Tamasaburo Bando
Kabuki actor, and the most popular and celebrated onnagata (an actor specializing in female roles) currently on stage. He has also acted in a handful of films. Born in 1950, Shin'ichi Morita was adopted by Morita Kan'ya XIV, and made his first appearance on stage at the age of seven, under the name Bandō Kinoji. At a shūmei (naming ceremony) in 1964 he became the fifth to take the name Bandō Tamasaburō; his adoptive father had been the fourth. In 1993, he directed the film Yearning, which was entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival
Tenshu monogatari (1995)
A young samurai dares to approach a castle mistress as he searches for an escaped falcon, a crime punishable by death, but escapes with his life. He is forced to return to the castle by the dying light, but the mistress has become fascinated with him... (more)
A young samurai dares to approach a castle mistress as he searches for an escaped falcon, a crime punishable by death, but escapes with his life. He is forced to return to the castle by the dying light, but the mistress has become fascinated with him... (more)
Demon Pond (1979)
Outside of a small village in Japan, a mysterious pond is inhabited by mythic creatures. Their story is of revenge, tragedy, and the power of real love. A classical tale which translates wonderfully to film. (more)
Outside of a small village in Japan, a mysterious pond is inhabited by mythic creatures. Their story is of revenge, tragedy, and the power of real love. A classical tale which translates wonderfully to film. (more)
Melodrama about a woman refusing surgery. (more)
Yearning (1993)
Famed onnagata (a man who plays women's parts in Kabuki) Tamasaburo Bando follows up on the success of his directorial debut, Gekashitsu, with this soft-focused romance about love and obligation, based on a novel by Kafu Nagai. Set during the Meiji period ... (more)
Famed onnagata (a man who plays women's parts in Kabuki) Tamasaburo Bando follows up on the success of his directorial debut, Gekashitsu, with this soft-focused romance about love and obligation, based on a novel by Kafu Nagai. Set during the Meiji period ... (more)
The Written Face
(1995)
In Japanese theater, women's roles are traditionally played by men. The man playing the woman's role, the Onnagata, does not imitate the woman, as in the West, but tries to capture her significance. He need not stick close to his model, but draws far more from his ... (more)
In Japanese theater, women's roles are traditionally played by men. The man playing the woman's role, the Onnagata, does not imitate the woman, as in the West, but tries to capture her significance. He need not stick close to his model, but draws far more from his ... (more)
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis (1988)
The reincarnation of a 10th century Japanese general haunts 1920's Tokyo. (more)
The reincarnation of a 10th century Japanese general haunts 1920's Tokyo. (more)
Yumeji
(1991)
Following the life of Japanese artist and poet Yumeji Takehisa through the imagining of an encounter with a beautiful widow with a dark past. (more)
Following the life of Japanese artist and poet Yumeji Takehisa through the imagining of an encounter with a beautiful widow with a dark past. (more)
Nastazja (1994)
Andrzej Wajda's Japanese-language film based on the last chapter of Dostoevsky's Idiot, in which Prince Myshkin and Rogozhin return to the past in a conversation over the dead body of Nastassya Filippovna. Bando Tamasaburo, regarded as one of the most outstanding ... (more)
Andrzej Wajda's Japanese-language film based on the last chapter of Dostoevsky's Idiot, in which Prince Myshkin and Rogozhin return to the past in a conversation over the dead body of Nastassya Filippovna. Bando Tamasaburo, regarded as one of the most outstanding ... (more)
Ume Goyomi (2004)
The main story concerns the rivalry between Adakichi and Yonehachi, two geisha of the Fukagawa district of Edo, for the love of the handsome and gentle Tanjirô. This situation gives rise to a number of highly entertaining scenes when, for example, in a fit of ... (more)
The main story concerns the rivalry between Adakichi and Yonehachi, two geisha of the Fukagawa district of Edo, for the love of the handsome and gentle Tanjirô. This situation gives rise to a number of highly entertaining scenes when, for example, in a fit of ... (more)