The CMRS film series has returned! This semester, we're focusing on films about medieval Japan to align with the current course on Medieval Kyoto (MedRen 3211).
Movies start at 7:00 pm on Wednesday nights in 180 Hagerty Hall. All movies will be followed by a brief talk and Q+A led by Associate Professor Naomi Fukumori, who teaches the course on Medieval Kyoto. Pizza and refreshments will be served. These screenings are free and are open to all. This semester's remaining film schedule includes:
September 17 - Onmyōji (The Yin Yang Master) (2001)
October 22 - Rashōmon (1950)
November 19 - Battle League Horumō (2009)
This month features Onmyōji (The Yin Yang Master) (2001). During an age of demons and ghosts in 10th-century Kyoto, the emperor relied upon the Onmyōji, masters of Onmyōdō who used the yin and yang principle to interpret natural and astrological occurrences. Seimei (kyōgen actor Mansai Nomura), the most talented of the Onmyōji order, faces off with Dōson (Hiroyuki Sanada, Ringu and The Last Samurai), whose dark magic threatens to destroy the court. Based on Baku Yumemakura’s novel, which ignited the wild popularity of Onmyōji themes in contemporary Japanese popular culture.
The course on medieval Kyoto specifically focuses on the city’s medieval period, from its founding in 794 to the late 16th century. This was a period in which Kyoto’s cultural identity emerged, and, in view of Kyoto as the site of national authority during this duration, the broader Japanese cultural identity. Studying this timespan in the life of Kyoto lets us follow transformations in the lived environments of the city as it moves from imperial to shōgun military rule.
Find more information on each movie in the series on their individual listing on our event calendar. Questions? Email cmrs@osu.edu with any questions.
Hosted by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Humanities Institute.
