Hokusai (1953)

A short and to-the-point flip show.

A fair amount of this black-and-white short film leaves the viewer to soak in the ambience of Hokusai's work, asking us to view history through his eyes as well as the eyes of the poets of his time. The narration doesn't say very much, but when it does it's very pointed, drawing our attention to the everyday lives of the working class and the timeless bitterness towards the wealthy class overtaxing them to pay for "hired guns" (in this case, samurai).

The few live action sequences do a good job of demonstrating what the woodblock printing process is like and how it can be used to highlight the perspective that Hokusai strove for, yet I can't help thinking about how much impressive depth is lost in the absence of Hokusai's vivid colors.

Overall, it is a decent sampling of what Hokusai's portfolio has to offer and worth a look if you're curious.

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