Final Battle Scene of Orochi 1925 Japanese Samurai Silent Film

I have found a wonderful 8 minute film showing an example of a silent movie from Japan from 1925. The movie is called "Orochi." 


Japan has always had a rich cinema industry and it might surprise many that silent films were made in Japan before 1900.

I am a big fan of silent films and thought that you would enjoy this too.


Here's the description taken straight from the Youtube channel of Saturnome:


Here's the final sword fight of Orochi, a obscure 1925 samurai film by forgotten director Buntaro Futagawa featuring star Tsumasaburo Bando.

It story concern a unlucky samurai who fall from grace due to various misunderstandings and tries to save his reputation. It's ending makes it different than what we are used to.

It's interesting how it feels like they're trying to capture a wild animal. The whole village is there, scared to death of a single, desperate and crazy-acting man. The battle ends when he kills someone in the crowd. Viewed as a monster by everybody, it is actually the first time he kill someone and can't take it.

Japanese films of the 1920s are almost nonexistent these days due to earthquake, fire and other hazards which have destroyed much of Japan's silent legacy. Orochi is a very rare kind which survived in complete form to these days.

Though it is not exactly a masterpiece (but it is very enjoyable) it's historical importance and uniqueness status can't be overstated; it's a rare chance to enjoy a certain kind of cinema.

The voice you hear is a benshi, a traditional silent film narrator of Japan. This track was recorded for the Digital Meme's DVD release. Thanks to them, this film now can be viewed anywhere in the world.

Marketing Japan: Akira Kurosawa and Other Short, Fun Japanese Videos Online!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

A lot of cinema fans in the west just love Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa, but did you know that he is more famous in the west than he is in Japan? Actually, that happens a lot with artists and musicians from Japan; they are popular in the west, but not so much in Japan.

Kurosawa didn't become even remotely popular in Japan until years after Seven Samurai was released in 1954 and remade in the USA as "The Magnificent Seven," starring Yul Brenner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen in 1960. 

Many people believe that Seven Samurai is one of the ten greatest movies ever made and is the very first action movie. 

So, today, for your Sunday morning pleasure, I wanted to show you  few things that I found that are very nice and I thought very culturally interesting for your enjoyment. The first is a one minute short film montage of Japanese posters of the films directed by Akira Kurosawa, played to the theme music of "Yojimbo." It is only one minute long and very fun!

Double click on video for full screen

Double click on video for full screen

Here is also a great Akira Kurosawa documentary (about 11 minutes) that talks about the director's life with much detail about Seven Samurai.

Double click on video for full screen

Double click on video for full screen

This material is from an Internet site that I often enjoy going to and searching around. It is called the Internet Archive - it is absolutely free - and it is full of rights free materials that can be used for student films and other non-profit uses. To show you what can be done using the materials here, I used one here for a Punk Rock and Horror video that I made with Ken Nishikawa a few years ago. It is for the Kyoto girl's punk band, The Soap. Watch it here:

Double click on video for full screen

Double click on video for full screen

Pretty cool, eh?

Anyway, I digress... The Internet Archive is full of great films, short and long and I highly recommend it.

The Internet Archive is here.

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Keywords:
Japan, Akira Kurosawa, Eli Wallach, Mike Rogers, Seven Samurai, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, The Soap, Kyoto, Ken Nishikawa, Punk Rock, horror video, Yojimbo, Internet, Internet archive, cinema, Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, Magnificent Seven