The Dragon Painter

Silent Film with Live Performance

Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 pm

Dir. William Worthington, 1919, 61 min, silent with live accompaniment. With Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Edward Peil, and Toyo.

On drum set and vibraphone, Shun Ishiwaka shows off his mastery in this film-screening “concert,” enlivening the silent movie The Dragon Painter, a quirky story of a brilliant, reclusive painter obsessed with the myth of a dragon princess.

Starring Japanese matinée idol Sessue Hayakawa, the first actor of Asian descent to become a leading man in Hollywood and Europe, and self-financed by the actor’s production company Haworth Pictures Corporation, The Dragon Painter is a rare example of a silent-era American production with an almost entirely Asian cast. Hayakawa’s move into self-financing his films, motivated by his desire to better represent his culture and introduce more authentic depictions of Japanese characters in film, would result in this remarkable 1919 feature. Hayakawa portrays a brilliant reclusive painter obsessed with the tale of a dragon princess, becoming enraptured with his mentor’s daughter Ume-ko (Tsuru Aoki, Hayakawa’s wife) who he believes may be the princess incarnate. Far from an authentic vision, The Dragon Painter inhabits a dreamy fantasia of the Land of the Rising Sun—a fable that succeeds in its outright beauty and romanticism, imbued with the Japonisme and exoticism of its time.

A pre-performance lecture on Sessue Hayakawa begins at 6:30 pm.

Part of Shun Ishiwaka: Jazz Transcending
June 5 & 7, 2025

Save 20% when you purchase a ticket to both Jazz Transcending programs. Offer only valid for tickets purchased in the same transaction.

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Images: Shun Ishiwaka: Jazz Transcending © Kana Tarumi.

Shun Ishiwaka: Jazz Transcending is supported by Doug and Teresa Peterson.

2024-25 Performing Arts Season Support

The season is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Additional, major support is generously provided by Doug and Teresa Peterson, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Jun Makihara and Megumi Oka. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund, John and Miyoko Davey Foundation, and a leadership gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Program support is also generously provided by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; Hisamitsu America, Inc.; Akiko Mikumo; Hiroko Onoyama; Richard and Momona Royce; Dr. and Mrs. Carl F. Taeusch II; Dr. Jeanette C. Takamura; Nancy and Joe Walker; Estate of Alan M. Suhonen; and Performing Arts Circle members.

All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. is the official airline of the Japan Society Performing Arts Program. Yamaha is the official piano provider of Japan Society.

Japan Society programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.