The Dragon Painter

This "new to home video" print of "The Dragon Painter" was fully restored in 1998 by the George Eastman House from the only known existing print which was found in France. The restoration included replacing the French "title sections" with those in English (and they remain on the screen long enough for even slow readers to fully read them).

If the word " early silent film" scares you, don't pass this one by. It's unlike any you will see elsewhere. First off, it's only 58 minutes long and the time passes very quickly. Next, though it takes place in Japan, it's a Hollywood production with the then Japanese/American movie idols Sessue Hayakawa (known mostly for his role in the 1960s film "The Bridge over The River Kwai") and the beautiful Tsuru Aoki (as his love interest). Then there is the newly composed musical score by Mark Isu. Native Japanese instruments are seamlessly woven into an almost-jazz score with hints of humor that will make you smile at critical moments in the film. (This score would make a terrific Soundtrack CD on its own.)

As with other releases from Milestone Films, there are LOTS of bonuses added to this package, including an earlier Hayakawa film - 1914's "The Wrath of God", directed by Thomas Ince - and a short, 2-minute "Screen Snapshot" silent comedy short from 1921 with Hayakawa and Fatty Arbuckle (it's SILENT, with no musical score), and lots DVD-ROM material to play on your computer (none of which I've had the opportunity to view yet.)

Classic Film lovers will definitely want this new release, but I'll also recommend it to general movie lovers, who I think will be surprised and drawn into the fantasy story of an artist (the painter) who can only fully create his best work when he fears he may lose the inspiration which drives him to paint.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

After waiting several years for the release of this rare silent film, it was very rewarding to find that this DVD surpassed even my highest expectations, and this is not only due to the special nature of the film itself, but also the many `deluxe' bonus features. There are, in fact, two full-length films on this DVD, both starring Japanese-American actor Sessue Hayakawa, as well as in-depth material on both films, including an original screenplay for one of them. The information contained in this extra material helps to appreciate the value of "The Dragon Painter" because in an environment of general prejudice against Asians in the first decades of last century, Hayakawa managed to carve out an impressive acting career for himself in early Hollywood, producing many of his own films according to his own taste and style. It is due to this independence and self-expression that "The Dragon Painter" is such a beautiful and special film, like a traditional work of Japanese art in a visual and poetic sense, underscored by a perfectly-suited musical score with Japanese tunes and sounds, blended with some contemporary jazz-like styles for special effect. And since Sessue Hayakawa plays the role of a wild-eyed madman of the mountains who paints stunning landscape pictures, the whole film is like a tribute to Japanese artistry, style and culture.

But this is only the beginning of realizing what an outstanding talent Hayakawa must have been, because in the second feature film on this DVD he plays yet another challenging role in a much earlier, 1914 film called "The Wrath of the Gods", which was produced by one of Hollywood's filmmaking pioneers, Thomas Ince. It is always exciting to see a full-length (in this case 60 minutes) film from this early period, especially when they already show exceptionally advanced style and structure. This becomes more evident when seeing the complete script for the film, available in DVD-ROM format in the bonus material, and reading just a few paragraphs of it shows a remarkable and surprising depth of detail which many film historians apparently hadn't anticipated, such as directions to the cameraman on angle and lighting, and every minute acting gesture as well as dialogues for the actors, even though their words are not heard and only a few basic intertitles are used to explain the story. Like "the Dragon Painter", this early film is also full of Japanese flavour, with traditional costumes and themes right out of Japanese culture, religion and traditions. It also has a superb Japanese-style musical score, and the picture quality of both films is very good, although just a little hazy or scratchy at times which is easily overlooked however, due to the picturesque scenes (The Dragon Painter being partly filmed in stunning Yosemite Valley) and the elegant and exotic oriental style of both films. For a rare taste of Japanese culture made in Hollywood, or to appreciate the early work of a fine and special actor, this DVD is a special treat not to be missed.

It has taken a long time for THE DRAGON PAINTER to reach home DVD. Announced well over a year ago, it had to wait for Milestone Films to find a new distributor which they did in New Yorker Films. Now we can finally see this long unavailable title and see how beautiful it is. The slight story is a variation on the woman sacrifices self for man so that he can succeed chestnut. In this case Hayakawa plays a wild mountain artist who paints dragons while searching for a princess. Once he finds her he loses the ability to paint until she takes matters into her own hands. The "princess" is played by Tsuru Aoki who was Hayakawa's wife in real life and their affection for each other shows. It's also interesting to see Edward Peil playing another oriental role. The same year (1919) he was in D.W. Griffith's BROKEN BLOSSOMS as Evil Eye. The film was beautifully photographed and looks quite good in this George Eastman House restoration of a French print.

The real treasure here though is the even rarer WRATH OF THE GODS also from George Eastman House. A major American produced film featuring Asian actors (Hayakawa, Aoki and others) in 1914 seems incredibly enlightened when you think of all the "yellow peril" parts that were just a few years down the road. The story borrows elements from MADAME BUTTERFLY and BIRD OF PARADISE and features future director Frank Borzage (SEVENTH HEAVEN) in one of his early acting roles. WRATH was produced by Thomas Ince who was one of the major players in the movie industry's early days but is remembered today only for his mysterious death involving William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924 and for the studio he built which would later become Cecil B. DeMille's and then David O. Selznick's. This is really a shame because as WRATH and an earlier title from 1916 (CIVILIZATION which has yet to make it to DVD) show, Ince's surviving films are very advanced for their time in their realistic portrayal of serious subjects and their no nonsense approach to quality filmmaking. Both films have been properly tinted and have atmospheric new Japanese style scores.

Once again thanks are due to Milestone Films for making important rarely seen silent movies available for home viewing. Hopefully all their distribution problems are now worked out so that we can expect to see a flurry of Milestone releases in the near future. They haven't issued a catalogue in some time nor updated their website and there were quite a few announced titles that have yet to appear on DVD. Welcome back Milestone, silent film fans have missed you.

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