The Wrath of the Gods
About The Wrath of the Gods
Tom Wilson, an American sailor, is wrecked on an island and falls in love with Toya San. Her father, Baron Yamaki, lives under a curse: an ancestor defiled a Buddhist altar, and if Toya marries, the volcano will destroy the island. The prophet Takeo spreads the story. Tom teaches her Christianity. She and her father convert, and she marries Tom at a Japanese-American mission. Takeo stirs a mob. They beat Yamaki to death under a cross he has put up in place of a Buddha, and burn the house. The volcano erupts. Takeo dies in an avalanche. A United States merchant ship takes Tom and Toya off. He tells her his god has proved stronger and that she is saved to continue her race.
Cast & crew
More about The Wrath of the Gods
Reginald Barker's first film as director, and Sessue Hayakawa's first feature. Thomas H. Ince produced and wrote the story with C. Gardner Sullivan, after the 12 January 1914 eruption of Sakurajima. Filmed 27 January to 13 February 1914. A Japanese village was built at Inceville in Santa Monica Canyon, with the wreck shot off Santa Monica. About 1,000 extras, mostly Japanese workers from Southern California. Mutual released it in the United States on 7 June 1914. Hiller & Wick reissued it in 1917. Runtime 56 minutes. Hayakawa was paid $500 a week. The story is set on Sakurajima.
Themes
Background
Sakurajima erupted on 12 January 1914, one of the largest disasters in Japan that year. Ince used it at once as the basis of the curse plot.
Making
Ince started the picture within weeks of the Sakurajima eruption and had the village and the mob scenes shot at Inceville with Japanese extras rather than white actors in the crowd.
Reviews
Reviewers praised the eruption and avalanche effects. The picture was publicized heavily before the 7 June 1914 release.
Technique
The eruption, the burning house, and Takeo's death in an avalanche were staged effects, the part of the film critics singled out.
Preservation
A print survives and was issued on DVD in the United States on 18 March 2008. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Sessue Hayakawa plays Baron Yamaki, Tsuru Aoki's father. They married on 1 May 1914, before the release. Aoki plays Toya San. Frank Borzage plays Tom Wilson.
- Thomas Kurihara plays Takeo. Henry Kotani plays Mr. Hoshida. Gladys Brockwell is also in the catalog cast.
- It opened in Japan at Asakusa's Fujikan Theater on 15 September 1918 and was banned a few weeks later for bringing dishonour to the country.
- Critics singled out the eruption effects. The film was shown again with The Dragon Painter at the 30th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on 4 May 2014. A U.S. DVD came out on 18 March 2008.
- A file is on Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- Yamaki replaces a Buddha with a cross and is beaten to death beneath it.
- The volcano destroys the village. Takeo dies in an avalanche. A U.S. ship takes Tom and Toya off.
Influenced by
- The January 1914 eruption of Sakurajima
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Wrath of the Gods (1914).webm)
Quotes
Your gods may be powerful, Toya San, but mine has proved his omnipotence. You are saved to perpetuate your race.
