14A) The Divine Move (Shinui Hansu)
Year: 2014
Director: Jo Bum-Gu
Cast: Jung Woo-Sung, Lee Beom-Soo
Source: Wiki IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: A gangster and Go movie. Professional Go player Tae-Seok loses his brother to infamous
underground gambler Sal-Soo after losing a high-stakes game. Framed for the murder of his own
brother and locked up in prison, Tae-Seok vows revenge and trains ferociously. After serving
his seven-year sentence, Tae-Seok gets in touch with his brother's former associate Tricks,
hermit and blind master player Jesus and skillful junkyard owner Mok-Su, and begins formulating
a plan to get back at Sal-Soo and his men. Slowly penetrating Sal-Soo's inner circle and his
gambling joint, Tae-Seok eliminates Sal-Soo's men one by one. But when Sal-Soo discovers
Tae-Seok's true identity, one final game will seal the fate of the two men. Also each section
of the movie is labelled according to the various phases of a game, opening, counting, etc.
(Korean Language - English subtitled version available.)
13A) New World
Year: 2013
Directed by: Park Hoon-jung
Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Choi Min-shik, Hwang Jung-min
Source: IMDB
Comment: This Korean gangster movie looks at the conflicts between the mob and the police
through the eyes of an undercover cop. In the trailer, a lady is seen sitting at a Go
board and later her opponent smacks the board sending the stones flying.
13B) The Stone (Deo Seu-ton or Dol)
Year: 2013
Director: Cho Se-rae
Source: IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: A gangster and Go movie. Coming to grips with the truth that he will never earn
a living playing Baduk, a young man's chance encounter with a local gangster finds him
with a new pupil in Deo Seu-ton. This Korean drama is about the vastly different past
and future of the two men and contrasts Go to the gangster scene. At one point, while
walking down a street, a character muses "If life is a game of Go, I wish I can place
my first stone again."
12A) Tenchi: the Samurai Astronomer (Tenchi Meisatsu)
Year: 2012
Directed by: Takita Youjirou
Cast: Okada Junichi, Miyazaki Aoi, Sato Ryuta
Source: IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: Also known as "Insight Into the Universe", this is a Japanese film about Yasui
Santetsu, a Go player and famous Japanese astronomer, better known as Shibukawa Shunkai.
The creator of the Japanese Jokyo calendar and the author of many books about astronomy,
he also played with his friend and rival, Honinbo Dosaku, in castle games. The famous
game between Dosaku and Santetsu, where Santetsu opened on tengen, is depicted in the film.
It stars Okada Junichi, a Japanese actor who is also a member of the pop group V6. The
trailer starts with shots of him holding a Go stone and playing the tengen move.
12B) Tokyo Newcomer
Year: 2012
Directed by: Jiang Qinmin
Cast: Qin Hao, Chieko Baisho, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
Go Consultant: Li Ting 1p
Source: IMDB
Watch: Trailer YouTube
Comment: The latest film by Jiang Qinmin (who also directed "The Last Sunflower" and
"Sky Lovers") "Tokyo Newcomer" is "a touching drama about true communication,
transcending national borders and generation gaps, through Go." Naturally it
features quite a bit of Go.
Chinese Go genius Yoshiryu (Qin Hao) comes to Japan to hone his skills
in the game, but finds he's too busy earning a living to study Go at all.
One day he drops his Go set (in a red lacquer box) on the street and an old
woman hawking vegetables helps him pick them up. They become friends and so
he becomes a close friend of her grandson. The grandson has a certain coolness
towards Go and gets involved in a fight which changes the course of the story.
Later on it turns out the old women is a descendant of a prestigious Go family.
At 38 minutes in, Yoshiryu enters a amateur tournament and we see scenes of this
in progress in the ground floor rooms of the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya. In this scene
the main character is playing against Matsumoto Takehisa, 7p.
Later we see other games, including a game played in front of distinguished guests
with a proper goban and stones in an traditional Japanese building, as well as games
at the woman's home, in a cubicle hotel and a Go club.
Another scene is filmed in the Nihon Ki-in's Go Museum. At one point Takemiya Yoko, 5p,
poses as a TV analyst.
Japanese with Chinese or English subtitles. 100 minutes.
11A) Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (Sai De Ke Ba Lai)
Year: 2011
Directed by: Te-Sheng Wei
Cast: Masanobu Ando, Umin Boya, Chi-Wei Cheng
Source: IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: Taiwanese film set in the Japanese occupation of Taiwan when in 1930
the local Seediq people rebelled. Visible in the extended film trailer
(4:21 in), in one scene an injured man talks leaning over a Go board with
stones on. (Japanese and Seediq language with Chinese and English subtitles.)
11B) White Vengeance (Hong Men Yan Chuan Qi)
Year: 2011
Directed by: Daniel Lee
Cast: Shao-Feng Feng, Leon Lai, Hanyu Zhang, Anthony Wong
Source: IMDB
Comment: This tells the story of two brothers contending for supremacy
during the fall of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC. At a banquet
advisors Fan Zeng (Anthony Wong) and Zhang Liang (Zhang Hanyu) play a
long Go match that is supposed to mirror the path the warring brothers
have set out on. They play on a row of metre high Go tables with over-
sized grey boards, the biconvex stones held in metal stands, the moves
called out by the players as the Go master playing them all is blind.
To remove captured stones they bang the table with a sword and catch
the stones as they fly in the air (see 71 minutes in)! The philosophy
of I Ching is mentioned during the match. As usual the scene
ends up as a bloody sword fight with the tables being knocked over.
(Chinese language.)
10A) 13 Assassins (Jusan nin no Shikaku)
Year: 2010
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya
Source: IMDB
Comment: A Japanese (with English subtitles) period Samurai movie, a remake of a 1963 film.
13 samurai assassins set out to kill the ruthless Lord Naritsugu. No Go board can be seen,
but two protagonists talk about continuing a series of games of Go.
10B) Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (Di Renjie zhu tongtian diguo)
Year: 2010
Directed by: Hark Tsui
Cast: Andy Lau, Carina Lau
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: A Chinese detective thriller with lots of CGI and martial arts (English subtitles).
Dee has to solve the mysterious deaths by fire that stop the inauguration of
Empress Wu. In one scene the Prince is sitting on a terrace with staff around him
playing music and attending to him. He is seen clearing the board after a game and is
discussing how he is going to succeed. As he talks an assassin kills him with an arrow
from the roof above and he slumps on to the board revealing the stones are turquoise
and orange crystals. The board is the kind with black and white ornate sides, and a brown
top with white lines.
10C) The Man from Nowhere
Year: 2010
Directed by: Jeong-Beom Lee
Cast: Taek-Sik Cha
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: A Korean thriller about the drug trade in which at 20:40 in a man follows a girl
into a corner shop to find the old owner at his counter reviewing a game on his board.
He is holding a folded baduk magazine in his left hand and placing stones from wooden
bowls with his right. We see him a few times over the next minute and also a close up
of the edge of the board as money is placed on the counter. (English dubbed version
available.)
08A) Rough Cut (Yeong-hwa-neun Yeong-hwa-da)
Year: 2008
Directed by: Hun Jang
Cast: Ji-Sub So, Su-Hyeon Hong, Ji-Hwan Kang
Source: IMDB
Comment: Korean film about a gangster who wants to be an actor and an
an actor who wants to be a gangster. In one scene, 77 mins in , a visitor to jail
sticks a transparency of a Go game on the window between him and the
inmate, and the inmate indicates a move that result in the capture of a group.
Later, at 82 minutes, we see the captured stones have been crossed out.
08B) The I-go King and His Son (Qi Wang He Ta Er Zi)
Year: 2008
Directed by: Wei Zhou
Cast: Hai-Yan Meng, Song Sun, Cheng-Yang Wang
Source: IMDB
Comment: His friends call Liu Yishou, an amateur Go player, "the King of Go."
Liu was laid off, and with no other skills to make a living, teaches the
strategic board game in a humble training school for children. Life has been
hard for Liu, but his son, Xiaochuan, has chosen to stay with him through the
difficulties. On an unexpected occasion, Xiaochuan displays an amazing talent
for Go, and his father vows to encourage the further development of his game.
Along the way the father and son are confronted with challenges, but with courage,
persistence and profound love, they eventually arrive at the destination toward
which they were headed.
07A) The Warlords (Tau Ming Chong)
Year: 2007
Directed by: Peter Chan and Wai Man Yip
Cast: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: The movie is set in the 1860s during the Taiping Rebellion.
Of course there are battles and martial arts and a love triangle.
At 56:19, for about a minute, two of the Emperors' officials are
talking while playing Go, whilst a third sits back and discusses
with them. They are using their moves to refer to the fate of General
Pang (played by Jet Li). We see a grey board from above and Chinese
stones, and they play a few moves, each with a sharp click.
07B) The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi (Yakiniku Muubii: Purukogi)
Year: 2007
Directed by: Su-yeon Gu
Source: IMDB
Watch Clip: YouTube
Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Yu Yamada, Arat
Comment: A Japanese Comedy about a small-town traditional restaurant trying to make
it big in a TV cookery contest. In the restaurant scenes the old master cook and
his friend are seated at a table with a goban and wooden bowls in it. They are
constantly pondering the game, without a single move played during the movie.
08A) Hana - the Tale of a Reluctant Samurai (Hana Yori Mo Naho)
Year: 2006
Director: Koreeda Hirokazu
Cast: Okada Junichi, Miyazawa Rie
Source: Wiki
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: In this period drama the main character, Sozaemon "Soza" Aoki, moves to an Edo slum
seeking revenge after the death of his father, but gets involved with the locals and has
second thoughts. Go has a small but very important part to play, as it forms the link
between Soza and his deceased father. The first Go scene is 21 minutes in where Go is
played with shabby equipment consistent with the slum, for instance the Go ban sits straight
on the tatami and at 40 minutes Soza manages to balance 5 thin stones on each other whilst
contemplating. Another game is in progress at night, about 98 minutes in, mostly with
distant views or head shots of the players talking, but also one close up of the board
position. (Japanese, dubbed English version available.)
06B) Ten Nights of Dreams (Yume Juu Ya)
Year: 2006
Director: Various - Dream 9 Miwa Nishikawa
Cast: Tamaki Ogawa, Pierre Taki
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: This film is based on a short story collection by Natsume Soseki. It is split into
ten dreams; each bizarre and often gory dream sequence is by a different director. The
ninth dream (starts at 85 mins) is about the affect of war on a family. In it the mother
is seen clapping to start prayer, but then taking a white Go stone from a pouch and
laying it on the floor. As in all good dreams, this happens more than once. At the end
of the dream (at 90:35 mins) we see a photo of the family, on the floor, next to black
and white stones. (Japanese language, English subtitled version available.)
06C) The Go Master (Wu Qingyuan)
Year: 2006
Directed by: Tian Zhuangzhuang
Cast: Chang Chen
Source: Movie Homepage IMDB
Comment: The life of Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan), produced in China, was on
international release in Autumn 2006 and shown at various film festivals,
and is available on DVD with English subtitles (107 minutes).
Go Seigen needs no introduction as one of the top players of the last
century. The film tells his story how as a Chinese prodigy he has to
move to Japan to compete. When the two countries are at war his
allegiances are torn, but he remains in Japan and later gets sucked
into a religious cult which tries to exploit his celebrity. However
he loyalty to the discipline of his vocation as a Go player. The film
has been described as "visually elegant and psychologically astute",
but other reviews say the film was not up to expectations.
We see various professional Go games being played, a very elegant nigiri,
game records being studied, and a Go pupils' study group.
The film starts with modern-day footage of Go Seigen and his family
in a garden discussing how the monkeys steal the persimmon fruit.
06D) The Host (Gwoemul)
Year: 2006
Directed by: Joon-ho Bong
Cast: Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byong, Hae-il Park
Source: IMDB
Comment: A Korean monster movie. Go can briefly be seen about 26.5 minutes into the movie,
when a large TV set is turned on and before the channel is changed. A large image of a
demo board with a game reviewer playing a stone is seen behind the man in rescue clothing
who is operating the TV. The game shown is believed to be a review of O Meien (white)
verses Pak Yeong-hun in the 1st Zhonghuan Cup from 2004.
05A) Duelist (Hyeong-sa)
Year: 2005
Directed by: Myung-se lee
Cast: Ji-won Ha, Sung-kee Ahn, Dong-won Kang
Source: IMDB
Comment: Joseon dynasty Korean sword-fighting movie where the villain, who conspires
against the government, plays Go. About 70 minutes in he is seen capturing a white
stone. At about 90 minutes he plays a move, but is disturbed by a noise tips the
ban over scattering stones.
04A) The Taste of Tea (Cha no Aji)
Year: 2004
Directed by: Katsuhito Ishii
Cast: Tadanobu Asana, Takahiro Sato
Source: Wikipedia IMDB
Comment: Although Go is not the only focus of the film, it is one of its essential
ingredients and appears more often than in other films like Pi and A Beautiful Mind.
The film is concerned with the lives of the Haruno family, who live in rural Tochigi
prefecture, the countryside north of Tokyo. Nobuo is a hypnotherapist who teaches his
son, Hajime, to play Go. Hajime becomes an excellent Go player, but he has a rough
time with girls and puberty. Nobuo's wife, Yoshiko refuses to be an average housewife,
and works on animated film projects at home. She uses assistance from Grandfather Akira,
an eccentric old man who is a former animator and occasional model.
Uncle Ayano, a sound engineer and record producer, moves in with the family. He is
looking to restart his life again after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile,
Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko, believes that she is followed around everywhere by a giant
version of herself, and she searches for ways to rid herself of it. Go is played variously
at school, at home and in Go clubs.
03A) Onmyoji II
Year: 2003
Directed by: Yojiro Takita
Cast: Mansai Nomura, Hideaki Ito, Kiichi Nakai
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: Japanese historical movie in which demons dismember Japanese nobles. At 6:39 in the
main character, Abe no Seimei, plays Go against a spirit (a shikigami) in the form of his
friend Minamoto no Hiromasa, a monk. The goban has tall thin legs and they have bowls
on the floor. As a white stone is played with a click, the opponent turns into a small
paper cut-out man.
02A) Hero (Ying Xiong)
Year: 2002
Directed by: Yimou Zhang
Source: IMDB
Comment: The main character fights against a bad guy and then plays a game
that could be Go, but more likely Five-in-a-Row, outside on a large board,
over which it rains, placing the stones inside the raised squares with
strange long forks.
02B) So Close (Chik yeung tin sai)
Year: 2002
Directed by: Corey Yuen
Cast: Shu Qi, Zhao Wei, Karen Mok
Source: IMDB
Comment: In this action movie from Singapore, where a girl cop takes on two
assassin sisters, there is a very short scene two guards are shown playing
Go on a mega screen inside a very high tech building.
02C) When the Last Sword is Drawn (Mibu Gishi Den)
Year: 2002
Directed by: Yojiro Takita
Cast: Kiichi Nakai, Koichi Sato, Yui Natsukawa
Source: IMDB
Comment: Japanese samurai movie in which at 46:03 minutes we see a goban with two bowls
of stones on top of the board, in the background. At 48:51 we see the local lord playing
Go on a goban, whilst conversing about his opponent's impending marriage.
01A) Volcano High (Hwasango)
Year: 2001
Directed by: Tae-gyun Kim
Cast: Hyuk Jang, Min-a Shin, Su-ro Kim
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: 23:00 in, there is a long scene (2.5 minutes) where two teachers, Director
Jang Oh-Ja and Subdirector Jang Hak-Sa, play Go together. A third man pours tea
for them. It is quite a funny scene, at one point the director claims he can move
the stones with his will-power and the board (seen from above) starts to shake.
The sub-director grabs the sides to stop it, revealing the Goban having three
carved symbols on the side and the director removing his hands from the legs.
98A) Hitman or Contract Killer (Sat Sau Ji Wong)
Year: 1998
Directed by: Wei Tung
Cast: Jet Li, Simon Yam
Source: IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: The final fight is staged in a Japanese style room where there
is a goban, with wooden bowls and stones on the top (seen from 71:25).
In the fight, a man is hurled across the room towards the goban
(at 74:13) and later there is a brief glimpse of the goban being
tipped over and used to hit the man. After this Go stones are seen
scattered on the floor. In an earlier scene set in the room (seen in
the trailer) the goban is in the background, with bowls on the floor,
and two women are lying down in the foreground.
97A) Yapian Zhanzheng (The Opium War)
Year: 1997
Directed by: Jin Xie
Cast: Bao Guoan, Debra Beaumont
Original music by: Fuzai Jin
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube Part 1 Part 2
Comment: 68:50 into the film (14:20 in part 2) Lin Xezu is playing Go in a
pavilion. The board is thin and sits on a round stone table with a central
leg. There are wooden bowls, but the edge-on view does not show the position.
However the moves are played very elegantly as he fans himself. A man runs
up to informed him about the arrival of the British fleet. The other player
tells him to carry on playing. The film is interesting, especially as it
shows the Opium War period seen from the Chinese side. As a consequence of
the Chinese defeat, Hong Kong became a British colony. Bilingual Mandarin
and English, with both subtitled for Cantonese viewers.
96A) Qi Yuan - Chun Qiu (Go Courtyard - Fall, Spring)
Year: 1996?
Comment: This movie has more Go in it than possibly any other!
It is a 'bowl-boiler' Chinese-made-for-TV Go movie (four hours,
five cassettes). The movie takes place in a palace during the
Sung Dynasty period c. 1100 A.D. and is based on fact in a
loose way. In the southern Manchurian kingdom of Liao, everyone
in the court is mad about Go and in the courtyard there is a Go
school. A princess is a top player. The top player in the Sung
court is a man (a 'prince') who is looking for someone to play
and ends up, so to say, 'courting' the princess. There is an
ongoing palace coup plot, of course, and the servant girl of
the princess is forced to play Go for her life.
96B) Three Friends (Sechinku)
Year: 1996
Directed by: Soon-Rye Yim
Cast: Hyun-Sung Kim, Hee-Suk Jung, Jang-Won Lee
Source: IMDB
Comment: Korean film about three young friends. One character is obsessed with
Baduk.
94A) Deadful Melody
Year: 1994
Directed by: Min Kun Ng
Cast: Brigitte Lin, Biao Yuen
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: At 62:40 of this period fantasy adventure there is a one minute
scene where an old man in red and a younger man in black discuss a marriage
while sitting at a table with refreshments and a grey thin Go board. There
is a game underway but no more moves are played. The one in black crushes a
black stone with his fingers before magically rushing off to sort the marriage.
94B) Jing Wu Ying Xiong (Fist of Legends)
Year: 1994
Directed by: Gordon Chan
Cast: Jet Li, Siu-hou Chin
Source: IMDB
Comment: The film is set in pre-Japanese invasion China. It contains
a two minute scene (about 75 minutes in) where the Japanese Ambassador
is seated at a Go ban with Uncle Funakushi, who is described as samurai
clan. However they are clearly playing 5-in-a-row not Go (White wins on
the second move shown), however the ban is black with white lines and
white decoration on the sides, and they have Chinese-style stones and
brown bowls. They discuss impending war as they tidy the stones
(different amounts are tidied depending on camera angle). Later the ban
is briefly seen again in a fight sequence. The film is dubbed English,
but a subtitled version refers to the game as Chess.
93A) You Seng (Temptation of a Monk)
Year: 1993
Directed by: Clara Law
Cast: Joan Chen, Michael Lee, Lisa Lu
Source: IMDB
Watch: Excerpt on YouTube
Comment: Set in 7th century China and featuring a monk, forbidden love and the
usual warfare, there are three Go scenes. In one scene a man is seen studying
moves (replaying a game) on a goban while a maid looks on; he tips the goban
over towards the camera in frustration. In another two men are seated on the
floor playing and placing the stone very elegantly.
92A) Sex and Zen (Yu pu tuan zhi: Tou qing bao jian)
Year: 1992
Directed by: Michael Mak
Cast: Lawrence Ng
Source: IMDB
Comment: A Go board can sometimes be seen.
92B) Tui Shou (Pushing Hands)
Year: 1992
Directed by: Ang Lee
Cast: Bin Chao, Victor Chan,
Source: IMDB
Comment: This movie features a master of the martial art called
Pushing Hands who moves to New York where there is a clash of
cultures. There is a scene where the father and son are playing
Go and the son slaps a stone down (like a surprise checkmate)
and captures a big group.
89A) Long Xing Tian Xia (The Master)
Year: 1989
Directed by: Tsui Hark
Cast: Jet Li
Source: IMDB
Comment: Set in LA, somewhere in the film you see a Go board.
88A) Men Behind the Sun (Hei Tai Yang 731)
Year: 1988
Directed by: Tun Fei Mou
Cast: Gang Wang, Hsu Guo, Tie Long Lin, Zhaohua Mei
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: Set in Manchuria during WWII at the notorious Japanese experimentation camp 731,
Go equipment appears in a couple of scenes. 38.5 minutes in, Ishikawa and the medical
painter are playing Go at the side of a room where the soldiers are eating and drinking.
They argue over the morality of their squadron's experiments on the Chinese people, or
"maruta" as they were often called. There is no good view of the board as people sit
in the way. At about 44 minutes, there is a goban on the floor of the geisha house
General Ishii visits. He plucks hair from the armpits of a young courtesan which causes
her to kick a bowl of stones off the goban and the white stones spill all over the
floor as the white ceramic bowl breaks; this inspires his "low temperature pottery bomb".
87A) Ninja 8: Warriors of Fire
Year: 1987
Directed by: Godfrey Ho
Cast: Peter Davis, Jeff Houston, Glen Carson
Source: IMDB
Comment: A cheesy Hong Kong film, available with English dubbing, this features western
ninja-fighting action. At 22:30, we get glimpses of the ninja master seated in his house
studying a game on a flat Go board, with white and black bowls. A woman, who is a
potential new ninja, interupts him and the board position is seen as he stands up.
85A) Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Year: 1985
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Cast: Ken Ogata
Source: IMDB
Comment: This beautiful film is based on the works of Yukio Mishima,
At 23:28 in the master can be seen kneeling at a Goban in a tatami room.
However mostly Go features in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. The
scene shows the main character of Yukio Mishima's 'Temple of the
Golden Pavilion' talking with his meditation master, while the
master is studying a Go board. One shot in the scene is of nothing
but the board. In order to exaggerate the sense of perspective, the
Go board appears to be trapezoidally shaped and different sized stones
are used across the board (larger stones are nearer). Since this portion
of the film is purportedly lifted from Yukio Mishima's novel, it
presumably features in that. The director's comments suggest that he
regretted cutting the scene, but it caused some introductory material
in the film to be "disproportionately long".
82A) The Go Masters (Mikan no Taikyoku)
Year: 1982
Directed by: Ji-shun Duan, Junya Sato
Cast: Rentaro Mikuni
Source: IMDB
Comment: A "Gone with the Wind" all about Go, the film examines how the
relationship between a Chinese and a Japanese Go player changes because
of events during the war, explained using flash backs when they meet
again after the war has ended. Many Go scenes including clubs and
tournaments, and a scene where the Chinese player prefers to have his
Go fingers cut off than play the enemy, the Japanese. 123 minutes.
77A) Thousand Miles Escort (Ren Ba Zhao)
Year: 1977
Directed by: Teng Hung Hsu
Cast: Liang Chia, Ying Bai, Michelle Yim
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: A low budget Kung Fu movie which features, among other villains, a pair of
Go-playing brothers who are hired to kill the protagonist and the orphan he protects.
At 56 mins in they are sitting at a round table, with a thin board and a large lamp on
it, when a man comes to hire them and dumps his chest of gold on the table. When it is
removed, their first move as assassins is mapped out on the board.
75A) The Valiant Ones (Zhong Lei Tu)
Year: 1975
Directed by: King Hu
Cast: Feng Hsu, Ying Bai, Roy Chiao
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: Historical drama where the Chinese try to defend their shores
from Japanese pirates. The characters are colour-coded (black or other
dark shades for the Chinese, white for the Japanese). At 21:53 two people
are seen seated and playing Go in the background of an interrogation scene.
From 29:04 a Go board is used by the Chinese to keep track of soldiers
prior to battle by placing black and white stones to represent each side
(last seen at 33:52). The battles themselves are structured like a game.
(Chinese with English subtitles.)
73A) The Fate of Lee Khan (Ying Chun Ge Zhi Fengbo)
Year: 1973
Directed by: King Hu
Cast: Angela Mao, Hu Chin, Feng Tien
Source: IMDB
Comment: At 1:08:20 the hero brings a Go set to the table in the inn.
He tries to learn the game from another, but two soldiers take over
the board and play a few strange opening moves. At 72:10 we get a close
up of the almost full board with some surrounded stones on it. The hero
tries kibitzing and is told not to meddle.
72A) Fist of Fury (Jing Wu Men) also known as The Chinese Connection
Year: 1972
Directed by: Wei Lo
Cast: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, James Tien
Source: IMDB
Comment: In one scene characters can be seen putting stones on a board. In a fight
scene the board is on a spindly table and the board is thrown in someone's face.
72B) Five Fingers of Death (Tian Xia Di Yi Quan)
Year: 1972
Directed by: Chang-Hwa Jeong
Cast: Lieh Lo, Wang Ping
Source: IMDB
Comment: A Hong Kong martial arts film about two rival dojos, with minimal
Go content, if any.
70A) Zatoichi Abare-Himatsuri (Adventures of Zatoichi 21 - Zatoichi At the Fire Festival)
Year: 1970
Directed by: Kenji Misumi, Nakadai Tatsuya
Cast: Shintarou Katsu
Source: Zatoichi homepage IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: There is a scene that lasts about 90 seconds at 77:03, where Zatoichi plays
the Big Boss, who is also blind, in a game of Go. The scene opens in silhouette
and then moves in so we can see the goban and the position clearly. They know where
the moves have been played by feel and sound; the moves are correctly played with a
click. The boss does seem to rattle his bowl though and we get a close up of Zatoichi
picking a black stone from his elegantly lacquered and decorated bowl.
The boss drops a white stone into his left hand and then we see him play tiddlywinks
to flick a black stone into Zatoichi's face. In retaliation Zatoichi then flicks a
a stone to knock the last White move off the board and replace the lost black
stone in the correct position. They then both drink as the tension rises, but in
the end they both laugh off the situation.
67A) Dragon Inn (also Dragon Gate Inn, orig. Long Men Kezhan)
Year: 1967
Director: King Hu
Cast: Lingfen Shangguan, Chun Shih, Ying Bai
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: This Taiwanese sword-play classic is set in 15th century China where an evil
faction tries to elimiate the family of an executed rival. The clash occurs at the inn
in the title when the evil gang come in contact with expert swordsmen on the side of good.
At 14:45 in, the we see the local army camp with two soldiers seated with a Go board balanced
on rocks and playing Go. The camera pans in for a couple of seconds as two moves are played,
before a swordsman from the evil faction downs them with a single sword blow. One of the
players slumps over the board and second swordsman steps over the board to find their next
target. (Chinese Language with subtitles.)
64A) Kwaidan (Ghost Stories, orig. Kaidan)
Year: 1964
Directed by: Masaki Kobayashi
Cast: Michiyo Aratama, Keiko Kishi, Rentaro Mikuni
Source: IMDB
Comment: In one of the scenes the wife of the main character plays Go,
loses and storms out with the words "What a stupid game". This is to
illustrate the mean behaviour of the wife. The movie tells four horror
stories from Japanese legends; the Go is believed to be in the first:
"Black Hair".
64B) Zatoichi Seki-sho Yaburi (Adventures of Zatoichi 9 - Zatoichi Demolishes the Barrier)
Year: 1964
Directed by: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Cast: Shintarou Katsu
Source: Zatoichi homepage IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: Zatoichi was a character in a number of Japanese samurai films; he was
called "the blind swordsman". In this film, 25:45 in, two men, the Oyabun (boss)
and his adviser, who takes white, are playing Go in a typical tatami-matted room.
The Oyabun slaps his stones down in a complaining manner, whilst the adviser holds
the wrongly. When Zatoichi enters to ask some kind of favour, the chief samurai
arrives and he and Zatoichi draw their swords and the blades pass, but apparently
no contact is made. Both sheath their swords, and the conversation continues.
The proverbial comment is supposed to be made: "A Go player's concentration is
such that they will miss their own parents funeral when playing Go". Zatoichi
leaves and the Oyabun and the adviser exchange some words. The adviser then
plays his next move. The board collapses, having been sliced through the middle,
without any of the stones being disturbed. All the stones pour on to the floor.
62A) Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no aji)
Year: 1962
Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Shima Iwashita, Daisuke Kato, Kyoko Kishida, Noriko Maki, Shinichiro Mikami
Source: IMDB
Comment: This film seems to consist entirely of men in meetings eating and drinking.
However in a three minute scene at 92 mins, two men are shown seated on the floor
between a low refreshment table and an open screen. They talk and eat while playing
stones on a Go ban. We see each player in turn, sometimes slapping a stone down and
sliding it in to place, but we do not get to see the full position; the table is often
in the way so we often only hear their Go stones being played.
62B) Chushingura - Hana no maki yuki no maki
(or 47 Ronin - note not the 1941 version)
Year: 1962
Directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki
Source: IMDB
Comment: The film is about 3.5 hours long. At 3 hours, towards the end of
the climactic fight in the palace, a trapped samurai picks up a full size
floor Goban and hurls it at his attacker who deflects it with a
swipe of his sword. The victim then hurls a bowl of white stones
at him with no effect at all. The stones fly like snow flakes.
Two of the attacker's buddies crash in and that's all for the victim.
This scene is depicted on numerous woodblock prints. The story is
a cherished legend and is one of the more popular kabuki stories.
62C) Tsubaki Sanjuro
Year: 1962
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi
Source: IMDB
Comment: Kurosawa classic featuring a samurai who saved a framed and
imprisoned uncle. In a long sequence the main character rests next to a goban,
while others are rushing in and out, and then he perches atop it to instruct
his young samurai.
58A) Borei Kaibyo Yashiki (Mansion of the Ghost Cat)
Year: 1958
Directed by: Nobuo Nakagawa
Cast: Toshio Hosakawa
Source: IMDB
Trailer: YouTube
Comment: A violent ghost story featuring a samurai and haunted cat.
The trailer shows two men in a tatami room at a goban decorated with
flowers on its side. One of the men is then run through by the other's
sword and he grasps stones as he slumps in agony on the goban.
54A) Godzilla (Gojira)
Year: 1954
Directed by: Ishiro Honda
Cast: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kouchi, Akihiko Hirata,
Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa
Source: IMDB
Comment: The first classic Godzilla movie, in which a scene has
two sailors playing Go.
51A) Bakushuu (Early Summer)
Year: 1951
Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Chikage Awajima, Setsuko Hara
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: Yasujiro Ozu's typical (that is, outstanding) family drama, known in the
west as "Early Summer". It is a story of romance, arranged marriages and family
life in post-war Tokyo. The one Go scene at 48:25 has the head of the household,
a doctor, playing Go with a friend, talking, smoking and drinking, on a Sunday in,
of course, early summer. The are seated with the goban on a table and a close up
of the player with his back to the camera shows he holds the white stones properly
whereas the other does not. At one point they discuss if a stone has moved and
the doctor says he has left his house as it is full of children (playing with an
electric train set it turns out).
51B) Genji Monogatari
Year: 1951
Directed by: Kozaburo Yoshimura
Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Michiyo Kogure
Source: IMDB
Watch: YouTube
Comment: At 16:15 in there is the famous Go scene. The camera pans through a rainy
courtyard to where Lady Fujitsubo and her maid are counting a game of Go. The
maid counts to 26 points and says it looks like she has lost. They agree, stating
her last move was an error. As the maid packs away the stones, Fujitsubo goes to
the window to look at the rain and finds Genji watching. The maid completes the
packing up and caries the board away after bowing, revealing the goban to have
decorated sides and an ornate frame base. Genji then enters to have his way with
Fujitsubo.
49A) Stray Dog (Nora Inu)
Year: 1949
Director: Akira Kurasawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune
Source: IMDB
Comment: This film features a homicide detective looking a criminal. Ten minutes before
the end he scans a room for suspects. The two men who best fit the description are both
reading newspapers which are claimed to have Go diagrams visible. (Japanese language.)
42A) There was a Father (Chichi Ariki)
Year: 1942
Directed by: Yosujiro Ozu
Cast: Chishu Ryu, Shuji Sano, Shin Saburi
Source: IMDB
Comment: A story about the relationship between a widowed father and his son,
spread over several years. The father, a teacher, plays another at Go during a
school outing, whilst the unattended children go out on a boat with one of
them getting killed. This tragedy leads to the father and son being separated.
Last updated Thu May 14 2020. If you have any comments, please email the webmaster on web-master AT britgo DOT org.