Description:

Tenchi meisatsu - a film by the Japanese Academy Award winning director Yojiro Takita.

Romanticized portrait of Yasui Santetsu, a 17th-century math genius determined to create a new and better calendar on the basis of star states and solar eclipses. Resolutely pursuing his ideal, he learns from wise masters along the way, while being thwarted by the conservative Kyoto court, who wants to stick with the 800-year-old traditional calendar.

The film is based on a true story with real historical figures, and so it is interesting to note that it is also a well-balanced introductory snapshot of life in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1863). This is a period of turbulent change in Japanese history, one where the Emperor’s court was reduced almost to mere figurehead status as the Shogunate (samurai-ruled military government) led Japan into centuries of political stability. The showdown of power dynamics between the Shogunate and the Emperor’s court during this period is a crucial element to the film's progression.

Director: Yojiro Takita

Stars: Aoi Miyazaki, Kiichi Nakai, Jun'ichi Okada

2012 - JAPANESE with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES - COLOR - 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN - 141 MINUTES