“Miss Hokusai” (Sarusuberi), an animated feature from Japan, is now playing through Oct. 20 at the Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, just west of the 405 Freeway.
From award-winning director Keiichi Hara and Japanese powerhouse Production I.G (“Ghost in the Shell,” “A Letter to Momo”) comes the remarkable story of a blossoming young artist, daughter of Katsushika Hokusai, best known for his iconic print “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.”
In the teeming capital city of Edo in 1814, everyone flocks to see the work of the famous painter Hokusai, while his talented daughter O-Ei toils diligently inside his studio, unrecognized and left to clean up after her father’s messes. In public, O-Ei knows and respects “her place,” but at home in the studio, she’s as brash and uninhibited as her father, smoking a pipe while sketching erotic drawings that would make most Japanese ladies blush.
Miss Hokusai’s lively Edo (present-day Tokyo) is filled with conniving tradesmen, rich patrons and fawning hangers-on, but also with supernatural mischievous spirits and a noble dragon who appears when summoned by the artist’s vision. O-Ei’s troubled relationships with her famously impetuous father and blind younger sister provide a powerful emotional underpinning to this sumptuously animated tale of a rebellious free spirit pursuing her art.
The Japanese version with English subtitles, which will be shown at 5:10, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m., features the voices of Anne Watanabe, Yutaka Matsushige, Kumiko Asô, Gaku Hamada, Kengo Kôra, Jun Miho and Shion Shimizu.
The English version, which will be shown at 12:30 and 2:50 p.m., features the voices of Erica Lindbeck, Richard Epcar, Ethan Murray, Robbie Daymond, Barbara Goodson, Courtney Chu, Marc Diraison, Cindy Robinson, Mike Pollock and Kevin T. Collins.
Rated PG-13. Tickets are $11 for adults, $9 for children and seniors.
Also coming to the Nuart:
“We Are X: The Death and Life of X Japan” for one week starting Oct. 21, with filmmaker Stephen Kijak in person on Oct. 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 23 at 5:10 p.m., joined by X Japan’s Yoshiki on Oct. 21 only.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning animated classic “Spirited Away” (2001) in Japanese with English subtitles on Oct. 21 at midnight.
Juzo Itami’s comedy “Tampopo” (1985) in Japanese with English subtitles for one week starting Oct. 28.
For more information, call (310) 473-8530 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com/los-angeles/nuart-theatre.