Product Description
Filmed in 2008, cinema release 2009. Directed by Kazuyoshi Kushida and starring Kanzaburo Nakamura, Kantaru Nakamura, Shichinosuke Nakamura, Takashi Sasano and Hachinosuke Nakamura. A noble Kyoto family has lost a carp scroll that was given to them by the Emperor. The young lord Yoshida Matsukawa ends up in hiding in Kyoto, posing as a common clerk at an antiques dealer hoping he can find it. His fiancee Princess Nowake is also in hiding in Kyoto searching for him, while Okumi, the daughter of the antique dealer, is in love with Matsukawa. Meanwhile, Kanjuro has the carp scroll and is in love with Okumi, and wants to use the scroll as an engagement gift. Into this elaborate plot enters Hokaibo, a 'depraved priest' with a different agenda. This cast and others arrive on the stage for 'Memories of the Sumida River- Hokaibo', a humerous farce, with occasional violence and spectacular dance. There are light moments, when Kanzaburo tells the musicians to be quiet, asks one of the audience to read out a note crucial to the plot, asks where they are from, makes jokes about Presidents Obama and Bush. There are also spectacular moments as when cherry blossom falls and the back wall of the Heisei Nakamura Tent Theatre in Asakusa is pulled back to reveal the real tree lined banks of the Sumida River.
NTSC, Region Code 2, 150 minutes, 16:9 HD Size, Dolby Digital 5.1ch (1) and 2.0ch Dolby Digital sound (2).
