Buddhist Trilogy
Akio Jissôji 実相寺昭雄

This Transient Life (1970)
Mujō 無常

Mandara (1971)
Mandala 曼陀羅

Poem (1972)
Uta 哥

It surprises me that these films aren't more widely known. Mandara is the toughest for me to watch, and not easily recommended (because it tackles sexual violence) but they are all remarkable. The last film "Poem" is my favourite. Buried in it is this complex meditation on writing and persistence.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_9OD3UR8jEsLWg4eDFyVmRGMFk/view?usp=share_link&resourcekey=0-Ft3Va7ZyUGsDbw0oy8TW2w

[ For those who can't view the footage.

A young man is in a graveyard. He has a piece of paper draped over a tombstone, he is rubbing it with some charcoal to reproduce an image of the calligraphy. A wandering monk passes thru and asks him what he is doing. Before continuing on his journey he concludes:

"In the stone, there is nothing, only darkness. Even if you built a stone grave with the thought of keeping the memory of the dead alive, that idea is self-deception. The soul of the dead will, in less than a 100 years, completely disappear without a trace. The longest soul can only exist for 1400 years. That is nothing but posthumous resentment. It is said that when the Buddha died, his soul was immediately eliminated."

#Film #Buddhism #AkioJissôji #実相寺昭雄 #Poem #writing #calligraphy