The first UK film biography of the world-renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose print The Great Wave is as globally famous as Leonardo's Mona Lisa. With Andy Serkis reading the voice of Hokusai, the film features artists David Hockney and Maggi Hambling, and passionate scholars who study, admire and venerate this great Japanese master.
The film focuses on Hokusai's work, life and times in the great, bustling metropolis of Edo, now modern Tokyo. Using extraordinary close-ups and pioneering 8K Ultra HD video technology, Hokusai's prints and paintings are examined by world experts. In the process they reveal new interpretations of famous works and convey the full extent of Hokusai's extraordinary achievement as a great world artist.
Hokusai spent his life studying and celebrating our common humanity as well as deeply exploring the natural and spiritual worlds, using the famous volcano Mount Fuji as a protective presence and potential source of immortality. He knew much personal tragedy, was struck by lightning and lived for years in poverty, but never gave up his constant striving for perfection in his art. Hokusai influenced Monet, Van Gogh and other Impressionists, is the father of manga and has his own Great Wave emoji.

在《北斋漫画》中，葛饰北斋示范了描绘各种形体时使用的不同方法和科学的认识，特别是对人物各种姿势表情进行了深入的研究。在描绘的内容上既有人们的喜怒哀乐，也有鸟兽虫鱼、山川草木，甚至是日常生活中的一般器物，可以称的上是一部绘画版的百科全书。这部丛书洋洋洒洒十五卷，直到北斋去世以后才出 版完。它对后世的影响很大，很多人认为《北斋漫画》是日本现代漫画创作的鼻祖。