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Horse/Kappa/House
Variant Title:Horse Kappa House
Content:Documentary Film
Available From:Abraham Ravett
Media Type:Videocassette
Release Date:1995
Audience:Higher Education
Running Time:33 min.
Language:English
Author:A film by Abraham Ravett
Animation by Ishida Sumiaki
Subject:Language and Literature
Philosophy and Religion
Subheading:Folk Religion
Literature
Region:East Asia
Country:Japan



Abstract:

"Produced, directed, filmed and edited by Abraham Ravett. Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan is the setting for THE LEGENDS OF TONO (TONO MONOGATARI), a unique collection of regional folk tales, gathered in the early 20th century by Yanagita Kunio. The tales manifest and explain invisible forces and malevolent events which shape the psycho-cultural dimensions of Japanese indigenous beliefs and folk faith. Inspired by THE LEGENDS OF TONO, HORSE/KAPPA/HOUSE, records the surrounding landscapes in a number of small villages throughout Iwate Prefecture in order to create a cinematic space which echoes by implication and association, the external and unseen world in the environment. The film embodies the idea so eloquently stated by noted historian, Mr. Umehara Takeshi, that 'all living things--animals and plants, as well as mountains, rivers, and other natural phenomena have spirits and that these spirits are constantly moving back and forth between Heaven and this world, forming the basis of the Japanese ethos. The form of the film was shaped in the editing and post-production process, as Mr. Ravett sought to embody the ephemeral into material form. He utilized a combination of time lapse cinematography, animation, optical printing and intertitles to provide a context for a broader understanding of the legends. The recordings of religious ceremonies, plus Komori Uta (lullabies) chanted by Abe Yae, a renowned singer and local farmer, adds a haunting, emotionally charged layer of meaning to the visual tapestry. For example, Dendera Field, seen today as a lovely pastoral landscape, was historically the site where children abandoned elderly parents who were seen as no longer productive. Framed by the sound of birds chirping, the long, time lapse view of Dendera Field is presented as a space of loss, memory, and collective history. With each landscape presented, the goal was to alter, amplify, and change our perceptions of time and sense of place thus invoking a greater receptivity for THE LEGENDS OF TONO. The combination of the above creates a film that in form and content bridges the world of imagined, perceived and documented reality. Funded by the Hoso Bunka Foundation, The Japan Foundation, and the Filmmaking Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation."




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