The Dragon Painter (1919)

Tatsu (Sessue Hayakawa) is a reclusive, tortured artist who continually paints brilliant pictures of a dragon that has the soul of a princess. When Tatsu meets the beautiful Ume Ko (Tsuru Aoki), he thinks that she is the living embodiment of the princess he has spent years imagining. He immediately falls for Ume Ko; initially overjoyed, Tatsu soon becomes despondent when he realizes he has lost his inspiration to paint. He must now somehow learn to balance love with artistic fervor.