Tales of Genji: A Thousand Year Enigma
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Yasuo Tsuruhashi
Toma Ikuta
Miki Nakatani
Yoko Maki
Tabe Mikako
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Lord Fujiwara, a powerful politician, wants to draw the Emperor's attention to his daughter Shoshi and orders a writer with the name Lady Shikibu to write a novel. Shikibu is secretly in love with Lord Fujiwara, and writes the novel using him as the model for her character, Prince Genji. In her story, all the ladies of the court love Prince Genji, but he is enamored with the Emperor's wife, his step-mother Kiritsubo. Unable to have her, he veers in his affections between Aoi, his wife and the solicitous Yugao. Shikibu's ghost written story appeals to the Emperor, who marries Shoshi and quickly fathers a son. The story has accomplished its purpose, but the writer is unable to stop writing. She has become obsessed, identifying herself with Genji's lovers in the story, until the love, envy and hate creates upheaval in both the novel and reality.
Director
Yasuo Tsuruhashi
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period (794 to 1185.) It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be considered a classic.
