Zen (2009 film)

Zen 禅
Directed byBanmei Takahashi
Screenplay byBanmei Takahashi
Based onA novel by Tetsuo Ōtani
StarringNakamura Kantarō II
Yuki Uchida
Edited byJunichi Kikuchi
Music byRyudo Uzaki
Production
companies
Distributed byKadokawa Pictures
Release date
  • 10 January 2009 (2009-01-10)
Running time
127 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguagesJapanese
Mandarin

Zen (禅) is a 2009 film directed by Banmei Takahashi and starring Nakamura Kantarō II as Dogen, and Yuki Uchida as Orin.[1][2] The story is based on the novel Eihei no kaze: Dōgen no shōgai written by Tetsuo Ōtani in 2001.[3]

The film is a biography of Dōgen Zenji, a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher. After travelling to China to study, Dogen founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. The Buddhist Film Foundation described it as "a poignant, in-depth, reverent and surprisingly moving portrait of Eihei Dogen."[4]

Reception

Russell Edwards of Variety described it as "The origins of a spiritual tradition are depicted with prerequisite solemnity and a pleasing veneer of arthouse showmanship."[5] Mark Schilling, writing for The Japan Times, gave the film three and a half stars and described it as a "rare serious film about this form of Buddhism, which has had a huge cultural influence but is little understood — let alone practiced — by ordinary Japanese."[6]

Release

The film premiered in Japan in 2009. The following year, it had its US debut at the International Buddhist Film Festival.[7] The film was released on DVD and includes a short documentary entitled The Zen of Dogen with Kazuaki Tanahashi.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Zen - Reviews, Movie Trailers, Cast & Crew. Movies at Film.com". Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  2. ^ Ouellette, Kevin (15 May 2009). "DVD release - Zen (Amuse Soft Entertainment) available on 6/25/2009". Nippon Cinema. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  3. ^ Giuliano Tani (2018). Cinestoria del Giappone : il Sol Levante attraverso i suoi film. Kappalab, 2018. ISBN 9788885457102.
  4. ^ "Zen". The Buddhist Film Foundation. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  5. ^ "Zen". Variety. January 25, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  6. ^ "Zen". The Japan Times. January 16, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  7. ^ "IBFF Showcase 2010". The Buddhist Film Foundation. 30 November 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  8. ^ "New Film Zen, Now on DVD". The Buddhist Film Foundation. 21 October 2011. Retrieved September 23, 2015.


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