Is Benshi. Is Good.
The Water Magician
The benshi tradition comes to ACMI.
Internationally renowned benshi, Ichiro Katoaka, will join ACMI as a special guest to narrate Kenji Mizoguchi's classic silent film, The Water Magician (Taki No Shiraito).
A gripping tale of love and sacrifice, The Water Magician is the story of a female magician who tries to support a young man through his studies to the detriment of her own career. With a benshi on hand to narrate the film, there are bound to be a few surprises along the way.
The benshi profession has a fascinating history. As Tosh Berman wrote in his article 'The Benshi Tradition: Cinema = Performance': "The remarkable component of this practice is that the benshi is utilising a finished film and operating with that material as a springboard for their own story. If there is a scene in the film of a beautiful moon, the benshi may use that image to recite a poem about the lunar landscape."
The benshi tradition developed in Japan when silent films arrived at the end of the 19th century. A big drawcard for getting the Japanese to the cinema, benshis proved so popular that audiences regarded them as more imporant than the on screen actors. The practice soon spread to other parts of the world; in Taiwan the performers became known as 'benzi', while Koreans referred to them as 'pyônsa'. The USSR also had its own kind of benshi.
Under Brezhnev's rule foreign films were not freely available in the USSR, so the State Committee for Cinematography ran private screenings of international films for the bourgeoisie. While these films were screened, a live intepretor was on hand to ensure all the humour and expressions unique to the film were not lost on the audience. Some of the most popular male voices used to dub foreign films in the USSR got their start in the industry this way.
The Water Magician screens at ACMI on Saturday 5 March at 7pm.
Published Monday, 28 February 2011
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