In reference to the former thread about religiously themed films, I would
call forth attention to a Japanese film, "Onmyoji"(Yin-Yang Master). With
Seimei's--a lead character's--repeated admonishments to the bungling
Hiromasa (who shows an ignorance of matters supernatural and thinks more
with the heart than his head), that "a single heart can turn one into a
Buddha or a devil", the two intertwining stories of thwarted love in the
film form running commentaries on each other which affirm this
admonishment's truth.
From an ethnographical perspective, it seems that the story is based very
much on mythic Japanese traditions, an assimilation of Chinese Taoism,
Buddhism(in its notions of karma and retribution, and the singular heart
that can turn one either into a saint or a devil), and last but no least the
native Shintoism of Japan. Not surprisingly, Doson and Seimei are dressed in
the costumes peculiar to native Shintoist priests of Japan, with their long
flowing sleeves, and the high triangulated cone-shaped hats and the wooden
tablets they carry in one hand. What I found rather amazing as a revelation
was that the lead actor who starred as Seimei, Mansai Nomura, is actually a
Noh Theater performer, and his theatricalized moves in certain yin-yang
rituals he performs within the film resonate with a heavy Shintoist and
religious flavour. The film has had a large cult following in Japan, being
rooted primarily in a manga series and the original book published by Baku
Yumemakura, and it was the top grossing blockbuster in Japan in 2001. I have
no doubt that on your own side, you may have heard of the film, even if you
have not watched it. What struck me were particularly the few questions
which I am still trying to grapple with in this reviewing of the film.
Firstly, there is the idea of the living woman who turns into a demoness
with unrequitted love by a man, and although it seems rather awkward in a
Western imagination with its highly stylized and theatrical images of
representation, I was indeed wondering if there is not an analogue in
Japanese folk beliefs, if not in the organized Shinto religion. Secondly,
the calm poise with which the Heian period is often associated with in terms
of its mood as a dynasty in Japanese history, portrayed via the religious
statues of saints(or gods) in Shintoism and Buddhism, seems somehow to be
captured too in the poise of Seimei and secondarily, Lady Aone, who appears
uncannily like a shaman(shamans are normally females in Korean and Northeast
Asian cultures, such as in Mongolia, Manchuria). In one scene, while trying
to purge crown prince Atsuhira of the illness visited upon him by a demon,
Seimei uses the immortal Lady Aone as a host to contain the demon after it
has been purged from Atsuhira's body and then purges it from Aone's body. Is
this a scene from any shamanistic ritual where the shaman allows one's body
to become a vessel for an evil spirit plaguing someone else before purging
it out? Finally, the grand ritual with which Seimei uses Aone's immortal
life (which she sacrifices willingly) so as to resurrect Hiromasa's life
seems uncannily to remind one of the ritual which appears in all the Chinese
Taoist-drama serials and movies, like "yi hun da fa"(the re-arrangement of
souls, a Taoist form of transmigration).
Kevin
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