Restored Asian Films

A runaway couple lost deep in the mountains happen to find the buried treasure of famous thief Chuji Kunisada. Director Torajiro Saito is a comedy king and it is said that his comedy was at its most radical in his silent era, but only three of his silents remained. This fourth discovery turned out to be his earliest surviving comedy, though a digest version of home use 16mm (about 20% out of original length of 1,399m on 5 reels), and the director’s three sons stepped forward to sponsor this restoration in 2005, to celebrate their father’s centenary.

This was the first installment of “Adopt-A-Film” project by Film Preservation Society, which involves asking for donations for the full cost of restoration of a discovered film and putting the donor’s name at the top of the restored print. Eventually the original film is given back to the owner, and the restored 35mm print is kept in an archival (cool and dry) environment.