(Tabi yakusha, a.k.a. Actors Who Play the Horse). Atypically comic for Naruse, Traveling Actors follows an itinerant kabuki troupe, focusing on two actors who play a horse—the older and more experienced in charge of the front legs, the younger relegated to the rear—but whose jobs are threatened when a real animal is hired to play the part. Naruse called this one of his personal favorites, saying "the actor who plays the front legs of the horse . . . sees his role as a serious artform. However, the harder he tries to succeed, the funnier things get for the audience. That's the kind of comedy I wanted to make."

• Written by Naruse. Photographed by Seiichi Kozua. With Keita (Kamatari) Fukiwara, Kan Yanagiya, Minoru Takase, Soji Kiyokawa. (70 mins, In Japanese with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, Courtesy of The Japan Foundation, permission Toho)