Hokusai (1953)

This look at the work and life of the Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter, printmaker, and block-print artist, Katsushika Hokusai, begins with the political context of the Edo shogunate at the time of his birth. Peasants driven off their land come to the city; a merchant class emerges, and the samurais' power wanes. Hokusai lives in poverty, apprenticed as a printmaker, studying under the best artists of the day, especially the Japanese painter, lacquerer, and designer, Ogata Korin, often referred to as just Korin. Katsushika Hokusai's unique style strives for realism. The camera slowly pans Hokusai's art: we see prints popular with merchants and commoners, particularly his caricatures; his subjects are often people at work. Late in life, political turmoil becomes his subject.