Considered lost until its discovery in 2016, The Oath of the Sword was produced in 1914 by a company described by Moving Picture World as the “first company in America to be owned, controlled and operated by Japanese.” The Oath of the Sword tells the story of young lovers separated as the ambitious young man, Masao, leaves his lover Hisa to study abroad at the University of California, Berkeley. Masao becomes a success at the university, a popular student and a star athlete who dominates in track and swimming competitions. Left to care for her ailing father and unable to cope with her solitude, Hisa eventually betrays Masao and marries another man. Upon Masao’s return to his native Japan, Hisa fulfills “the oath of the sword” (katana) and kills herself.
Screened at the Harvard Film Archive with live accompaniment, this recently restored film was presented with DENISE KHOR, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies and Visual Studies at Northeastern University, in conversation with ALEXANDER ZAHLTEN, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
The Oath of the Sword
With DENISE KHOR, Northeastern University
In conversation with ALEXANDER ZAHLTEN
Directed by Frank Shaw.
With Numa Hisa, Mori Tomi, Akashi Kohano.
US, 1914, 35mm, black & white, silent, 31 min.
Print source: George Eastman Museum.
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Harvard Film Archive Screening co-sponsored by the Reischauer Institute