Things I Watched: Miss Hokusai - An Imaginative Search for Filial Identity

The endlessly re-created image of the The Great Wave Of Kanagawa bears an unshakeable print on the mind. I remember reading that it's one of the most reproduced images of all time. It's certainly the most well known Japanese painting ever-made, and its artist, Katsushika Hokusai, one of the most important painters to ever grace this blue planet we call Earth.

The subject of Miss Hokusai, a film I watched earlier this week, is not the great master himself but rather his daughter, Katsushika O-Ei. The film portrays her as a proud and independent artist. Very talented but struggling to emerge from the shadow of her father. He acts as a source of great frustration for O-Ei, who's still looking for that magical spark to call her own.

Influence is a key theme, both because the plot so heavily centres around the father and daughter relationship, and also because the animation revels in blurring daily life with scenes of majestic fantasy. These often come in waves, much like the great one Hokusai envisaged. They create an alluring spectacle such as when a great big dragon descends upon the obviously terrified citizens of Edo. Oh how I'm sure they laughed that day.

A more sombre moment comes midway through when O-Ei is commissioned to draw a painting of Buddhist hell (Jigoku). Her painting pulls no punches but it causes nightmarish daydream for its owners. To fix the painting, Hokusai emerges, adding a giant Buddha. It gives the family better peace of mind and acts a pivotal scene that highlights that while O-Ei's work might be great, it's still missing a vital element that will only come with age.

While Miss Hokusai isn't a major milestone in animation or anything like that, it's an earnest film that I enjoyed a great deal. It's not afraid to portray larger than life characters in ordinary ways in their down-time. It also does a decent job at making us sympathise with a young girl struggling to form an identity for herself.

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