A Must See - Ikebana (1956) by Hiroshi Teshigahara

Next in my Holiday Cinema showing rare ikebana related videos is a real must see, Ikebana (1956) by Hiroshi Teshigahara. This is one of Hiroshi Teshigahara's earliest short films, 32 minutes long.

Synopsis from IMDb:

"Traces the history of ikebana, flower arranging: its origins, its formalization 500 years ago, the emergence of the rikka or standing flower style with its heaven-earth-man trinity, and the influence of Rikyu's simplicity. Enter the modern era, embodied at the Sogetsu School, where flower arranging is taught alongside modern sculpture and pottery. We visit a weekend class of flower arranging with novice and experienced students evaluated by a master, Sofu Teshigahara, the director's father. Then we watch the master prepare for his annual one-man show. If life is an unceasing spiritual journey, says the narrator, then art gives us the courage to go on."

The narrator's voice is in Japanese, but it has English subtitles, at least if you're watching in web version (I had problems with the subtitles on the mobile version). It has a very surrealistic sound track, and special effects attempting to abstractly visualize what goes on in an ikebana artist’s mind while arranging. What more can you ask for?

Uploaded to YouTube by Giorgos Efthimiou.

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