Ye Yiban Meiyou Xiawande Qi Mikan No Taiyoku
People’s Republic of China/Japan,
1983, 133 min
Shown in 1984
CREDITS
- dir
-
Duan Jishun, Junya Sato
- prod
-
Wang Yang, Yasuyoshi Tokuma
- scr
-
Li Hongzhou, Ge Kangtong, Yasuka Ohno, Tetsuro Abe, Fumio Konami
- cam
-
Luo De\'an, Shoei Ando
- mus
-
Jiang Dingxian, Hikaru Hayashi
- cast
-
Sun Daolin, Rentaro Mikuni
- prod co
-
Beijing Film Studio, Toko Tokuma Ltd.
- source
-
Kuzui Enterprises, One University Place, New York, NY 10003
OTHER
Chinese-Japanese coproductions have not always been felicitous, but this first PRC/Japan effort rectifies all past cultural misunderstandings and artistic lapses. Made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of restored relations between the two countries, this film shows unity from top to bottom. Spanning the years from 1924 to 1956, The Go Masters traces Sino-Japanese relations through the experiences of two families whose meeting ground is over the ancient Asian game of Go. Southern Chinese master Kuang Yishan turns over his only son Aming to Japanese master Rinsaku Matsunami. Growing up in Japan under Matsunami's tutelage, Aming becomes the foremost young adept of the game. When hostilities break out between the two countries, Matsunami echoes the behavior of patriots like him all over the world, refusing to believe his country has committed any of the reported atrocities. Aming in turn refuses to relinquish his Chinese citizenship in order to retain his Japanese championship title and rifts between countries become rifts between individuals. Both families suffer terrible losses, but the film's outcome attempts to show that reconciliation is possible if individuals will make the effort. In an era when the Western cinema no longer knows how to phrase a believable humanitarian message, The Go Masters emerges not only as a coproduction landmark acclaimed for its authenticity in the handling of sensitive material in both countries, but as a throwback that may be a step forward in reviving the inspirational film.
—Audie Bock
FACTOID #125
According to the November 29, 1959 San Diego Union, The Village on the River was the first Dutch feature ever shown in the U.S. (at the Third San Francisco International Film Festival).
