The Witches of the Orient

Original title: Les Sorcières de l'Orient

2021
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

285

YOUR RATING

The story of the 1964 Japanese Olympic volleyball team, the "Oriental Witches."

Play trailer1:57

1 Video

2 Photos

Documentary Sport

The story of the 1964 Japanese Olympic volleyball team, the "Oriental Witches."The story of the 1964 Japanese Olympic volleyball team, the "Oriental Witches."The story of the 1964 Japanese Olympic volleyball team, the "Oriental Witches."

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

285

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 1:57

Official Trailer

Photos

Top cast17

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Kinuko Tanida

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player

Yoshiko Matsumura

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player

Yoko Shinozaki

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player

Katsumi Matsumura

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player

Yuriko Handa

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player

Hirofumi Daimatsu

Self - Japanese Volleyball Coach
(archive footage)

Yuko Fujimoto

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Anton Geesink

Self - Olympic judo champion
(archive footage)

Sata Isobe

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Lyndon B. Johnson

Self - US president
(archive footage)

Akio Kaminaga

Self - Olympic judo finalist
(archive footage)

Masae Kasai

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Maseko Kondo

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Emiko Miyamoto

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Yoshinori Sakai

Self - Olympic cauldron lighter
(archive footage)

Setsuko Sasaki

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Ayano Shibuki

Self - Japanese Volleyball Player
(archive footage)

Director
- Julien Faraut
Writer
- Julien Faraut
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film includes extracts from 1935 short animated film 'Ban Danemon Bakemono Taiji no Maki' directed by Yoshitaro Kataoka, and extracts from 1960s animated series 'Atakku no. 1'.

User reviews5

Review

Featured review

7/10

The triumph of sport

The Japanese women's volleyball team that won the Gold Medal at the 1964 Olympics is the subject of this documentary. Perhaps it is not as interesting a priori as the subject of his previous documentary, "L'empire de la perfection" (Julien Faraut, 2018), but the numerous footage (including a manga series based on the team) allows the director to produce an agile documentary in montage and rhythm. The last game, however, is not as electrifying as it is wanted to make us see.