Nô – Das Geheimnis der Stille

In the organizer's words:

Director: Thomas Schmelzer
2004, 60 minutes, German version, DVD

This documentary, produced for arte/WDR in 2004, is a Nightfrog GmbH production and takes us on a journey to the country of Japan and the art of Nô. It portrays famous actors - above all Umewaka Manzaburô III - and musicians of Nô, such as Ôkura Shônosuke or Issô Yukihiro, who succeed in building a bridge between the rigid tradition and their own modern musical commitment.
Again and again, we are on the trail of apparent opposites that seem to complement each other more and more: The lively, bustling, noisy Tokyo - and the silence of Nô. What is most fascinating, however, is the silence itself - moments in which all the actors, all the musicians, and therefore the audience too, remain in breathless silence. Moments that cannot be captured in words, like a shared meditation between all the artists and the audience. Text: Film distributor

Film series
Nô and Kyôgen in film - two classical Japanese theater forms

In February, performers from the Izumi school of Kyôgen and the Kanze school of Nô theater will be making guest appearances in Europe and will also be performing at the Japanese Cultural Institute on 11.02.25 and 12.02.25. The artists will present masterpieces from the Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) and give an introduction to the two traditional theater forms (information about the performance on 11.02. and the performance on 12.02.).

In the run-up to the guest performance, we will be showing two films that provide a general insight into the characteristics of Nô and Kyôgen and at the same time introduce outstanding performers who carry on the traditions of their families. The Japanese production from 1999 was planned by the Pola Foundation for the Promotion of Traditional Japanese Culture and focuses on Nomura Manzô VII, who was born in 1930 and passed on the tradition of Kyôgen to subsequent generations. Among his students was his grandson Nomura Taichirô, who was eight years old at the time of filming and is now a guest in Cologne.

The documentary film by director Thomas Schmelzer focuses on the Nô theater. Fascinated by the contrast between the hustle and bustle of the megacity of Tokyo and the tranquillity of the Nô Theater, he accompanies famous personalities with his camera. First and foremost, he shows Umewaka Manzaburô III, born in 1941, who was seen in 2019 at the Nô performance Between Dream and Reality on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Japanese Cultural Institute in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall.

Price information:

Admission free