Go Filmography

Please send updates to the webmaster (webmaster @ eurgofed.org)

Thanks go to Gionata Soletti who started this list, the American E-Journal and various individuals for reports of films and programs.



Film

 1) Shibumi
    Year: TBA
    Cast: Keanu Reeves
    Comment: Film version of Trevanian's novel, in production since 2006,
      will hopefully feature Go like the book.

 2) The Go Master (Wu Qingyuan) 
    Year: 2006
    Directed by: Tian Zhuangzhuang
    Cast: Chang Chen
    Produced by: Liu Xiaodian 
    Cinematography by: Wang Yu
    Source: http://www.fortissimo.nl/catalogue/title.asp?filmID=304
    Comment: The life of Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan), produced in Chinese, was on
       international release in Autumn 2006 and shown at various film festivals. 
       Go Seigen needs no introduction as one of the top players of the last
       century. The film tells his story how as a Chinese prodigy he has to 
       move to Japan to compete. When the two countries are at war his 
       allegiances are torn, but he remains in Japan and later gets sucjed
       into a religious cult which tries to exploit his celebrity. However 
       he loyalty to the discipline of his vocation as a Go player. The film 
       has beem described as "visually elegant and psychologically astute",
       but other reviews say the film was not up to expectations. 107 minutes.

 3) The Go Masters (Mikan no Taikyoku)
    Year: 1982
    Directed by: Ji-shun Duah, Junya Sato
    Cast: Rentaru Mikuni
    Produced by: Masahiro Sato,  Zhi-min Wang
    Original music by: Hikaru Hayashi, Ding-xian Jiang
    Cinematography by: Shohei Ando, De-an Luo
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: A "Gone with the Wind" all about Go, the film examines how the 
      relationship between a Chinese and a Japanese Go player changes because 
      of events during the war, explained using flash backs when they meet 
      again after the war has ended. Many Go scenes including clubs and 
      tournaments, and a scene where the Chinese player prefers to have his 
      Go fingers cut off than play the enemy, the Japanese. 123 minutes.

 4) A Beautiful Mind
    Year: 2001
    Directed by: Ron Howard
    Cast: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris
    Produced by: Brian Grazer
    Original music by: James Horner
    Cinematography by: Roger Deakins
    Source: http://us.imdb.com/
    
    Comment: A Beautiful Mind is the the story of Prof. John Forbes Nash, Jr., 
      who won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his game theories but suffered 
      from paranoid schitzophrenia. Nash is a long time member of the American Go 
      Association. In the first scene, from 8.5 to 10.5 minutes in, Nash is challenged 
      to a game by Martin Hansen (played by Josh Lucas), one of the game players 
      perched on the benches outside at Princeton, with the words "Are you scared?" 
      They talk about research as the game progresses and the camera often zooms 
      in on the board which is balanced on two small suitcases. The stones are in
      old orange tins. A large group of Nash's is wrapped up into a dango and captured. 
      At this point he throws a tantrum claiming the game is obviously flawed, since 
      he had the first move and his play was perfect. He knocks the board over
      as he stands up to storm off. The (uncredited) Go consultant was Janice 
      Kim, so the game and capture are credible enough except that the editting 
      shows the position developing in the wrong order. The scene takes place
      to the music "A Game of Go" which features Charlotte Church vocalising.
      Nash is challenged by Hansen to another game right at the end of the film 
      (105 to 105.25 minutes in). In addition there are two more sequences featuring 
      Go in the deleted scenes section of the DVD: one were Nash picks up a dropped 
      white stone and stares at it on the board for inspiration as the light fades 
      and another where he busts a game between two friends in a study in order to 
      show them his new hex-game. He adds "I prefer Chess."

 5) Pi
    Year: 1998
    Directed by: Darren Aronofask
    Cast: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis
    Produced by: Tyler Brodie
    Original music by: Clint Mansell
    Cinematography by: Matthew Libatique (black and white)
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: The main character Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) plays Go against his 
      old professor Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis) in his flat. They play in 
      three scenes and as they play they discuss philosophy and some Go philosophy:
        Max: "But as a Go game progresses, the possibilities become smaller and 
              smaller, the board does take on order... So maybe, even though we 
              are not sophisticated enough to be aware of it, there is a pattern, 
              an order underlying every Go game."
        Sol: "This is insanity. Max... You're losing it!"
      Max also holds a black stone and studies it while riding the subway, and
      also we see some Go game sequences when he has flash thoughts.
      The final Go scene has a spiral pattern laid on the board (not part
      of a game). The documentary on the DVD shows crew members, Sean and Luke,
      playing Go in a yard - using gold and silver painted washers for stones. 
      The Go advisors are listed as Barbara Calhoun, Michael Solomon and Dan Wiener,
      and the Brooklyn Go Club is thanked in the credits.       

 6) Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (it. La carne e l'anima)
    Year: 1957
    Directed by: John Huston
    Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum
    Produced by: Buddy Adler, Eugene Frenke
    Original music by: Georges Auric
    Cinematography by:  Oswald Morris
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: Based on the book is by Charles Shaw.
	The first scene lasts 14 seconds. Allison is hidden in a dark corner of
	the store room as he tries to steal food. Two Japanese, one might be a chef
	rather than a soldier, clear a box, lift down a 3cm Go ban with Go bowls.
	The player on the right knows his colour and pushes the white bowl to the
	other who balances bowl and lid on his knees. Black slaps a stone down
	top-left (5-3?) and white replies top-right. We hear the click of stones
	whilst we see the hidden Allison. After a cut to Sister Angela who is
	worried why Allison is missing, we return for a scene that lasts nearly a
	minute. The board is now nearly full. The players laugh as if a rip-off has
	just been played. The chef pours from a huge sake bottle whilst the other
	hides his eyes. They have skilfully left territory in front of themselves
	for the very large sake cups. They start another game. For 27 seconds we
	hear the click of stones as a rat runs over Mr Allison, then we return to
	the game for another 45 seconds. The second game is now finished. One
	players declares he is sad and is going to the dormitory and they leave
	without packing the stones away. In a later scene that lasts over a minute: 
      after the Japanese have temporarily left the desert island, sister Angela 
      says "I think I've mastered this, this Japanese game. It's a bit like 
      Draughts." She fetches the board. Allison admits to having never played
      Draughts only Craps. She offers to teach him and starts to set the white 
      stones Draughts style, explaining you simply have to capture each others 
      men. He declares he is not interested and she says she is therefore going 
      to bed. For reference the Go scenes start 47.5 and 76.75 minutes into
	the film.
 
 7) Restless
    Year: 1998
    Directed by: Jule Gilfillian
    Cast: Catherine Kellner, Elizabeth Sung
    Original music by: Laura Karpman
    Cinematography by: Shu Yang
    Source: http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0183700/*ASIN=B00005T307
    Comment: Leah is adrift, restless and landing in Beijing after a string 
      of flights from failed romances, she falls in with other expatriates. 
      A chance encounter with a young Go master she saw on TV leads to a
      relationship. Along the way, we see Go on TV, on the street, in a
      club and at home. On TV, Master Sun (played by Geng Li) teaches how to 
      "attack from a distance". With an inevitability, the insight Leah gains 
      enables her to turn the tables on the cad who jilted her, and jilt him 
      right back. "Restless" is the first English-language film made in modern 
      Beijing, and the first US-China cooperative filmmaking venture. Arrow  
      Features, 98 minutes.

 8) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    Year: 2000
    Directed by: Ang Lee
    Cast: Yun-Far Chow, Michelle Yeoh
    Produced by: Po Chu Chui
    Original music by: Tan Dum
    Cinematography by: Peter Pau
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: During the calligraphy scene, the two female lead characters 
      are sitting together and a decorated brown Go table can be seen in  
      the background. On the board are two black bowls with white flowers 
      painted on. The board surface looks dark with white lines. They do 
      not use it to play Go, but as a table for their tea cups (also the 
      fate for a Chinese Chess board later in the film).

 9) Just Like Heaven
    Year: 2005
    Directed by: Mark Waters
    Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Reese Witherspoon
    Comment: The main character is viewing flats to rent in San Francisco. 
      One is Japanese style with low tables, pillows and a Goban. "Where's 
      the furniture?" he asks.

10) Hero (Ying Xiong)
    Year: 2002
    Directed by: Yimou Zhang
    Original music by: Dun Tan
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/
    Comment: The main character fights against a bad guy and plays 
      on a Go board over which it rains and while playing the stones 
      not on the lines but inside the squares.

11) Dangerous moves
    Year: 1984
    Directed by: Richard Dembo
    Cast: Michel Piccoli, Liv Ulmann,
    Produced by: Arthur Cohn
    Original music by: Gabriel Yared
    Cinematography by: Raoul Coutard
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: M. Piccoli plays a Chess master, and to rest
      sometimes he playes Go with his wife.

12) Tokyo Rififi (it. Rififi a Tokyo)
    Year: 1962
    Directed by: Jacques Deray
    Cast: Cast Keiko Kishi, Charles Vanel, Michel Vitold, Masao Oda, Eiji Okada
    Produced by: Jacques Bar
    Original music by: Georges Delure
    Cinematography by: Tadashi Aramaki
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In a brief scene we see the inside of a Tokyo Go
      Club; full of smoke and of Go players.

13) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III  (it. Tartarughe Ninja III)
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: Stuart Gillard
    Cast: Elias Koteas, Paige Turco, Stuart Wilson (II), Vivian Wu
    Produced by: David Chan
    Original music by: John Du Perez
    Cinematography by: David Gurfinkel
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: The master of the turtles in a short scene plays Go.

14) Heathers
    Year: 1989
    Directed by: Michael Lehmann
    Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
    Produced by: Denise Di Novi
    Original music by: David Newman
    Cinematography by: Francis Kenny
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: It is believed that in one scene you can see a Goban.

15) Wild Palms
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
    Cast: James Belushi, Dana Delany, Robert Loggia
    Produced by: Michael Rauch
    Original music by: Ryuichi Sakamoto
    Cinematography by: Phedon Papamichael
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: A Go board can be seen

16) The Pillow Book
    Year: 1996
    Directed by: Peter Greenaway
    Cast: Vivian Wu, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata
    Produced by: Terry Glinwood
    Original music by: Michael Nyman
    Cinematography by: Sacha Vierny
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: One person drinks himself to death and dares to
      put a whisky glass and some pills on a Go board!

17) Little Buddha (It. Il piccolo budda)
    Year: 1993
    Directed by:  Bernardo Bertolucci
    Cast: Keanu Reeves, Roucheng Ling, Bridget Fonda
    Produced by: Jeremy Thomas
    Original music by: Ryuchi Sakamoto
    Cinematography by: Vittorio Storaro
    Source: http://us.imdb.com/
    Comment: In one scene a Goban can be seen.

18) Brotherhood of the Rose
    Year: 1989
    Directed by: Marvin J. Chomsky
    Cast: Robert Mitchum, Connie Selleca, David Cole
    Produced by: Marvin J. Chomsky
    Original music by: Laurence Rosenthal
    Cinematography by: James Bartle
    Source: http://us.imdb.com/
    Comment: A thriller. In a short scene the main character (Robert Mitchum)
      is sitting in front of a Go board with stones on it.

19) Come See the Paradise
    Year: 1990
    Directed by: Alan Parker
    Cast: Dennis Quaid
    Produced by: Robert F. Colesberry
    Original music by: Randy Edelman
    Cinematography by: Michael Seresin
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In this movie, set in 1941, the character played by
      Quaid enters a Japanese men's club in San Francisco where
      two old men can be seen playing Go.

20) Tokyo Joe
    Year: 1949
    Directed by: Stuart Heisler
    Cast: Humphrey Bogart
    Produced by: Henry S. Kesler
    Original music by: George Antheil
    Cinematography by: Charles Lawton Jr
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In this movie, set in post-WW2 Tokyo, there are two
      brief scenes in which two people are playing Go. However,
      from the disposition of the stones, they could be playing
      Go-moku.

21) Genalogie d'une Crime (Genealogies of a Crime)
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Raul Ruiz
    Cast: Cathrine Deneuve
    Produced by: Paul Branco
    Original music by: Jorge Arrigada
    Cinematography by: Stefan Ivanov
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: A French film. It is claimed that Go can be seen in
      this film.

22) Bis ans Ende der Welt (Until the end of the world)
    Year: 1991
    Directed by: Wim Wenders
    Cast: Pietro Falcone, William Hurt, Sam Niell
    Produced by: Paulo Branco
    Original music by: Graeme Revell
    Cinematography by: Robby Muller
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In one scene a Go board can be seen.

23) M. Butterfly
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: David Cronenberg
    Cast: Jeremy Irons, John Leone
    Produced by: David Henry Hwand
    Original music by: Howard Shore
    Cinematography by: Peter Suschitzky
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: There is a brief scene of people playing Go in the movie.
      It is about a male Chinese opera star who had a long term affair
      with a European male diplomat who did not discover the opera singer
      was a man throughout the entire affair. The scene occurs after the
      cultural revolution when many peasants were living in the house
      that formerly belonged to a wealthy family. In the courtyard of
      the house the are two people seated at a Go board. It seems odd
      at the time since Go itself was suppressed during the cultural
      revolution, but that's Hollywood.
      (Comment by: Keith Crews)

24) Elektra
    Year: 2005
    Directed by: Rob Bowman
    Cast: Jennifer Garner
    Produced by: Avi Arad
    Original music by: Christophe Beck
    Cinematography by: Bill Roe
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0357277
    Comment: Despite the web site trailer for this film featuring a Goban,
      there is none in the film. A vase on a shelf can easily be misinterpreted 
      as a Go bowls and board when seen briefly in one scene.

25) 1941
    Year: 1979
    Directed by: Steven Spielberg    
    Cast: John Belushi, Sam Pickens
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078723/
    Comment: The heroes are captured by a Japanese submarine on which the 
      crew play Go whilst guarding them. 

26) Red Corner
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Jon Avnet
    Cast: Richard Gere, Ling Bai
    Produced by: Jon Avnet
    Original music by: Thomas Newman
    Cinematography by: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119994/
    Comment: A thriller in which there is a short scene where, while the 
      main character is interrogated, two guards in the background are 
      playing Go.

27) Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
    Year: 1985
    Directed by: Paul Schrader
    Cast: Ken Ogata
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089603
    Comment: This beautiful film is based on the works of Yukio Mishima, 
      only features Go in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. The 
      scene shows the main character of Yukio Mishima's 'Temple of the 
      Golden Pavillion' talking with his meditation master, while the 
      master is studying a Go board. One shot in the scene is of nothing
      but the board. In order to exagerate the sense of perspective, the 
      Go board appears to be trapezoidally shaped and different sized stones
      are used across the board (larger stones are nearer). Since this portion 
      of the film is purportedly lifted from Yukio Mishima's novel, it 
      presumably features in that. The director's comments suggest that he 
      regretted cutting the scene, but it caused some introductory material 
      in the film to be "disproportionately long".

28) Deadful Melody
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: Min Kun Ng
    Cast: Brigitte Lin, Biao Yuen
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107428
    Comment: Two characters play while speaking to each other, at one point
      one character crushes a stone in his hand.

29) Zatoichi Seki-sho Yaburi (Zatoichi Demolishes the Barrier)
    Year: 1964
    Directed by: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
    Cast: Shintarou Katsu
    Original music by: Taichirou Kosugi
    Cinematography by: Shozo Honda
    Source: http://www.momii.com/zatoichi/
	   http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0164984
    Comment: Zatoichi was a character in a number of Japanese samurai films 
      and he was called "the blind swordsman". In this film, two people, the 
      Oyabun (boss) and his adviser, who takes White, are playing Go. When 
      Zatoichi enters to ask some kind of favour, the chief samurai arrives 
      and he and Zatoichi draw their swords and the blades pass, but apparently 
      no contact is made. Both sheath their swords, and the conversation continues. 
      The proverbial comment is supposed to be made: "A Go player's concentration is 
      such that they will miss their own parents funeral when playing Go". Zatoichi 
      leaves and the Oyabun and the adviser exchange some words. The adviser then 
      plays his next move. The board collapses, having been sliced through the middle, 
      without any of the stones being disturbed. All the stones pour onto the floor.

30) Zatoichi Abare-Himatsuri  (At the Fire Festival)
    Year: 1970
    Directed by: Kenji Misumi, Nakadai Tatsuya
    Cast: Shintarou Katsu
    Produced by: Shintarou Katsu
    Original music by: Isao Tomita
    Cinematography by: Kazuo Miyagawa
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164982
    Comment: There is a scene where Zatoichi plays the Big Boss, who is also blind, 
      in a game of Go. They tell where the moves have been played by feel and sound 
      and the boss plays one move to flick a Black stone into Zatoichi's face and 
      Zatoichi then slides a stone to knock the last White move off the board.

31) You Seng (Temptation of a Monk)
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: Clara Law
    Cast: Joan Chen, Michael Lee, Lisa Lu
    Produced by: Teddy Robin Kwan
    Original music by: Tats Lau
    Cinematography by: Andrew Lesnie
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: There are three three Go scenes, one involving throwing a board.

32) Kwaidan (Ghost Stories)
    Year: 1964
    Directed by: Masaki Kobayashi
    Cast: Michiyo Aratama, Keiko Kishi, Rentaro Mikuni
    Produced by: Shigeru Wakatsuki
    Original music by: Toru Takemitsu
    Cinematography by: Yoshio Miyajima
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In one of the scenes the wife of the main character plays Go,
      loses and storms out with the words "What a stupid game". This is to
      illustrate the mean behaviour of the wife.

33) Sanjuro
    Year: 1962
    Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    Cast:Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi
    Produced by: Ryuzo Kikushima
    Original music by: Masaru Satô
    Cinematography by: Fukuzo Koizumi, Takao Saitô
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In a long sequence the main character rests on a goban while 
      others are rushing in and out.

34) Bakushuu (Early Summer)
    Year: 1951
    Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
    Cast: Chikage Awajima, Setsuko Hara
    Produced by:
    Original music by: Senji Ito
    Cinematography by: Yuharu Atsuta (Black and White)
    Source: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0043313/
    Comment: Yasujiro Ozu's typical (meaning outstanding) family drama, 
      known in the west as "Early Summer". A story of romance and 
      arranged marriages in post-war Tokyo. The one Go scene has 
      the head of the household, a doctor, playing Go with a friend, 
      talking and smoking, on a Sunday in, of course, early summer.

35) The Fate of Lee Khan (Ying Chun Ge Zhi Fengbo)
    Year: 1973
    Directed by: King Hu
    Cast: Wu Chia Hsiang, Roy Chiao, Ying-Chieh Han, Ying Bai
    Cinematography by: Tsing-Can Chung
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: The characters are playing a game in the woods when they are 
      attacked. They used the board and the stones to mark the positions
      of the enemies and coordinate the attack.

36) Sex and Zen
    Year: 1992
    Directed by: Michael Mak
    Cast: Lawrence Ng
    Produced by: Virginia Lok
    Original music by: Chan Wing Leung
    Cinematography by: Peter Ngor
    Source: http://us.imdb.com/
    Comment: A Go board can sometimes be seen.

37) Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no aji)
    Year: 1962
    Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
    Cast: Shima Iwashita, Daisuke Kato, Kyoko Kishida,
      Rynji Kita, Noriko Maki, Shinichiro Mikami
    Original music by: Kojun Saito
    Cinematography by: Yushun Atsuta
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: A Go board is shown.

38) Godzilla (Gojira)
    Year: 1954
    Directed by: Ishiro Honda
    Cast: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kouchi, Akihiko Hirata,
      Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa
    Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka
    Original music by: Akira Ifukube
    Cinematography by: Masao Tamai
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: The first classic Godzilla movie, in which a scene has 
      two sailors playing Go.

39) Tui Shou (Pushing Hands)
    Year: 1992
    Directed by: Ang Lee
    Cast: Bin Chao, Victor Chan,
    Produced by: Ted Hope
    Original music by: Xiao-Song Qu
    Cinematography by: Jong Lin
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: There is a scene where the father and son are playing
      Go and the son slaps a stone down (like a surprise checkmate)
      and captures a big group.

40) Hitman (Sat Sau Ji Wong)
    Year: 1998
    Directed by: Wei Tung
    Cast: Jet Li, Simon Yam
    Produced by: Gordon Chan
    Original music by: T. Two
    Cinematography by: Arthur Wong
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: The final fight is staged in a Japanese style room
      where there is a Go board, with stones on the top. In the
      fight, the board is hurled across the room.

41) You Seng (Temptation of a Monk)
    Year: 1993
    Directed by: Clara Law
    Cast: Wu Hsin-kuo, Zhang Fengyi, Joan Chen
    Produced by: Teddy Robin Kwan
    Original music by: Tats Lau
    Cinematography by: Andrew Lesnie
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: A Hong Kong movie. In a scene a man is seen studying
      moves (replaying a game) on a Go board.

42) Qi Yuan - Chun Qiu (Go Courtyard - Fall, Spring)
    Year: ?
    Comment: This movie has more Go in it than possibly any other!
      It is a 'bowl-boiler' Chinese-made-for-TV Go movie (four hours,
      five cassettes). The movie takes place in a palace during the
      Sung Dynasty period c. 1100 A.D. and is based on fact in a
      loose way. In the southern Manchurian kingdom of Liao, everyone
      in the court is mad about Go and in the courtyard there is a Go
      school. A princess is a top player. The top player in the Sung
      court is a man (a 'prince') who is looking for someone to play
      and ends up, so to say, 'courting' the princess. There is an 
      ongoing palace coup plot, of course, and the servant girl of 
      the princess is forced to play Go for her life.

 43) Chushingura - Hana no maki yuki no maki
     ("The Loyal 47 Retainers", "The 47 Faithful Samurai" or "The 47 Ronin")
    Year: 1962
    Directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055850/
    Comment: the film is about 3-1/2 hours long. At 3 hours, one of 
      the bad guys is trapped and he tosses a Go board at his attacker, 
      then a bowl of white stones. There is one scene toward the end of 
      the climactic fight where a trapped samurai picks up a full size 
      floor Goban and hurls it at his attacker who deflects it with a 
      swipe of his sword. The victim then hurls a bowl of white stones 
      at him with no effect at all. The stones fly like snow flakes.
      Two of the attacker's buddies crash in and that's all for the victim.
      This scene is depicted on numerous woodblock prints. The story is 
      a cherished legend and is one of the more popular kabuki stories.

44) So Close (Chik yeung tin sai)
    Year: 2002
    Directed by: Corey Yuen
    Produced by: Po Chu Chui
    Original music by: Sam Kao
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300620/
    Comment: In a very short scene two guards are shown playing Go on a 
      mega screen inside a very high tech building.

45) Yapian Zhanzheng (The Opium War)
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Jin Xie
    Cast: Bao Guoan, Debra Beaumont
    Original music by: Fuzai Jin
    Cinematography by: Yong Hou
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120538
    Comment: In the film Lin Xezu (Bao Guoan) is playing Go in a pavilion
      when he is informed about the arrival of the British fleet. Being 
      enraged about it he sweeps away the stones from the board with his 
      hand. It shows nicely that high ranking Mandarins were playing Go. 
      The film is interesting, especially as it shows the Opium War period 
      seen from the Chinese side. As a consequence of the Chinese defeat,
      Hong Kong became a British colony.

46) Volcano High
    Year: 2001
    Directed by: Tae-gyun Kim
    Cast: Hyuk Jang, Min-a Shin, Su-ro Kim
    Produced by: Seoung-Jae Cha
    Original music by: Gary G-Wiz
    Cinematography by: Yeong-taek Choi
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301429
    Comment: In a long scene two teachers play Go together. It is quite a funny scene, 
      at one point one teacher tries to move the stones with his will-power!

47) Long Xing Tian Xia (The Master)
    Year: 1989
    Directed by: Tsui Hark
    Cast: Jet Li
    Produced by: Anthony Chow
    Original music by: Yee Tat Lam
    Cinematography by: Henry Chan
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097775
    Comment: Somewhere in the film you see a Go board.

48) Genji Monogatari
    Year: 1951
    Directed by: Kozaburo Yoshimura
    Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Michiyo Kogure
    Produced by: Masaichi Nagata
    Original music by: Akira Ifukube
    Cinematography by: Kohei Sugiyama
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043580
    Comment: There is a short sequence were two ladies of the 
      imperial court finish counting a game.

49) Borei Kaibyo Yashiki (Mansion of the Ghost Cat)
    Year: 1958
    Directed by: Nobuo Nakagawa
    Cast: Toshio Hosakawa
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202268
    Comment: A ghost story featuring a samurai and haunted cat. 
      Indexed on IMDB as Go-related.

50) Jing Wu Ying Xiong (Fist of Legends)
    Year: 1994
    Directed by: Gordon Chan
    Cast: Jet Li, Siu-hou Chin
    Produced by: Jet Li
    Original music by: Stephen Edwards
    Cinematography by: Derek Wan
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043580
    Comment: The film is set in pre-Japanese invasion China. It contains 
      a two minute scene (about 75 minutes in) where the Japanese Ambassador 
      is seated at a Go ban with Uncle Funakushi, who is described as samurai 
      clan. Unfortunately they are clearly playing 5-in-a-row (White wins on 
      the second move shown), however the ban is black with white lines and 
      white decoration on the sides, and they have Chinese-style stones and  
      brown bowls. They discuss impending war as they tidy the stones 
      (different amounts are tidied depending on camera angle). Later the ban 
      is briefly seen again in a fight sequence. The film is dubbed English, 
      but a subtitled version refers to the game as Chess.

51) Five Fingers of Death (Tian Xia Di Yi Quan)
    Year: 1972
    Directed by: Chang-Hwa Jeong
    Cast: Lieh Lo
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070800/
    Comment: A Hong Kong martial arts film.

52) Ninja and the Warriors of Fire (It. Ninja, Guerrieri di Fuoco)
    Year: 1987
    Directed by: Godfrey Ho
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202093/
    Comment: A Hong Kong film. At one point of this gruesome film one of the main
      characters speaks with a Kung Fu master who is studing a game on the Go board.




Television

 A) Navarro (it. Il commissario navarro)
    Year: 1989
    Cast: Roger Hanin, Sam Karmann
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In one episode of this French crime drama a Go player
      kills all others to win a tournament

 B) JAG 2.10 (Ep. "The Game of Go")
    Year: 1997
    Cast: David James Elliott, Catherine Bell, John M. Jackson
    Source: http://www.tv.com
    Comment: In series 2, episode 10, the main character plays with
      a Columbian drug lord. However, they play in the squares.
      First shown 28th February 1997.

 C) La Femme Nikita
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Various
    Cast: Peta Wilson, Roy Dupuis
    Produced by: Jay Firestone
    Original music by: Sean Callery
    Cinematography by: Danny Nowak
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In one episode it is explained how Go is very popular 
      among their super spy group. They show a Go board that uses 
      triangular stones and the board is a glass see-through table 
      with black lines painted on it.

 D) Diagnosis Murder
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Christopher Hibler
    Cast: Dick van Dyke, Barry van Dyke, Charlie Schlatter, Michael Beck
    Produced by: Jacqueline Blain
    Writen by: Jeff Peters
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In the series 5 episode "Deadly Games" (episode 89),
      Frank Waldeck (Michael Beck) is a body guard who is in 
      hospital and plays himself at Weiqi whilst recovering. 
      Dr Mark Sloan (Dick van Dyke) admits he has played occaisionally
      and very badly. Mark is challenged to a game when Waldeck is
      better and spends some time with Steve Sloan (Barry van Dyke) and
      Jesse Travers (Charlie Schlatter) studying and reading from a Go
      leaflet. By the time they play, Mark suspects Waldeck of plotting
      a murder and tries to understand his plan from his Go strategy. 
      Eventually Waldeck's plan is sussed, but at the end Steve produces
      a Mancala set and convinces Mark that they'd be better off playing
      that. Several of the Weiqi scenes look more like 5-in-a row and 
      in one a close up is a different poistion. In the game Mark add a
      second stone to remain in atari and Waldeck plays the capturing 
      move without removing. The set is a mini set with black and white
      bags for the "men". At least they have a try at holding the stones 
      properly, but it's hard with mini-stones. First shown 9th October 1997.

 E) Ally McBeal (Episode 2.37 Pyramids of the Nile)
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Various
    Cast: Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith,
    Produced by: Robert Breech
    Original music by: Danny Lux
    Cinematography by: Billy Dickson
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: There is a scene of two characters playing Go.
      It is not just a background scene, as the scene starts 
      with a birds-eye view of the game. The Go game wasn't much 
      of a game but at least the position was legal - at least 
      until Richard Fish (played by Greg Germann) was put off his
      game by Ling Woo (played by Lucy Liu) talking dirty to him.

 F) Marco Polo
    Year: 1982
    Directed by: Giuliano Montaldo
    Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Mario Adorf, Anne Bancroft
    Produced by: Vincenzo Labella
    Original music by: Ennio Morricone
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: In a scene in the imperial palace you see a Go board 
       in the distance.

 G) Andromeda (Episode: Double Helix)
    Year: 2000
    Directed by: Various
    Cast: Kevin Sorbo, Lexa Doig
    Produced by: Majel Barrett
    Original music by: Alex Lifeson
    Cinematography by: Gordon Verheul
    Source: http://us.imdb.com,
      http://www.andromedatv.com/episodes/season1/epi_105.html
    Comment: In this and some other episodes Captain Dylan Hunt (the hero) plays 3D 
      Go (3 9x9 Go boards stacked on top of each other just like the 3D chess 
      they used to play on Star Trek) with his second in command. Kevin Sorbo
      (playing the Captain) does not know how to hold a Go stone properly. 
      He says "I have played Go with you for 3 years now..." There are also 
      a couple of close-ups of a white stone and they show the actors 
      making moves.  No positions can be seen clearly, but what can be seen
      does not look much like a real Go position. In episode 408 "Trusting the
      Gordian Maze", Dylan says "I am excellent at Go." Indra replies 
      "...I can beat anyone at Go."

 H) 24 (Episode: 3.15)
    Year: 2003
    Directed by: Various
    Cast: Jack Bauer,
    Produced by: Remi Aubuchon
    Original music by: Sean Callery
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285331
    Comment: In Series 3 of "24" (Episode 15 3:00am-4:00am), an agent called Wong enters a seedy LA club 
      where three games of Go are in progress in different rooms. The male players are variously drinking 
      and smoking and being watched by loose women and other men. Later the hero, agent Jack Bauer,
      catches and then questions a terrorist suspect seated at a Go table with a recently abandoned 
      game on it. When Jack fails to get a response from the suspect, in frustration he scatters a
      lid of prisoners with his hand. The scene continues in the room at the start of Episode 16 
      (4:00am-5:00am) and the Go Club incident is twice refered to in later episodes.      

 I) Enterprise (Episode: 2.48) "Cogenitor"
    Year: 2003
    Directed by: LeVar Burton
    Cast: Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock
    Produced by: Rick Berman
    Original music by: Paul Baillargeon
    Source: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/128560.html
    Comment: The Enterprise's engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III (played by Connor Trinneer)
      teaches Go to a Vissian cogenator (third gender being) (played by Becky Wahstrom) seated
      at a goban on the floor of his cabin. Trip captures a white stone and the Vissian takes a
      clearly long dead black stone off of the board and asks if it means it has won. Trip reveals
      that in two years of playing of playing this (Go is not named) that was the first time he was beaten.

 J) Chessgame
    Year: 1983
    Directed by: William Brayne
    Cast: Terence Stamp
    Produced by: Richard Everitt
    Original music by: Christopher Gunning
    Cinematography by: Doug Hallows
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395382
    Comment: Terence (Terrance) Stamp stars as a spy master. He had a board on his office desk and would
	occasionally place a stone for dramatic effect.

 K) Arrested Development
    Year: 2004
    Comment: In the latter episodes of the first series of this US comedy, 
      the mother adopts a teenage Korean boy called Annyong (played by Justin Lee).
      At the very end of the last episode (episode 22 "Let 'Em Eat Cake") of the series, he
      is seen playing the girl Maeby (played by Alia Shawkat). They have small stones and board
      and there are heaps of mixed-up stones on the table all around the board.

 L) Criminal Minds
    Year: 2005
    Comment: Go featured prominently in the September 22 premiere of CBS Criminal Minds 
       television drama. Discovering a Go board in the attic room of a suspect's house,  
       FBI profilers Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Gideon (Mandy 
       Patinkin) and Hochner (Thomas Gibson) discuss the game: 
         Greenaway: What kind of game is it?
         Reid: In China, it's called weiqi, here we call it Go. It's considered 
               the most difficult board game ever conceived.
         Gideon: Chairman Mao required his generals to learn it.
         Reid: It also looks like he's playing himself.
         Greenaway: How can you tell?
         (Spins board which is mounted on a turntable)
         Reid: This might provide an advantage; actually Go is considered to 
               be a particularly psychological revealing game. There are profiles 
               for every player. The conservative point counter, the aggressor, 
               the finessor.
         Hotchner: What kind of player is this one?
         Reid: Extreme aggressor.

 M) The Man in Room 17
    Year: 1965
    Cast: Michael Aldridge, Richard Vernon, Willoughby Goddard, Denholm Elliot
    Comment: This British crime series from 1965-1966, featured a "Mycroft 
      Holmes" approach to crime-solving. The man never left room 17, but 
      directed minions who went to catch the criminals. There was a Goban 
      in the middle of the set, and the script was full of Go allusions like 
      "We must surround the opposition before launching our attack, then drive 
      them into our territory". The was also an explicit reference to the 
      similarity between crime-fighting and Go playing, though Go itself 
      was never explained. 

 N) Sliders
    Year: 1995 
    Cast: Jerry O'Connell
    Comment: In series 1 episode 7 "Eggheads" Quinn Mallory explains that the
      game "Mindgame" is just like Go or Othello.

 O) Kamen Rider 555
    Comment: In episode 1 of this Japanese sci-fi series Yuji's uncle is seen 
      reading a book and playing Go whilst talking about Yuji's
      father's business.

 P) Victory at Sea
    Year: 1952
    Comment: In part 7 of the WW2 documentary Shogi and Go are shown being 
      played inside a Japanese ship.

 Q) Diamond
    Comment: It is reported that this UK drama series included an character
      playing Go and has a Goban visible in the background of several episodes.
  
 R) The Shugun
    Year: 2008
    Comment: A BBC drama documentary about how Tokogawa Ieyasu become the Shogun,
      ruler of all Japan. In the first scene, 15 minutes in, Ieyasu plays Go while
      planning his war strategy. He fingers a white stone while musing and states that
      you should be in no hurry to remove an opponent you can beat. In the second
      scene 23 minutes in his son and top general are playing and he urges them to
      finish more quickly in order to go to battle.



Films on / about Go

 1) Go (Japanese Embassy)
    Year: 1960 (circa)
    Comment: An educational film about Go, quite old but
      still worthwhile to see.

 2) Go Basics (Ing Foundation)
    Year:
    Comment: From Taiwan

 3) Go More Than a Game
    Year: ?
    Comment: Made by Chip Taylor.

 4) Le Jeux de Go (The Game of Go)
    Year: 1990 (circa)
    Comment: Promotional film made by Fred Donzet and lasts 14 minutes.

 5) Go (American Go Association)
    Year: ?
    Source: http://www.usgo.org/org/hitachi.html
    Comment: Go promotional flim.

 6) Go Lessons (Italian Go Federation)
    Year: 1999
    Directed by: Paolo Montrasio
    Produced by: FIGG (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Go)
    Source: http://www.freespeech.org/figg/
    Comment: Short streamline films with lessons for beginners,
      the set was due to be completed in 2000 and consists of
      several parts ranging from 5 to 10 minutes.

 7) AGA Summer Camp
    Year: 1999
    Directed by: Jeff Shaevel
    Produced by: Mopac Media for the American Go Association
    Original music by: Muhoberac/Bahler/Zuker and
      Brown/Bahler/Muhoberac/Zuker
    Cinematography by: Kevin Triplett
    Source: Mopac Media
    Comment: High energy video promoting the AGA Summer Go Camp, a
      week-long event for children 5 to 17 years old that features
      professional instruction, tournament games and typical summer
      camp activities. The video is 7 minutes long with images taken
      at the camp and voice over by a "camper" reading her letter
      to "Mom and Dad" - features sound bites from campers and
      counselors sprinkled throughout the video.

 8) Hitachi & the AGA
    Year: 1999
    Produced by: Mopac Media for the American Go Association
    Source: Mopac Media
    Comment: Video made for the promotion of Go

 9) Ing & the AGA
    Year: 1999
    Produced by: Mopac Media for the American Go Association
    Source: Mopac Media
    Comment: Video made for the promotion of Go

10) US Go Congress
    Year: 2000
    Produced by: Mopac Media for the American Go Association
    Source: Mopac Media
    Comment: Video made for the promotion of Go

11) EGF Go Congress Zagreb
    Year: 2002
    Directed by: Zoran Mutabzia (?)
    Produced by: Croatian IGo Alliance
    Source: http://www.european-go.org/egc2002
    Comment: Pictures, video clips and tournament results from 
      Zagreb's 2002 EGC on CD-ROM and 2-hours VHS video tape.

12) Go Communication
    Year: 2003
    Produced by: Fureai Go Network
    Cast: Shigeno Yuki, Yasuda Yasutoshi, Michael Marz
    Comment: Film made to promote the work of Yasuda-sensei with 
      English Subtitles (24 mins).

    


Anime


 A) Hikaru no Go
    Year: 2001
    Produced by: TV Tokyo
    Source: The best selling manga (Japanese-style comic book)
      series by Hotta Yumi (writer) and Obata Takeshi (artist)
    Comment: This animated series began on TV Tokyo on October 10, 2001 
      and ran for several years. The Go consultant is Umezawa Yukari, the Pro
      from the Nihon Kiin. Hikaru no Go won the Excellent Work Award at the
      Tokyo International Animation Fair 2001. Now being dubbed in English.
      Reports of episodes

 B) Weiqi Shaonian (Go Youngsters)
    Year: 2006
    Produced by: Central China TV Children's Channel
    Comment: Historical based anime in Chinese featuring children, 
       fighting and of course Go. Chinese web site
 
 C) Top o Nerae! (Gunbuster)
    Year: 1988
    Directed by: Hideaki Anno
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098492
    Comment: In a scene one of the female characters speaks with her 
      instructor who is playing alone on what seems to be a traditional 
      goban. But on the side there is an electronic device, so perhaps 
      the goban is a computer and he is playing against it?



 D) Dragon Ball
    Year: 1985
    Directed by: Akira Toriyama
    Original music by: Shunsuke Kikuchi
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: Some scenes with Go

 E) Dr. Slump (Arale)
    Year: 1997
    Directed by: Akira Toriyama
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: Some scenes with Go



 F) Ranma 1/2 - “Big Trouble in Nekonron”
    Year: 1989
    Directed by: Shuji Iuchi
    Source: http://us.imdb.com
    Comment: Written and drawn by Rumiko Takahashi. From a
      screenplay by Iuchi, Shigeru Yanagawa, and Ryoto Yamaguchi. 
      The English translation is published by Viz Video.

 G) The Tale of Genji
    Year: 1987
    Directed by:
    Comment: There is at least one Go scene in an animated adaptation.
      There is an English subtitled version by Central Park Media 
      released in the US in 1995.

 H) Gunparade March
    Year: 2003
    Directed by: J. C. Staff
    Original music by: Kenjii Kawai
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376397/
    Comment: In episode three for a brief moment two students are seen 
      playing on a Go board.

 I) Ruroni Kenshin (Samurai X)
    Year: 1999
    Directed by: Kazuhiro Furuhashi
    Original music by: Taku Iwasaki
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203082
    Comment: This historical anime OVA series (as opposed to the TV 
      series or the movie of the same name) shows traditional boards 
      in the background. In the first episode, one of the main characters 
      plotting the downfall of the shogunate is seen playing Go with 
      a woman, just before someone comes in and informs him some 
      loyalists have discovered a plot meeting and are assassinating 
      revolutionaries. 

 J) Otogi Zoshi (Ep. 3)
    Year: 2004
    Directed by: Mizuho Nishikubo
    Original music by: Hideki Taniuchi
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433504
    Comment: In a very brief scene (2-3 seconds) at the beginning 
      the camera shows an ancient painting, on it at the end two 
      people are shown playing Go.

 K) Case Closed (Meitantei Conan)  
    Year: 1996
    Directed by: Mike McFarland
    Original music by: Katsuo Ono
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131179
    Comment: In one episode the solution to an enigma is found "written" 
      on a Go board.

 L) Code Lyoko 
    Year: 2005
    Directed by: Jerome Mouscadet
    Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417311
    Comment: In Epsode 29 "Exploration" of this sci-fi series Yumi and her
      father play Go and she wins by .5 (after komi) though they stop before 
      the game is properly over.



Advertising / Commercials

 1) Chinese Advert
    Year: 199?
    Comment: A Chinese advert for a liquor, in which, after drinking, the
      main character plays a move to show "spirit".

 2) Promo for the Channel
    Year: 2003
    Produced by: CCNTV
    Comment: On CCNTV9 (the English language edition of the Chinese state TV channel).
	In a brief "jingle" a Go board is seen many times. (11 March 2003 roughly at 7.30am)



Various

 A) The film "Topsy Turvy" (about the famous Operetta authors
    Gilbert and Sullyvan), which won two Oscars, briefly features not
    Go, but a Go player from our London clubs. He is Tokumi Ayzen and
    he is the Japanese calligrapher inside the Liberty's exhibition.
    He speaks just one line (in Japanese: I don't understand English).
    Ayzen-san is 3-dan. He is a well known artist by profession.

 B) The actor Michael Culver is a British player who holds the rank of 1-dan. 
    He played the role of Captain Needa in the film "Star Wars". Lorth 
    Needa was captain of the star destroyer Avenger in the Battle of Hoth, 
    and was killed after apologising to Darth Vader for allowing Han Solo's 
    Millennium Falcon to (as he thought) escape. Once, in a BBC period 
    flying drama called "Squadron", he played an RAF officer. He had to read 
    a magazine and selected a copy of "Go Review" and in another had to  
    carry a book around, he made sure that he carried a copy of one of
    the Ishida Dictionaries.

 C) Go often features in questions in TV quiz shows. On June 5th 2002 on 
    US quiz show "Jeopardy", under the category 'Two Letter Words' they
    showed a short video clip of a pair of staff playing Go, described as 
    a Japanese game, which was easily answered by one of the contestants.
    The brief view of the game was enough to determine that it was not a 
    real game played, merely a few formations of stones. In the UK there
    have been questions on The Weakest Link, Mastermind, 15 to 1, Eggheads
    and University Challenge.

 D) On BBC News 31 July 2002: A story about Hikaru no Go craze among Japanese.

 E) In a news programme on Italian State TV (third channel, 2002):
    Mediamente (RAI3 8:35-9:05) inside an item about strategy games on internet
    there was a brief mention about Go. Yahoo games was briefly shown, and a Go 
    board with some stones on it.




Last updated 2008-04-10.