The Wrath of the Gods (1914 film)
| The Wrath of the Gods | |
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Poster of the film
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| Directed by | Reginald Barker |
| Produced by | Thomas H. Ince |
| Written by |
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| Screenplay by | C. Gardner Sullivan |
| Starring | |
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Production
company |
New York Motion Picture
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Release date
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Running time
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56 minutes |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
The Wrath of the Gods is a 1914 American silent drama film directed by Reginald Barker, and starring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Frank Borzage, Thomas Kurihara and Henry Kotani in the lead roles. This was the first feature film appearance of Hayakawa and the directorial debut of Barker.
The film is based on an American sailor who comes to the Yamaki family after his ship wrecks in the ocean. The sailor (Borzage) falls in love with the daughter (Aoki) of the family, unaware of the fact that she is cursed by God, such that if she marries, a nearby volcano will erupt and destroy the entire island on which the family lives. Writer and producer Thomas H. Ince got the idea for the film from the volcanic eruption on the island of Sakura-Jima in 1914. Hayakawa was paid $500 a week, the highest paid of all oriental stars at the time.
Filming started on January 27, 1914 and was completed on February 13. The film was released to a warm reception on June 7 after a large-scale publicity campaign. The visual effects of the film were widely appreciated by critics. It premiered in Japan on 15 September 1918, where it was later banned for "bringing dishonor to the country". Hayakawa, who played Aoki's father in the film, married her before the film's premiere.
Baron Yamaki (Sessue Hayakawa) is a fisherman who lives along with his daughter Toya San (Tsuru Aoki) on an island. The island is inhabited by Buddhists and Yamaki had been cursed by Buddha for an affront by one of his ancestors who in a murderous rage, defiled an altar of Buddha in the nearby temple. The curse was that if his daughter married anyone, then the nearby volcano would erupt. Toya finds it difficult to form relationships with boys because the village prophet Takeo (Thomas Kurihara) has spread the rumour that she is cursed. She is therefore unwilling to continue her father's acceptance of the curse. When Yamaki takes Toya-san to the Buddha shrine in the garden of his house to pray and try to get the curse removed, she vents her feelings about the god's unfairness.
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Wikipedia