a commander of the

Xi Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...

empire * Kōichi Satō as Zhao Xingde, a student of Zhu Wangli * Anna Nakagawa as Tsurpia, a princess of a Uyghur kingdom *

Tsunehiko Watase (July 28, 1944 – March 14, 2017) was a Japanese actor known for portraying Rintaro Kano in ''Keishicho Sosa Ikka 9 Gakari'' ("Homicide Team 9"). He won the award for best supporting actor at the 2nd Japan Academy Prize for '' The Incident'' an ...

as Li Yuanhao, the Xi Xia emperor *

Takahiro Tamura was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1954 and 2005. He and his younger brothers Masakazu and Ryō were known as the three Tamura brothers. They were sons of actor Tsumasaburo Bando. Biography Tamura graduated from Dosh ...

as Tsao Yanhui

Reception

''The Silk Road'' was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1988, earning ¥4.5 billion in distribution income that year. It was the third highest-grossing Japanese film up until then, after ''

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

'' and ''

The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a 1986 Japanese adventure comedy-drama film about two animals, Milo (an orange tabby cat) and Otis (a pug). The original Japanese version, narrated by Shigeru Tsuyuki and with poetry recitation by Kyōko Koizumi, was released on July 12, ...

'', and remains one of the highest-grossing Japanese films. , the film has grossed a total of in Japan. In the United States, it grossed $123,959.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * 1988 films 1988 drama films 1980s Japanese-language films Films directed by Junya Satō Films set in 11th-century Song dynasty Films set in the Western Xia Japanese drama films Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners Toho films 1980s Japanese films {{1980s-Japan-film-stub

Cast

Reception

See also

References

Bibliography

External links