Momijigari

A valuable piece of film history

I love that for around 3 minutes in time I could step back into 1899 Japan and have a brief glimpse into the early film world. Momijigari was more of a documentary of two great Kabuki actors near the end of their lives in brief scenes from a famous play. It was still worth watching and surprisingly entertaining.

Danjuro played the princess who was actually a demon in disguise. He gracefully danced with his fans, a challenge with the wind blowing as they filmed it outdoors. At one point, one of the fans blew out of his hand, rescued by the stagehand. Kikugoro played Taira no Koremori who valiantly fought the now ugly demon with long flowing hair. The demon used a maple branch against Taira’s katana. I was particularly impressed with Danjuro’s hair fighting skills. The fight was compressed in a small area with the costumed stagehand picking up debris as the two took part in their fighting choreography.

Though filmed in 1899, it wasn’t shown in public until 1903 when Danjuro was too ill to take the stage and gave his permission. Kikugoro had already died at that time making it even more popular for people to see. It was then shown again after Danjuro’s death later that year. Though Danjuro was reluctant about having their performance filmed, the two actors’ legacies have been kept alive through these 3 minutes and 50 seconds worth of grainy film one hundred and twenty-five years later.

If you enjoy old films and film history, this is definitely worth less than five minutes of your time.

19 February 2024

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