Fish Obscuro: Song of the Horse (1971?, Akira Kurosawa)

by Jared Dec

Song of the Horse (1971?, Akira Kurosawa)

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Hiroyuki Kawase (narrator), Noboru Mitami (narrator)

Everyone reading this likely knows who Akira Kurosawa is. Whether you prefer Ozu or Mizoguchi is irrelevant in the face of the reality that no other Japanese director would have gotten anywhere near the attention in the West they have were it not for Akira Kurosawa opening the world’s eyes to the cinema of the East. It is hard to argue that any other figure in Japanese cinema or even Asian cinema as a whole is as important from an objective perspective. I may be preaching to the choir here, but his importance needs to be established before we discuss why this film is so bafflingly unknown anywhere in the world. Most normal film buffs will say Kurosawa made 30 films and since the release of 1993’s Madadayo, they would be correct in saying 30 of Kurosawa’s films were available anywhere in the world. That does not mean however that Kurosawa only made 30 films. There are two co-productions he was involved with that remain unavailable though I am ignoring those. No I am here to tell you about the mysterious 31st film, Song of the Horse, which can now finally be seen after over four decades of complete obscurity.

1970 was a rough year for Kurosawa, Dodes’ka-den was a monumental flop that essentially bankrupted everyone who had bet on Kurosawa making a comeback. The Japanese film industry itself was in near collapse, and there was no funding for Kurosawa to make another big-budget epic like the ones he was so famous for. Out of options and strapped for cash, Kurosawa allegedly took the advice of friend and contemporary Shohei Imamura and attempted to make a low-budget TV documentary. The logic was low budget meant low risk and Kurosawa would likely make a profit that would prove to investors once again that he was a capable filmmaker at least in some aspect. Now is when the story gets hazy. The few places with information on this film claim that Song of the Horse premiered on Japanese TV in August of 1970. However, the one single other review of this film that I have found claims the horse races involved occured in June of 1971 making a 1970 release date impossible. This confusion and the lack of any other information to the contrary is why I have included a “?” next to the year. Regardless of when the film was released, it was likely not even the moderate success that Kurosawa hoped for, with the film allegedly never being shown anywhere again after the premiere. Kurosawa would attempt suicide in late 1971, and though he survived, it is a strange thought that in an alternate universe, Song of the Horse would have been the last film Kurosawa ever directed.

All of this is very interesting, but what about the film itself? Well, I have finally seen it, and I am afraid I can’t call it an unknown Kurosawa masterpiece. In fact, if I am being completely honest, it is probably among Kurosawa’s 5 worst films. Had I not known the history of this long-lost film, or the man who made it, I would have been disappointed as all hell upon sitting through its 77 minute runtime. Kurosawa was a master of the fictional narrative structure but this is his only documentary that I am aware of, and his understanding of the very different medium is lacking at best. Kurosawa gives very little information about horses. There is little in the way of teaching, despite the film’s narration being provided by an older man talking to a young boy (the same actors as the old man and young boy from Dodes’ka-den). Instead we get some very plain-faced observation of the footage Kurosawa shot of horses doing very banal things. Yes we see a horse being born but instead of some information about the wonders of horse lifespan or breeding habits or anything, we instead get a child asking “Is that a baby horse?” and the old man saying “Yes”.

Not all is bad in this very mediocre documentary. The most interesting parts involve the nature shots of the sun through foliage, and footage of a horse-themed festival in rural Japan. The main structure of the film is around seeing the baby horse grow up and become a thoroughbred and race in competition. My biggest complaint is how padded this film feels. I swear there is about 20 minutes of nothing but horses running around fields with a bizarre elevator music soundtrack. When the climatic race happens, Kurosawa phones it in, with just a single wide angle shot of the racetrack. He simply points the camera from a distance and lets the entire race play out in real time with no cuts, editing, or commentary. There is no tension, excitement, or anything to compliment in these sections. If asked, I would say likely Kurosawa had been told to fill a 50-minute time slot, and then suddenly a second editor was told to pad out the finished 50-minute film and use the cut footage to fill an 80-minute slot.

How much Kurosawa is to blame for the incompetence of this film is debatable. He had far less creative control of this film and he had no say in the editing process according to the very few sources that cover this film (this would make Song of the Horse the only film in Kurosawa’s career in which he was uninvolved in the editing process). Any argument I could make towards the film’s faults must be taken with the massive grain of salt that is where Kurosawa was in life when this film was made. As it is, the film is fascinating because it has remained unseen for so long and was made by one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of the medium. Though it is unquestionably a minor work, those who are scholars or fans of Kurosawa should seek it out. Their complete sets have had a film missing for years and I would wager most were unaware of that. Let’s do our part and tell the film world that a 31st Kurosawa exists. Even though it may not be good, it deserves to take its place in any study of his career.

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