Das geschriebene Gesicht (1995) - full transcript

Princess Inada is desperate because she

has been chosen as a human sacrifice

to placate Orochi, the huge serpent.

But the ancient god

Susanoo no Mikato appears.

He looks for a way to save Inada.

They serve Orochi

countless bottles of sake until Susanoo

is able to kill the serpent.

A Japanese artist called

Tamasaburo Bando stands before us.

He has great talent as a dancer

in Kabuki theatre.

His name is famous everywhere.

The entire village is awaiting him.

We are happy and proud that he is

appearing in our Uchiko-za theatre.

This silence while I make up

makes me uneasy.

But too much noise is no better.

Très joli,

molto bello.

This is unique.

There are so many strange things.

But it is beautiful.

It is a shame that you cannot

see the mountains today.

Formerly I thought

that I could act like a woman.

But then I recognised that I have never

seen the world with the eyes of a woman.

Never with her own eyes. I understood

that my vision is that of a man.

I act a woman with the eyes

and the feelings of a man;

like a man painting

the portrait of a woman.

This is how I give shape

to an Onnagata rôle.

I try to portray an ideal image of

woman, in the same way a male writer

describes feminine feelings

from the standpoint of a man.

I do not represent a woman,

but I suggest

the essence of woman. That is

the nature of the Onnagata, isn't it?

I gather up knowledge about women. I

watch different women: this is how they

react, this is how they place their hand

on their hair when they are thinking.

I gather up this type of material and

transform it. Thus my masculine instinct

evolves naturally. In such a way,

models of womanliness take shape.

This is how I proceed.

I've switched on Time.

- Time.

- Time?

How do you play that?

Oh, now I understand.

Wouldn't you rather go into the theatre?

- Yes, let's go.

- Take off your shoes.

Please switch it off, otherwise the

batteries will run out.

A dog is barking.

Kuronoshi, disguised as Sekibei,

the guardian of a barrier,

is planning to take over

the imperial power.

He becomes drunk and notices

the stars reflected in a bowl of sake.

- Now I have lost.

- Have you?

For how long have you been

playing this game?

- How old were you?

- I don't know.

Sometimes I play other games.

When?

Well, I... go on.

Now you must press Time.

- Do we want to go into the theatre?

- Yes.

Let's go.

Kabuki.

Sekibei takes the reflection

of the stars in the sake as a sign.

If he makes a burnt offering

with wood from the cherry tree,

his plan to become emperor

will come true.

Trying to cut down the tree,

he is stopped by the spirit of the tree

in the form of the courtesan Sumizome

who finally triumphs.

No, I am not a Kabuki professor.

I am just an actor.

The Onnagata is often said to be more

feminine than women themselves.

That sounds simple.

There are however women

whom I feel are exceptional in their fe-

mininity: for example Garbo or Dietrich;

Hollywood made them into a type

of identifiable artistic symbol.

Han Takehara and Haruko Sugimura

are a similar phenomenon.

The fact that they are women

can be withheld at first.

Then their performing material can be

laid out and they can draw on what is

useful and set it out in "preparation",

as if in a cooking process.

These, I believe, are women

with an extraordinary talent.

Excuse me. First I bow,

then I close the fan,

then I bow again

and stand up, then I go over there...

about here I look back.

When a man plays a woman

he observes her very exactly,

with much closer attention

than women do among themselves.

That is why an Onnagata, an actor of

women's rôles, can show many things

which are unknown to a woman.

That is why I believe that I have learnt

a great deal from men, from Onnagatas.

It is impossible to act

exactly like them.

Why are women's rôles acted by women

often more boring

than Onnagata interpretations?

They seem more colourless on stage

than when men play their parts.

The great performer Han Takehara was

too broad-shouldered for the May Dance.

And from the beginning the great actress

Haruko Sugimura played mothers

because she was not

considered beautiful.

By awareness of

their own imperfections,

both were able to see themselves

more objectively.

As a man who plays women's rôles,

my situation is similar.

Furthermore I have had a disabled leg

since my youth.

That has made me

more sensitive in movement.

And I am too tall.

I am taller than all former Japanese

performers of women's rôles.

I can consider my size objectively.

As in a cooking process,

I dissect and "prepare" myself.

It seems strange that a weakness

can become an advantage,

but I have sought to work

with these imperfections.

I always wanted to act in theatre.

When I was young,

a woman who wanted to go into film

had above all to be beautiful.

Therefore I did not even dream

of becoming a film actress.

What?

Tabe San!

Tabe San!

We have not seen each other

for a long time.

Stay seated and wait a moment.

Excuse me.

Leave that! When a woman gets ready,

she likes to be alone.

The 21st century is about to begin.

I do not know

what the world will look like.

But the essential substance of which

people and their feelings are made

will not change.

Film is first and foremost

entertainment.

But it also allows us

to think about life in general.

That is why it will not disappear.

We live in a time of transition.

And nothing goes on forever,

neither good things

nor bad things.

It smells odd. What are you burning?

Only the cigarette butt.

I have nothing to say.

That is why I dance and act.

Which is where everything

I wish to express can be seen.

Things which are impossible to say.

The substance of what I want to say

lies in the act of looking back

or of putting on a costume.

Of course I use language to help when I

try to explain my feelings, or ideas.

I choose my words carefully, arrange

and connect them as if editing a film.

Nonetheless words only have

a secondary nature for me.

For me, movement is something

which comes from one's own heart

and to which I give form.

Do you understand?

With sadness, when I am sad,

thoughtfully, when I am thoughtful.

Just so, I move my body and my heart.

That's how it is.

People who know

how to play like children,

adapt every space which is given to

them.

From an isolated space capsule,

they can create a cosmos.

Such, I think,

are people with a theatrical soul.

My twilight Geisha time

will soon be over.

It is moving into evening sunlight.

Time passes

like the critically decisive instant...

One cannot choose,

the questions remain open,

in this unique twilight zone

in which the destiny of man

is played out.

From the beginning onwards.

Geisha? I began early as a Geisha.

In the 43rd year of the Meiji era

I entered a Geisha school

in Yanagibashi.

I started as a 16-year-old.

So I have worked as a Geisha for

80 years, as I am 101 years old today.

Please relax.

We are leaving Osaka,

in order to hide away.

We are fleeing,

today in the hut of Nara,

tomorrow in Miwa's teahouse.

You are angry, I know,

but we must submit to destiny.

Thank you.

When I am in the house,

I think of love.

When I go outside,

I think of love.

A light breeze and a full moon

are not as beautiful as we are.

Even a couple of mandarin ducks,

who always fly together,

do not love as much as we do.

Now the beautiful time has passed.

Only a memory remains.

A maiden who has been abandoned

by her lover goes mad and dies.

Finding no peace, she reappears

as the reincarnation of a heron.

In different shapes she dances

on a snowy winter's night.