Priest of Darkness
December 17, 2021 7:00 pm
『河内山宗俊』
In-Person Screening
Friday, December 17 at 7 pm
Part of the Flash Forward series
New 4K Restoration—North American Premiere!. Based on the classic kabuki play Kochiyama & Naozamurai, Yamanaka’s Priest of Darkness is an intricately-plotted jidaigeki set in the streets of an impoverished Tokyo district. Troublemaker Hiro frequently gambles and finds himself embroiled in a prickly ordeal when he steals a samurai’s knife—setting in motion a domino-effect of bad fortune. The quick-witted Hiro hides out under the name of Nao at the tavern of good-willed Kochiyama Soshun, the titular “priest”—a man who dresses in monastic garb and runs the local gambling den. All the while, Hiro’s sister, the beautiful Onami (played by a young Setsuko Hara in one of her earliest roles), desperately searches for him and finds favor with Kochiyama, who promises to find her brother for her.
Dir. Sadao Yamanaka, 1936, 82 min. With Chojuro Kawarasaki, Kan'emon Nakamura, Setsuko Hara.
Tickets: $15 / $10 members
ON-SALE DATE
Members: November 11
General Public: November 15
Image: © Nikkatsu
Flash Forward: Debut Works and Recent Films by Notable Japanese Directors is co-presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in collaboration with Visual Industry Promotion Organization.
Japan Society Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, Masako H. Shinn, David Toberisky, Akiko Koide and Shohei Koide, Geoff and Fumi Matters, Laurel Gonsalves, David S. Howe, and Masu Hiroshi Masuyama. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the exclusive Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film.
