''Death of a Tea Master'' ( ja, 千利休本覺坊遺文, ''Sen no Rikyu: Honkakubô ibun'' also known as ''Sen no Rikyū: Honkakubo's Student Writings'') is a 1989 Japanese

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Kei Kumai was a Japanese film director from Azumino, Nagano prefecture. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his first film, '' Nihon ...

. It is based on real life events of

Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...

, particularly the events surrounding his

ritual suicide A suicide method is any means by which a person chooses to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and bra ...

. It was entered into the main competition at the

46th Venice International Film Festival The 46th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 4 to 15 September 1989. Jury The following people comprised the 1989 jury: * Andrei Smirnov: Head of Jury *Néstor Almendros *Pupi Avati *Klaus Maria Brandauer * Danièle Heymann ...

, in which it won the

Silver Lion The Silver Lion ( it, Leone d'argento, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film at official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998. The pri ...

Cast

* Eiji Okuda as Honkakubo *

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ' ...

Kinnosuke Yorozuya (November 20, 1932 – March 10, 1997) was a Japanese kabuki actor. Born , son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on his guild name ('' ...

as Oda Urakusai *

Go Kato Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * ''Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position lo ...

as Furuta Oribe *

Shinsuke Ashida was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1952 and 1996. Selected filmography Film * '' Gendai-jin'' (1952) * '' Mahiru no ankoku'' (1956) * ''An Actress'' (1956) * '' Underworld Beauty'' (1958) * '' Arashi no naka o tsup ...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

References

External links

* 1989 films Japanese biographical drama films 1980s biographical drama films Films directed by Kei Kumai Films set in Kyoto Cultural depictions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi Cultural depictions of Tokugawa Ieyasu Cultural depictions of Oda Nobunaga 1989 crime drama films 1980s Japanese films {{1980s-drama-film-stub