The Book of the Dead
Across Asia • 1h 9m
Directed by Kihachiro Kawamoto • Animation • 2014 • 70 minutes
Master animator Kihachiro Kawamoto's tour de force adventure tale of a young noble girl in 8th-century Japan who leaves her home to follow the apparition of an executed prince in this ravishing film of beauty and mysticism.
As Buddhism is being introduced to Japan from China, Iratsume, a woman of noble descent becomes obsessed with this mysteriously new religion. One night in a rapturous trance, Iratsume sees a luminous vision that she believes to be the Buddha, compelling her to leave home and journey to a sacred temple. There she sees Otsu, a young Prince who was executed 50 years earlier. While Iratsume mistakes the prince's spirit the very incarnation of the great Buddha, the ghost mistakes Iratsume for the last woman he eyed at the moment of death. As a act of great devotion, Iratsume decides to make a giant shroud for the prince to heal his soul and the Prince begins to haunt the young woman and those around her. The pair embark on a impassioned battle of wills, one longing for the material world, the other striving for the spiritual.
This strange tale of otherworldly romance is the work of stop-motion animator and puppet-maker Kihachiro Kawamoto, a former student of master Jiri Trnka. Already a legend in his own right, with The Book of the Dead he has created his intricately detailed magnum opus, a summation of themes explored in all of his work: the transience of existence, the ambiguity of human behavior and the search for perfection and beauty in an imperfect world. Acclaimed Russian animator and director Yuriy Norshteyn was invited to work on the film as a "guest animator".
Up Next in Across Asia
-
By the Time It Gets Dark
Directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong • Drama • With Visra Vichit-Vadakan, Arak Amornsupasiri, Achtara Suwan • 2017 • 105 minutes
A shape-shifting narrative around memory, politics and cinema, the film weaves together the stories of several characters. We meet a young waitress serving breakfast at...
-
Creepy
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa • Drama • With Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yûko Takeuchi, Toru Baba • 2017 • 130 minutes
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who made his name with classics CURE and BRIGHT FUTURE, gets back to his roots by putting the thumbscrews to the audience with his latest, CREEPY. A year after a botch...
-
Demons
Directed by Daniel Hui • Drama • With Vicki Yang, Glen Goei, Vikneshwaran Kobinathan • 2018 • 84 minutes
Aspiring actress Vicki thinks she has gotten the role of her life in Daniel’s new play. But her debut lead role only casts her into endless torture at the esteemed director’s hands. When she ...