ZEN - The Life of Zen Master Dogen - Full Film

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Zen is a 2009 film directed by Banmei Takahashi and starring Nakamura Kantarō II as Dogen, and Yuki Uchida as Orin.

The story is based on the novel Eihei no kaze: Dōgen no shōgai written by Tetsuo Ōtani in 2001.

The film is a biography of Dōgen Zenji, a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher. After travelling to China to study, Dogen founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. The Buddhist Film Foundation described it as "a poignant, in-depth, reverent and surprisingly moving portrait of Eihei Dogen.

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1. Staging Dogen's life and teaching in the Japanese movie Zen

Zen 禅 is a 2009 Japanese movie directed by Takahashi Banmei 高橋伴明,
starring the kabuki actor Nakamura Kantaro¯ 中村勘太郎 as Do¯gen 道元 (1200–
1253). The movie is a fictional biography of the So¯to¯ Zen master ranging from his
travel to China (1223–1227) to his death, and is presented as a ‘kando¯ no rekishi
roman 感動の歴史ロマン’, a moving historical fiction.

The first scene depicts Do¯gen as a child (the 7-year-old Monju) talking to his mother, who is going to die
soon after. In this sequence, she pleads with him to find the ‘true’ Buddhism and
Do¯gen/Monju promises to commit himself to this task. This is a motif that can be
found in other hagiographies of Japanese religious leaders, such as Rennyo’s, the
eighth successor of Shinran.

The story covers some relevant stages in Do¯gen’s life and his path to
establish So¯to¯ Zen in Japan, among which are his practice at Kenninji 建仁寺 in
Kyoto; his travel to China where he studied under Rujing 如淨 (1163 –1228), the
head priest of Mt. Tiantong (Jpn. Tendo¯); the emphasis on sitting meditation
(zazen and shikan taza, or just sitting) as the only practice toward religious
liberation; the establishment of two temples, Ko¯sho¯ji 興聖寺 in Uji and Eiheiji 永
平寺 in Echizen prefecture (present-day Fukui prefecture), the latter being one
of the two head temples of this denomination;22 and the spread of So¯to¯ Zen
especially as a monastic tradition. In this last regard, one of the last scenes of
the movie where emphasis is placed on monks exiting Eiheiji’s gate is
significant.

Aesthetically this movie presents sophisticated photographic techniques
with impressive sceneries in both China and Japan as well as typical Japanese
elements related to nature, such as the depiction of the four seasons, the
inevitable Mt. Fuji, sakura (cherry blossoms), and beautiful views of the moon.
All this contributes to create a patinated image of the Zen master also by
emphasizing his association and the close relationship of Zen with Japanese
traditional patterns.

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Staging_Zen.pdf