Kazuo Ohno: Beauty and Strength

Kazuo Ohno: Beauty and Strength

2001 · 111 min · Documentary

In the 60's and into the 70's, Kazuo Ohno himself produced three 16mm films. His many performances at the "Teatro Fonte" in Yokohama have been preserved with high quality Beta cameras. In addition, the television station NHK has made recordings of many of his theater performances since the premiere of "The Dead Sea" in 1985. Together, the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio and NHK own over one hundred hours of footage. This is complemented by a 1994 film by Daniel Schmid and new 16mm footage of Kazuo Ohno filmed especially for this project in October of 2000. From these resources, this 111 minute Video/DVD was assembled. "Beauty and Strength" includes dance performances, film excerpts and interviews, examples of Ohno's drawings and writings, as well as biographical information, creating a comprehensive look into the world of Kazuo Ohno's dance.

Directed by Kazuo Ohno

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 21m together

Kazuo Ohno: Beauty and Strength

Mr O's Book of the Dead

Both from Kazuo Ohno.

More from Kazuo OhnoSee all →

Rose Color DanceRose Color Dance · 1965
Rose Color Dance
★ 10.01965
MovieDocumentary
A document of Tatsumi Hijikata's Butoh dance with Kazuo Ohno as the guest dancer shot in Hijikata's early period when he was emerging as the originator of Butoh. All of the male dancers are dressed up with evening suits and move gracefully, yet an intruder breaks up the whole scene abruptly. The film is worth seeing, even if just to see a memorable gay duet of Hijikata and Ohno. Overexposed, washed out images are sandwiched among normal ones.
DandyDandy · 1988
Dandy
★ 6.81988
MovieMusicDocumentary
A selection of seemingly unconnected scenes featuring Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich. Losely based on Voltaire's satire "Candide".
Dress RehearsalDress Rehearsal · 1980
Dress Rehearsal
★ 6.51980
MovieDocumentary
An exhilarating, essayistic documentary about the 1980 festival of experimental theatre in the French city of Nancy. Werner Schroeter's favourite of his own films.
Mr O's Book of the DeadMr O's Book of the Dead · 1973
Mr O's Book of the Dead
★ 6.51973
Movie
Mr O’s Book of the Dead is the last of a trilogy of experimental films about Kazuo Ohno, co-founder of the contemporary Japanese style of dance known as butoh, made with director Chiaki Nagano during a period in which he had retired from public performance, and just before he began touring the world as a solo dancer with his celebrated work Admiring La Argentina. In the film, Ohno leads a troupe of strangely dressed, made-up and gesticulating dancers through a succession of landscapes alternately lush, desolate and surreal.
A Portrait of Mr OA Portrait of Mr O · 1969
A Portrait of Mr O
★ 6.01969
Movie
A Portrait of Mr O is the first of a trilogy of experimental films about Kazuo Ohno, co-founder of the contemporary Japanese style of dance known as butoh, made with director Chiaki Nagano during a period in which he had retired from public performance, and just before he began touring the world as a solo dancer with his celebrated work Admiring La Argentina.
Mandala of Mr OMandala of Mr O · 1971
Mandala of Mr O
★ 6.01971
Movie
Mandala of Mr O is the second of a trilogy of experimental films about Kazuo Ohno, co-founder of the contemporary Japanese style of dance known as butoh, made with director Chiaki Nagano during a period in which he had retired from public performance, and just before he began touring the world as a solo dancer with his celebrated work Admiring La Argentina.
Flowerbird Butoh: A Way of LifeFlowerbird Butoh: A Way of Life · 2015
Flowerbird Butoh: A Way of Life
2015
MovieDocumentary
Comprising historic archive footage and texts this DVD box enlightens us greatly about Yoshito Ohno's here and now. Butoh has a distinct starting point, namely, in 1959, with Kinjiki , a duet featuring Tatsumi Hijikata and Yoshito Ohno. His father, the legendary Kazuo Ohno created another epoch-making opus in 1977 Admiring La Argentina, with Yoshito Ohno as production manager. These links are no mere coincidence. To date, we've tended to overlook Yoshito Ohno, barely granting him the recognition he merits. Just as dance requires a lengthy gestation period in which to evolve, his dance has finally come into our field of vision, in all its freshness and stark-nakedness, linking Butoh's origins to its zenith, to a point where he now stands at a crossroads.
The MasseursThe Masseurs · 1963
The Masseurs
1963
MovieDocumentary
Anma (The Masseurs) is a representative and historical work by the creator of Butoh dance, Tatsumi Hijikata in his early period in the 1960s. The film is realized not only as a dance document but also as a Cine-Dance, a term made by Iimura, that is meant to be a choreography of film. The filmmaker "performed" with a camera on the stage in front of the audience. With the main performers: Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, the film has the highlights such as Butohs of a soldier by Hijikata & a mad woman by Ohno. There is a story of the mad woman, first outcast and ignored, at the end joins to the community through her dance. Inserted descriptions of Anma (The Masseurs) are made for the film by the filmmaker, but were not in the original Butoh. The film, the only document taken of the performance, must be seen for the understanding of Hijikata Butoh and the foundation of Butoh.
"O, Kind God!""O, Kind God!" · 2003
"O, Kind God!"
2003
MovieDocumentary
"O,Kind God!"is another take on Kazuo Ohno. This moving testimony to the effects his physical evolution has had on his every-day life and dance reveals yet even more strongly that ever-present and life embracing emotions so characteristic of all his previous work. In his appearance in Venice (1999) and a series of performances in his home in Yokohama in 2001, Ohno powerfully demonstrated that his dance embodies life in all its aspects. (Now, though physically immobile), Ohno's very presence continues to exude emotion: it overflows with facial expressions and delicate hand movements; fluid as water and changeable as the sky. This documentary reveals what dance is truly about. Kazuo has given us something very precious.
Kazuo Ohno: I Dance Into the LightKazuo Ohno: I Dance Into the Light · 2004
Kazuo Ohno: I Dance Into the Light
2004
MovieTV MovieDocumentary
A documentary about legendary butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno.
9.11-8.15 Nippon Suicide Pact9.11-8.15 Nippon Suicide Pact · 2006
9.11-8.15 Nippon Suicide Pact
2006
MovieDocumentary
A film that reconsiders the modern state of Japan in relation to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

More Like This

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter