Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Noh Theater in Popular Culture

Noh Plays are one of the oldest theatrical traditions in Japan. Here's a glimpse of what it looks like in performance...


Modern film makers from Japan and elsewhere are still heavily influenced by Noh traditions -- especially the trope of mortals entering the supernatural and sometimes forbidden world that lurks beneath the surface of our own.


In Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, a little boy happens upon a wedding party of foxes. It is forbidden for humans to observe such a thing, and the boy must beg for their forgiveness or perish.

In adition to live action film, we can see the influences of Noh in animation... For example: Spirited Away:





I've always thought that the NoFace character in Spirited Away was creepy... but perhaps nothing is quite as unsettling as the little girl from The Ring crawling out of the well




Watch if you dare!!!

 
 


No comments:

Post a Comment