THE LOVERS’ EXILE

A Glorious Bunraku by the Masters of the Art

Venue(s): Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
March 24 (Fri), 6:30 pm
Language: Japanese with English subtitles.
Official website: www.bunraku-movie.com/
Theater website: topmuseum.jp/e/contents/exhibition/movie-2753.html
Tariff: General: ¥2,300, Students: ¥1,500
Advance tickets: T＆K TELEFILM: 03-3486-6881
Talk event: Please check the theater website.

Title: 文楽 冥途の飛脚 (Bunraku Meido no Hikyaku)

Marty Gross, the all-around Japan hand who has had long-running careers as a potter/pottery teacher, a consulting producer on Japanese art, film, theater and crafts, and as a filmmaker himself (As We Are, Potters at Work), will be in Tokyo on March 24 to present his enduringly popular 1980 film The Lovers’ Exile, which is being screened with English subs (by the legendary Donald Richie) for the occasion. The film brought together the great Bunraku puppet masters of the day, and was shot by renowned cinematographers Kozo Okazaki and Hideaki Kobayashi, with music supervised by acclaimed composer Toru Takemitsu.

Gross filmed The Lovers’ Exile in 1979 at Daiei Uzumasa Studios, Kyoto, on a specially constructed Bunraku stage, performed by Bunraku masters Takemoto Koshijdayu, Takemoto Mojitayu (now Sumitayu), Takemoto Oritayu (now Tsunatayu), Tsuruzawa Enza (5th), Tsuruzawa Seiji, Nozawa Kinshi (4th), Yoshida Tamao, Yoshida Minosuke, Yoshida Bunjaku and Kiritake Kanjuro (2nd) —many of whom were, or later became, National Treasures. The original three-hour stage performance was then edited to a 90-minute version that perfectly captures the exceptional artistry of this Japanese tradition.

The film version of The Lovers’ Exile is Gross’ adaptation of Meido no Hikyaku (The Courier for Hell, 1711) one of the classic Bunraku plays by Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1653-1724). A love-suicide story that follows a similar storyline to some of Chikamatsu’s other love-suicide plays, it was based on real events that took place in Osaka in 1710. It follows Chubei, an adopted son of a courier, who is in love with the prostitute Umegawa and is using customers' money to buy out her contract before another man can. When Chubei goes so far as to break the seal on 300 gold pieces belonging to an important samurai, a crime punishable by death, his fate is sealed, as is Umegawa’s…

For those who have not experienced Bunraku, The Lovers’ Exile is sure to be a revelation. The play’s stars are gorgeously costumed dolls, some over 3 1/2 feet tall, that are operated — nearly invisibly — by three people cloaked in black. Their skills are such that you will swear the dolls have come to life.

Tokyo Photographic Art Museum