Go Filmography
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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.
