(1932) The Greatest Man In The World

(国士無双 / Kokushi Muso)

Thank you for loving Asian cinematography ...

sorry, no cover available File:
174 MB (174 MB),  duration: 0:10:29,  type: AVI,  1 audio stream

Video:
172 MB,  2300 Kbps,  29.970 fps,  640*480 (4:3),  XVID = XVID Mpeg-4

Audio
2.39 MB,  32 Kbps,  48000 Hz,  2 channels,  0x55 = MPEG Layer-3,  CBR

"Mansaku Itami excelled at parodies of traditional narrative patterns, exposing the absurdities of vendettas, ridiculing the legendary swordsman, and treating the clan disturbance as humor. In one of his most acclaimed silent films, Kokushi muso (The Greatest Man in the World, 1932), a renowned swordsman is defeated by a humble impostor who has been using his name. The swordsman, Ise no Kami, retreats into the mountains to train while his daughter fawns over the impostor, who spends most of his time fishing. When Ise no Kami returns for another match, the impostor defeats him again, taking the swordsman's daughter as his prize. Although the film has been lost (a 21-min fragment exists -- mnauce), the script survives as evidence of Itami's satiric wit. The following exchange takes place after the second match:

Ise no Kami:    I just don't understand it. There's no way a real swordsman could be beaten by an impostor.
Impostor:    Well, there is nothing you could do about it once you've been beaten.
Ise no Kami:    The real swordsman is in the right. The impostor is in the wrong.
Impostor:    Now wait a minute. The person in the right doesn't win; the person who wins is right.

In another scene Itami cleverly avoids a typical swordfight while lampooning the conventional yakuza battle that pits a weaker group against a stronger one. The impostor happens by as Hachibei, an oyabun, prepares to lead three men against a force of fifty. The rival oyabun is angered by the impostor's suggestion that he lend Hachibei some men to make the fight fair. Borrowing a sword from Hachibei, the impostor disappears. He returns with a mangled sword to borrow another, and then another. Finally, the scene fades out on a shot of the entire gang of fifty dead."
(Lisa Spalding)

Type: B/W, Historic Cinema
Country: Japan
Language: Silent
Director: Mansaku Itami
Cast: Shuichiro Atsumi, Junzaburo Ban, Chiezo Kataoka, ...
Subtitles: none

Additional Info:
This is a ten minute fragment of the 1986 remake with the same name from 1986. It was included in the DVD and i found it just had to be made available.

I don't think another or longer film fragment is available to the public, so here's another rare b/w gem!

Credit goes to mnauce
RIP by me!