Das Geschriebene Gesicht

Daniel Schmid got to know Japan because his films are highly regarded by the Japanese and he was repeatedly invited to Japan over the years with his new films. After all those visits, he had brought a suitcase of images of Japan back with him, to put it in his own terms. In this film, he opens the suitcase. The film came about because a Japanese producer asked the Swiss film-maker to make a film in Japan. Das geschriebene Gesicht is about Schmid’s fascination with the classic Japanese Kabuki theatre and with one famous actor in particular, Tamasaburo Bando, who dedicated his whole life (his acting career started when he was five) to playing female roles. The form of the film is an intriguing combination of feature and documentary: reality, theatre and the dreams and fantasies of the film-maker are repeatedly mingled together. Schmid is obviously among the connoisseurs of Japan who argue that westerners will never penetrate the essence of Japanese culture. That is why he regards his film as more of an impressionist travelogue portraying Japan, than as a film essay about Kabuki theatre. Since Das geschriebene Gesicht could not be a film about Japan, about Kabuki or about Tamasaburo Bando, Schmid decided to make his film with Japanese, with kabuki actors and especially with Tamasaburo Bando. The result is a beautiful ode to what is incomprehensible in Japan.