SHORT FILM / ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North'
‘It was with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun’
- Basho
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Two short films produced by Dutch Uncle for Alexander App @alxrfeatures - Both films feature a special collaboration with Japanese artist Kensuke Koike.
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The Story
A seminal work of Japanese literature, written by master poet and former samurai Matsuo Bashō in 1689 – and now newly translated into English.
In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, he was an ardent student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightment
He wrote of the seasons changin, of the smells of the rain, the brightness of the moon, and beauty of the waterfall, through which he sense mysteries of the universe. There’s seventeenth-century travel writing not only chronicle Basho’s perilous journeys through Japan, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.
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Credits
Written by : Matsuo Basho
Read by : Takehiro Hira / @takehiro49
Animated and Directed by : Michael Lester / @beginners
Artists : Kensuke Koike / @kensukekoike
Production : Dutch Uncle / @agencydu
Animation Studio : Beginners / @beginners
Translator : Meredith McKinney
Sound Design: Oliver Muto / @olivermuto
Creative Direction : Lane & Associates / @lane_and_associates
Creative Lead : Hector Aponysus / @hector_aponysus
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ALEXANDER APP
@alxrfeatures
Alexander is in-depth storytelling three ways: a written story, an audio performance, and a super-short film by an acclaimed director to set the mood, tease the deeper story, and visually capture faraway and unfamiliar people and places.
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#KensukeKoike
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