Storyline
Set in 1814, Miss Hokusai focuses on O-Ei, the daughter of famed artist Tetsuzo, better known by his pen name Hokusai, as she tries to navigate the various aspects of her life. O-Ei spends the bulk of her time assisting her divorced father who cares about his art and not much else.
Trivia:
Ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world", was a popular art genre in Japan during the Edo Period (1603-1868). By using woodblock printing, depictions of folk tales, landscapes, kabuki theatre scenes and erotica, were widely spread throughout Japan. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
In 1814 Edo, Japan, a master artist Katsushika Hokusai, known as
Tetsuzo, and his daughter O-Ei spend their time creating splendid
paintings, some on commission and some just because. Tetsuzo lives away
from his wife and younger daughter, who is blind, and he tends to have
little to do with them, perhaps because he is afraid of illness and
disability. Instead, he instructs O-Ei and others in his art, but in
some ways his daughter outstrips even his talent. This lands them in
trouble on occasion, for example when one of her paintings is believed
by its owner to be enchanted by devils, but Tetsuzo knows how to make
things right again. If only his daughter wasn't so hot-headed!
This is a beautifully rendered anime based on a manga, Sarusuberi;
having not read the manga, I don't know how faithful the film is to the
source material. In any event, it looks lovely and the story of the
artists' lives is very well told. It has more of an episodic feel to it
than a straight plot-line, but since Tetsuzo was apparently a real
person in 19th Century Edo (now Tokyo), that method of story-telling
works very well. If you like anime, you'll love this movie.
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