Japan Synopsis
One of the great masterpieces of world literature comes to vivid life in an elaborate production from acclaimed theater and film innovator Peter Brook. This collection of ancient Sanskrit stories (composed into the longest book ever written) comprises a series of enlightened fables at the heart of countless beliefs, legends, and teachings; indeed, its very title means "the great story of mankind." Brook and writer Jean-Claude Carriere worked for eight years to develop this epic concerning two sides of a royal family, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, whose struggle leads to a fascinating voyage of emotions, passion and vision of glory. Briefly, the Mahabharata is a tale of two rival sets of brothers, cousins to eachother, each born into royalty and with divinely guided paths in life. The result, however, is a great war, death, destruction – a vast epic.
The 1989–1991 Japan Window
114 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. The Mahabharata sits at position #28.
The 1990s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 1990s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Mahabharata premiered. 447 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,867 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (59th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.3 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #815 of 1,933 (top 42%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America |
| Original Language | En |
| Spoken Languages | English, Hungarian |
| Production Companies | MP Productions, Channel 4 Television, The Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| Runtime | 5h 18m |
| Release Date | January 24, 1990 |
| IMDb | tt0097810 |