Educational Media Reviews Online

This film tells story of the preservation and evolution of traditional Japanese painting during the modernization of Japan in the Meiji period. When asked at the beginning to recall his indispensable role in this, Tenshin says he remembers only how hard that time was. That is a just characterization of what follows, much of which is dark and sad.

The irascible Tenshin Okakura is not particularly likeable. I suppose sacrificing everything, including wife and child, for one’s art shows the utter sincerity and purity of purpose so prized by traditional Japanese culture, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Tenshin had fallen for some western notion of art as the product of suffering. I’ve always admired Ando Hiroshige’s prints from a happier time, of his leisurely trip along the Tokaido Road, so I’m not sure the deprivation Tenshin insisted on for his students was productive or necessary. In any case, this slow yet tense film gives one plenty of time to ponder such issues.

This film is a feature film rather than a documentary; it’s artistic in its own right, but doesn’t convey a lot of information efficiently, so its educational uses may be rare.