The original romance novel was written by a widowed court lady—and it's absolutely unhinged.
Set in 900AD and tells the story of a famous female writer of the time, Murasaki Shikibu. Her story begins from the death of her husband, a Japanese noble, then moves on to her recruitment to train the Prince's young 'wives in waiting'. It is dotted throughout and actually composed mainly of one of the fictional stories she wrote, the tale of Genji. Genji is a rich playboy who falls in love and has a son to his stepmother. He falls in love often and has many wives whom are all completely subservient to him.
Production
Exquisite recreation of 10th-century court life, down to the 12-layer kimonos.
Acting
Yuki Amami's Genji somehow makes emotional devastation look like flirting.
Writing
Meta-narrative folding Murasaki's life into her scandalous fictional creation.
Director
Tonkô Horikawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Tale of Genji is considered the world's first novel; Murasaki likely invented the genre of psychological fiction while literally inventing a new Japanese writing system to do it.
Director Horikawa specifically cast Yuki Amami (a woman) as Genji to emphasize the character's feminine-coded beauty and to literalize Murasaki's authorial gaze—she wrote him, so she essentially played him.
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