All language subtitles for Naruse Mikio - Travelling Actors (1940) [VO]

Travelling Actors
(Tabi yakusha)

Story By Mushu Ui

Cast

Kamatari Fujiwara ... Hyoroku Ichikawa

Kan Yanagiya ... Senpei Nakamura

Minoru Takase ... Kikugoro Nakamura

Shoji Kiyokawa ... Shichiemon Ichikawa

Ko Mihashi ... Wakasaya

Zeko Nakamura

Hisako Yamane

Nijiko Kiyokawa

Written and directed by
Mikio Naruse

Tokyo No. 1 Kabukiza
Shiobara Tasuke Shussekan

Four Acts
Every Night at 6:30 Yamatoza

Kikugoro VI
Big Performance of a True Story

They say Nakamura Kikugoro
and the Yamatoza are coming.

Is that right?

That's right, the Yamatoza.

Really? the Kikugoro
from Tokyo?

That's what they say.

Is that so?

Really?

Yup, Kikugoro.

Is Kikugoro really
such a great actor?

Kikugoro

Nakamura Kikugoro V1 is coming.
Yamatoza

That's Kikugoro

Really?

"Nakamura Kikugoro VI"

Nakamura Kikugoro ?
That's a funny name.

Yes, the famous
one is Onoe Kikugoro.

Yes, that's right.

Hyoroku that's good enough, I think.

OK?

OK.

Whew, it's hot.

That's enough for today.
I'm coming out.

You guys sure work hard.

If we don't put on the horse outfit
every day, food just doesn't taste right.

I suppose that might be true.

Why don't we go for some ice?

Good idea.

He's going off to war.

Looks like it.

It could be us.

You're right about that.

Ice girl Come in!

Let's have an ice and a soda.

Sounds good to me.

Two please.

Hey Senpei, don't
just ogle every girl you see.

It's disgusting....
But she's well put together.

You guys are with
the play, right?

That's right.
How could you tell?

Ice girl You can tell just by
looking at you two.

But what tipped you off?

It's not just one thing ...

I see.
What do you suppose it is?

You guys are clowns, right?

Clowns?
What do you mean?

You mean I'm wrong.

Yeah, we aren't clowns.
We're actors - even us.

Really?
Both of you?

Yes, both of us.

Brother, your ice is going to melt.

What's wrong?
What's happened to you?

Can't you hurry and walk a little faster?
If it gets any later..

What's wrong with you?

It's a lot of trouble for me
when you go so slow.

I took everything off your
back so why can't you walk?

Get on with it and walk.
Oh my, now I'm in a real fix.

Who's this here?

Oh, it's Jinkido.

Where are you going?

We were assistants to
Motomura but Ao won't move at all.

Even if I whip him he is really slow.
He must be really weak.

That does sound like trouble.
Shall I look at your horse for you?

Really?
That would be wonderful. Thanks!

Hey! What are you doing?

So what's happened to you, Ao?

You go backwards, though.

Did you do something to
your leg?

Hey, scratch my legs!

Did you hurt your leg?

Here?
Here?

I don't see anything
wrong with his legs.

Maybe you're asking too much of him.

Ao, did I do something wrong?
Oh, this is trouble.

Look, I'll lead you

See. If you do it like this,
he'll come.

He walks!
Thank you so much!

This is all beyond me;

I couldn't do anything.

Let's go together.

I'm upset with you again.

I couldn't help it. It's hot back there.
I lost my concentration.

Listen, it's hot for everyone.

You should pay more attention
to what you're doing.

Even playing the back end
of a horse is a fine art.

You don't know enough about it.
You need to study.

I want you to study your art.

I know, I know. You have played
the back legs for 5 years

and the front legs for 10 years.

That's right,
and I'm still learning my art.

OK, so I'll study it, too.

That's good.

Shall we go?

No, not yet.

What are you going to do here?

Today we saw a really fine horse.

I want to redo our horse's face to
look like the one we saw.

It was crying.

Do horses cry?

They sure do. All the time.

Is that so?

You wouldn't know,

but if you study horses
for as long as I have,

you'd be able to read a horse's
emotions with just a glance.

I see.

Could you get me some paper,
glue, charcoal, a brush,

and some scissors from somewhere?

Couldn't we do it tomorrow?

No. By tomorrow I might
have forgotten that horse's face.

Excuse me, Miss.

What?

Could you bring me
a glass of cool water?

Water?

Where are we going?

We're going to look at horses.

It's so hot.
Everyone else is taking a nap.

Why don't we get some sleep, too.

Why do you say things like that?

If you think you need to perfect your art,
you should use this time to study.

If you don't, you won't
be able to play the horse.

Alright, alright.

Hello!

Come in. You two together.
There must be something afoot.

That's right. There's something
we want to talk to you about.

It's a chance to make money.

Ah, well, come in and let's hear
about it. Please, please.

Where's your wife?

She went on an errand.

Jin-san, we've decided to
bring in Kikugoro VI from Tokyo.

We were wondering if you
could help us out with that.

KikugorM ? He's Japan's most
famous actor, isn't he?

That's right.

But why would he be coming
to this country town?

You don't believe us?

Have a look at this.

The paper reads: Contract - 250 yen
for 2 days beginning 21 August 1940,

KikugorM VI will perform with his
No. 1 troupe at the Hokushinkan

Signed: Kikugoro VI
Hokushinkan, Yoshida

Is this for real?

But Jin-san,
we'd like you to chip in a little.

There are 15 people in the No. 1 troupe,
and for 2 nights, that's 250 yen.

Even if you include a few expenses
it costs a bit more than 300 yen.

That is still a pretty good bargain.

For a top rank actor,
that's good.

I'll pick up the cost
of the costumes,

but could you chip in 30 or 50 yen?
If you don't like our proposal ...

Haven't you heard that Kikugoro
has brought in customers

from as far away as America
and excited the Ginza?

Alright, let's do it. Whether or not
we make money with this deal,

Dokujin will be your partner in
bringing this Tokyo play here.

That's right.

Just wait a minute.

This is really something.

The money doesn't
matter,

but Jin-san is something
like the town's

bulletin board and
he can bring people in.

It's more effective than newspaper ads!

That's for sure.

Tokyo Dai Kabuki
KikugorM VI Ichiza

Thanks for coming.
You must be tired from your trip.

He's from the Hokushinkan.

Is this really Kikugoro 's No. 1 troupe?

What are you talking about?
You say some funny things.

I'm going that way,
so could you look after things, please?

If you ask me who is Kikugoro ,

I'll tell you.
He's just Nakamura Kikugoro .

Don't say that!

Is this really Kikugoro 's No. 1 troupe?

There's something I want
to tell Wakasaya:

Don't play people for such fools!

We'll talk about that, but regardless, you can make money off of this.

Stop it. I'm not
talking about the money.

I'll give you 50 yen. I just want
them to put me in the play.

We'll have to talk
with Wakasaya about that.

Just bear with us for the play's run.

No!
I want to talk to Wakasaya now!

Bring him to me.
Where is he hiding?

He wouldn't be hiding from you.

I wonder where he went.

Jin-san,
you're really drunk.

No, I'm not.
I'm going to find him.

Hey, Wakasaya, where are you?
Where are you? Making fun of people?

What's this? Who knows?

Don't worry.
He's drunk, so I'll talk to him.

Here he is.

This is trouble.

This guy is hopeless,
sitting on the horse like that.

This is a real disaster.
This horse is important.

Hey you! Wake up.

Where do you get
off sleeping on the horse.

What are you trying to do?

What are you talking about?
Me flattening a horse's head?

Well, you're crushing mine.
You think that's OK?

I'll fix what I broke.
You can't complain about that.

I'll fix it up just right.
But in return,

I want you to put me in the play.
How about it?

OK, alright, alright.

Sorry I didn't explain
that to you enough.

I'll put you in a play sometime, so please
forgive us this one time, OK?

That would work, wouldn't it?

If I could be in a play sometime,
that would work for me.

We'll see what we can do.
And about that horse's head,

do you think you can do
something with it?

In any case, you're not a
good match for the female lead.

We can't put on the play tomorrow
without the horse's head.

What's worse, the guy who plays
the pantomime horse is really picky.

It needs to be fixed properly.

So do you think something
can be done with this?

What part do you play?

He and I are the horse.

Oh no! Horse's legs?

That's right, Miss. It's a mistake
to take what we do too lightly.

We know everything form A to Z about horses.
I myself handle the A part.

Even if people don't see your face, this isn't some
trick you can pull off without any training.

Of course, the back legs don't require much.
The difficult part is the front legs.

That's not true.

I'm not just trying to embarrass
you in front of the girls.

This is the truth. First of all,
after you've done the back legs,

you need 5 years to learn the front legs.

Is it that hard?

I've played the back legs for
5 years and the front legs for ten.

You might say that I'm Japan's
best pantomime horse player.

Our boss Kikugoro says that I'm the Danjur?
of pantomime horses.

I've only done two years.

Oh, really.

I'm the Danjur?
who plays opposite the boss's Shiobara.

Is that right?

That's why if didn't have
someone like me around,

they couldn't put on "Shiobara Tasuke Ichidaiki".
And if they couldn't do that,

they couldn't very well have the No. 1 troupe.
Isn't that right, brother?

For example, if I ran into some trouble
and couldn't get out of it,

KikugorM 's No. 1 troupe would
instantly take a nosedive.

What's the proof of that, you say.
Look at the rankings.

Ichikawa Hyoroku - that's me - I'm listed under
the Nagakuni. There might be 41 actors

in that category, but I'm the
only one who can play a horse.

I guess you're really something, then.

All that's because I can play the
front legs of a horse so well

that it's more realistic
than a real horse.

Nogaki Nobury?said that seeing something helps
you understand more quickly.

So you should come see us tomorrow night.

Sure, we'll go see you. Won't we?

We will.

I play the back legs.

That's why novices tend to
look at actors make sad faces,

but people who really know their
stuff look at details like the horse.

Once, when we were performing, some
famous professor of something came to see us.

He said that he couldn�t tell if he had been looking
at a real horse or a pantomime horse,

so one of the people in the troupe brought
him to the dressing room to see me.

He told me that I looked as if I had
been a horse in a previous life.

He also said that I was a genius.

I told him that there was one
thing about horses

that I just couldn�t imitate,
and that it was really bothering me.

Can you guess what that was?

I wonder.

What?

Hyoroku a horse's whinny.

Oh my!

Then he told me if
I could master that,

I could stop playing a horse
and actually become a horse!

That's too much!

A horse's whinny is pretty
difficult you know.

I've put a lot of effort into it and
I'm better than I used to be.

Let's hear it.

I can't do it right
when I've been drinking.

Never mind that,
just let us hear it.

OK, here we go.

That's really good!

But that's still not my best.
Why don't you give it a try.

Oh come on.
Just do it.

It's part of your training.
Give it a shot.

Are you telling me that you can't?

That's pretty funny.

You're not good enough yet.

Like that.

That sounds weird!

I have a big favour to ask of you.

What would that be?

Can you fix this horse's head?
It's been damaged.

It's a prop in a play?

That's right. I know it's a big request,
but there's no one else I can ask.

I've been fixing lanterns for years, but
I've never fixed a horse's head.

Just give it some sort of shape.

You could probably think of
it as a kind of a lantern.

When do you need it by?

Well, could you do it tonight.

That's asking a lot.

I'm willing to pay you quite a bit.

This is quite a job, though.

Which one of you is
Ichikawa Hy?roku?

That's me.

The boss said to come
and see him when you get back.

What do you
suppose this is about?

Do you think he's mad about something?

I don't know.

I'll go and see.

Oh, hello there.

You had something you
wanted to talk to me about?

Yes, why don't you come in.

To tell the truth, something's happened
that we're very sorry about.

What's that?

The horse's head
got a little crushed.

How?

We didn't try to do it.
It happened while we were out.

I hope you'll forgive us.

It's just a little thing.
Go easy on us.

We sent it out to get fixed
and it's just now got back,

so what do you say Hy?roku, will you go
ahead and play the horse anyway?

Just let me have a look at it.

No way! This won't work at all.
This is a fox head.

Just try and put up with it just this once
and we'll fix it later somehow.

Anyway, Hy?roku, we're having the head fixed,
so just use this for tonight.

And in any case, if you don't cooperate,
we can't put on the play.

We have to consider the audience, the theatre,
and above all, our patron.

If you really want me to use it,
I could.

But just imagine that I do, and we use this
monster of a fox head in the Shiobara.

I�m talking about art here.

And before anything else, master, could you
play your part opposite a fox head?

I guess I could come
up with something.

Maybe you could,
but I couldn't.

And in any case,
I play the horse's legs,

so the rest of me needs to at least be a
horse for me to get into my role.

I know that.
You're right

But if you don't do it,
we can't put on the play?

Can't you try and help us out?
Please.

I don't know who did this,
but it's really pathetic

that they couldn't tell the difference
between a horse and a fox.

Hey you!
You're the horse's legs.

Why are you so concerned about the head?
That's a bit much.

Jin-san!

You say it looks like a fox head?

Well, so what? Just play a fox.
I'll pay to see that. Harumph!

Harumph! Tokyo actors, eh?
It's just a stupid play.

What? ! You're going to have
Ichikawa Hyoroku play his part in a fox head?

My art is not so cheap.

You're too picky.

What? !

Jin-san, you shouldn't do that.

Boss, I just can't do my job
under these conditions.

Come now, Hy?roku,
hold on.

KikugorM VI
- sudden illness

Why don't you have a look?

Maybe I should. It would help.
I wonder if we could really use it.

In any case,
you should go have a look.

What do you think
the boss will do?

I don't know.

But they can't put the play on
unless they do something.

That's right. That's why
they're in trouble. We could fix the head.

Yes, let's do that.

I don't like that barber.

I can't go out there and act
after being insulted like that.

I think he'll come and apologise.

What do you think boss?

It seems really gentle.

That's because this one's been
a circus horse for a long time.

So what do you think?

You can't be angry forever, Hy?roku.
Just forget about it and do it.

And the boss is in a fix. Couldn't
you close your eyes to it just once.

But I don't have any desire to
do it when my art is not at its best.

I'm a horse not a fox.

That's why we'll have
it fixed the way you like it.

"The Famous Horse Tatsumaki"
will be a real horse tonight.

Starting tomorrow at the Hokushinkan.

This is terrible.

They're going to use a real horse.

A real horse?

Let them.

Hy?roku, Senpei,
the boss wants to see you.

What happened?

They're going to use a real horse.

Boss, what do you want?

Come in.

Hy?roku, thanks to you,
I was really embarrassed.

You know that.
But I'm not going to talk about that.

But that's why we now owe
the sponsor a great deal.

We have to take all of what he says quite
seriously. You understand that.

So not only do we have
to put him in the play,

but he says that he doesn't
want to use you two.

I feel bad for you Senpei, you
were just following your brother.

I only heard about this
from my brother but I don't

I'm just the rear end,
but everyone's looking at the head,

and you can't have
that looking like a fox.

You understand that this means you
won't have a part to play, either.

I suppose that's unavoidable. You
can't have a horse without the ass.

But first of all,
I think you should understand

that you won't be
in the shows coming up.

I talked to my boss and he says
that since you're not working,

you guys should stay backstage,
and not at the inn.

I know it's kind of sudden, but I want
you guys to move out now.

Yes.

Yes.

Well then, go on.
Move your things out of there.

"We request that you
come and see the circus horse Taiheiyo,

with whom everyone from
these parts is familiar.

His acting is on par with a human's."

Ha! "on par with a human's"
We'll see.

I bet they were just waiting
to use a real horse.

I'm hungry.

Shall we go get
some soba noodles?

Let's do that.

Do you have any money?

Hmm, I have about 80 sen.

You have more than I do.
I have an idea.

Let's forget about the soba and
go to the barber.

Barber? To get our hair cut?

Yeah. We'll go to the
barber I had a fight with.

What's so great about that idea?

I think it'd be fun.
Let's go.

If we'd do that we'd be his customers.
First we'd go to his place ...

Hey! Let's have a haircut.

Then we could complain that he hurt us."

Ouch! Hey you!
What are you doing?

You're a lousy barber.
My head's important to me,

so I'd like a little better job than
you're doing. A better job, OK?

We'd give him a really hard time.

It would get everything out of your
system. What do you think?

Nah, that's no good, brother.

You might empty out your feelings,
but your stomach would be empty, too.

It's definitely better to
go for soba noodles..

OK, let's go have some soba then.

Yes, let's do that.

It's a little eerie in here.

It's nothing.

It was just a mannequin's head.

That was a shock.

Eerie.

My head hurts.
What a din!

What's that, Kin-chan?

It's a horse stable.

He says it's a stable.

I don't know if
I can bear looking at it.

Let's get something to eat.

Is that's the horse?

It might be.
Let's ask.

This gets me mad.

What's wrong with you?

Is that the horse?
Is that them?

Wow, they're really good. Doesn't
it look just like a real horse?

Why won't you walk?

I didn't think it'd be possible.
The people seem happy.

No one is laughing.

Is that right.
Were you watching the play?

Yeah, I wanted to see
what they would do.

How can the horse respond to the boss?
It's just a horse.

That's right. It's just a beast.
We're actors!

We can help the boss out
because we can respond.

And that's something for the audience to
watch and makes it a lot more interesting.

Can an old circus horse do that?

But the audience seems to be pleased.

They don't appreciate actors. They don't
know they're looking at a horse.

Let's see what happens when
the act is over. [applause]

Senpei, let's get out of here.

Where you are you going?

You need to get over
what's ailing you

because we need to get out of here.

Don't be such a pessimist.

Get over it and come home with us.

No, it's no use.
I won't be able to.

But there's one thing I want
to tell you before I die.

What is it you want to say to us?

Hey Senpei, I've never really noticed before,
but there sure are a lot of stars.

I wonder how many there are.

Must be at least a million.

It's really pretty.

Yeah, but if you look at daytime,
you can't see anything.

Now that you mention it,
you might be right.

Hey Senpei.
Sitting here looking at the stars

makes me feel like I ought
to go home and go to bed.

I think I can get over my
anger if I sleep on it.

You might be right.

Then tomorrow I should fix
the head and get back to work.

Shall we go then?

What did you get?

Crackers.

That won't fill my stomach.

Just because we play
a horse on stage doesn't

mean we can eat grass. Just eat.

Hey, Senpei,
that horse was eating carrots.

Wow, that horse has
expensive tastes.

Good morning, boss.

Good morning. Hy?roku,
I have something to ask you.

What is it?

Could you look after the horse?

Look after the horse?
The real one?

Yeah, that's right.

So what would I be,
the horseman?

No, not that. To tell you the truth,
the horse was really a hit.

I've been thinking of using that horse for
all of our performances.

That's what I'm thinking.

So you're saying you
don't need us anymore?

No, no. Just because
we use a real horse

doesn't mean we wouldn't need you.
There'd be a lot of things for you to do.

See, you say you're a real horse expert.
So you'd be

better than anyone at taking care of horses.
That's what I'm thinking.

I'd be willing to give you a special allowance, too.

Boss, what would I do?

Hmm, we'd find some role for you to play.

Would it be a human role this time?

Senpei!

Nothing's for certain. Anyway,
think it over. See you later.

I didn't study horses for ten or twenty
years just so I could be a stableboy.

Hy?roku, the boss doesn't really
understand your art.

Get me something to drink.

Like you said last night, let's just
forget it and go back to work.

How long could I do that?
Go get me something to drink.

Have another

No, I'm fine.

Aren't you upset about this?

I am just the horse's ass.

Just because
you're the horse's ass ...

You don't have a horse's head,
but a human head,

so when Nakamura Senpei the actor
is told not to come back,

don't you feel pain?

Yes, that is kind of painful.

Painful isn't it.

There they are.

Hy?roku. Hy?roku.
What happened to you?

You told us you were so great.

We took time off to go the play,
but we didn't see you.

You weren't inside that horse,
were you?

We looked and looked and didn't
see anyone who looked like you.

I decided not to do it.

Why?

Because you wouldn't
understand our art.

That's not true. We went to
see you, to understand what you do.

Right? We went to
enjoy your performance.

We can't say anything nice about
you if you don't show up and perform.

You're just like a horse, so maybe you have
the character of a horse, too.

You don't understand.
Alright, I'll show you.

You decide if we're more realistic
than a real horse.

Senpei, get the stuff ready.

No way.
I don't want to.

Just hurry and get ready.

This will be fun.

I wonder what they'll do.

Here they are.

Look at that.
Oh, that's too much!

What's so funny?

That horse's head -

Don't just look at that.

Oh that is good.

What's going on?

Hey you.
We're not going to give up yet.

Hy?roku, what are you doing.

Hy?roku!

What are you doing?

Hy?roku

Brother!

Brother!

Translated by: Guy YASKO