Story
Tatsu (Hayakawa) is a young painter who lives within the mountains of Hakawa, Japan, doing a series of paintings and disposing of them upon completion, shouting to the gods to return his fiancée, a princess who he believed was turned into a dragon. Tatsu then heads to a nearby village, demanding some paper to the locals. His unusual behavior caught the attention of a man named Uchida (Fujita), a friend of the famous painter Kano Indara (Peil, Sr.), who seeks someone to be Indara's prodigy as Indara has no son to be his heir and continue the family bloodline of paintings.
One day, one of Tatsu's discarded paintings came into Uchida's possession. Amazed at the artwork, Uchida invites Tatsu to Tokyo, claiming that Indara knows the whereabouts of his lost princess. When Tatsu arrives, his wild behavior surprises Indara and caused a ruckus until Indara presented the lost princess, who he explains is in the form of his only daughter, Ume-ko (Aoki). Tatsu demands Ume-ko's hand in marriage, which Indara agrees on the condition that Tatsu be his son and disciple to carry on the Indara name.
Shortly after their marriage, Tatsu is unable to paint, explaining that ever since he found his happiness, he has no reason to do so. The Indaras tried to encourage Tatsu to paint but to no avail. Realizing that Tatsu's longing to find his lost princess is what granted him his ability to paint, Ume-ko tells her father that by her death, Tatsu's talent may be restored. The following morning, Tatsu discovered a letter from Ume-ko, saying that she had committed suicide in hopes that it would restore Tatsu's ability to paint. Distraught at what happened, Tatsu attempts suicide by drowning at a nearby waterfall, but was unsuccessful. Tatsu's sorrow continue to grow as time passes until one day he saw what appeared to be Ume-ko's ghost at the family garden, which motivated him to paint once more. Tatsu's latest work gave him and the Indaras international recognition, but shortly after his success, his sorrow returned. This prompted Ume-ko, who was in hiding all this time, to return to an amazed Tatsu. The film ends with Tatsu painting in the mountains with Ume-ko by his side.
Read more about this topic: The Dragon Painter
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