24 newbooks.asia Asian Studies. Newest Titles. The Review Latest Reviews.

aging and loss, and the affordances of cinema to express such complicated feelings, are particularly emotional (pp.46–7). The majority of the interviews give the Reviews, essays, impression of reading along with a lively conversation, often based on years of acquaintance or friendship built over multiple and interviews on professional encounters. When interviews don’t go so well however, Schilling is a self- reflective interviewer, considering factors such Japanese cinema, as the environment of the interview and his performance of his own role to contextualise the reluctance of directors such as 2000–2019 to engage in the extended responses more Reviewed title common to older industry professionals (p.219). Art, Cult and Commerce: While the interview section is perhaps the most valuable part of the book, the preceding Jennifer Coates Japanese Cinema Since short essays also offer some reflections on 2000 the role of a film critic which may be useful for students and non-specialist readers interested in developing their own film criticism practices. Mark Schilling. 2019. ark Schilling’s Art, Cult and An essay on screen violence gives an account Commerce: Japanese Cinema Since New York and Tokyo: Awai Books of the overlapping concerns of film reviewing M2000 collects essays, reviews, and ISBN 9781937220099 as a job, and the life and experiences of the interviews previously published in the Japan film reviewer (p.27). In an interview in the Times, Midnight Eye, Variety, Newsweek, Japan Times, Schilling cited critic Manny Faber and The Asian Wall Street Journal, as well to the effect that, “The critic doesn’t watch as the catalogue of the Udine Far East Film exhibition has, if anything, sped up the process distribution formats and emerging screening the film, the man watched the film” (Alyssa I. Festival, which Schilling advises. The volume of research and publishing on contemporary platforms, as well as information about co- Smith, Want to know Japanese cinema? Get is a continuation of Schilling’s work in his Japanese cinema. Against this background production arrangements between Japan and to know Mark Schilling”, The Japan Times, previous collection, Contemporary Japanese of scholarly activity, Schilling’s 2019 collection China, the new introduction makes a significant 18 January 2020, https://www.japantimes. Film (Weatherhill, 1999), marketed towards will not make quite the impact of his earlier contribution to the volume. co.jp/culture/2020/01/18/books/want-know- students, teachers, and the non-professional 1999 volume, at least for research purposes. More than 60 interviews with directors and japanese-cinema-get-know-mark-schilling, cinema enthusiast. While Schilling’s 1999 Yet the volume has much to recommend stars contain priceless anecdotes that paint accessed 1 October 2020). The experiences collection introduced writing on Japanese it. Firstly, and quite significantly, the book is a colourful picture of the industry, though it and mood of the critic colour their review of cinema to mainstream audiences who may an enjoyable reading experience. Schilling may be difficult to prove some of the claims, the film, and critics may be drawn to films have struggled to access reviews elsewhere, is an engaging writer, often very funny, allegations, and downright boasts therein. that reflect or confirm something in their own we might question the utility of this follow-up and the accessible style will be attractive Schilling is a talented interviewer, drawing out experience. I would suggest that the book volume in an era where much of the book’s to non-specialist and student readers, as highly original responses from interviewees. is best used with this observation kept in content is freely available in the online archives well as useful for teaching purposes. The Some are hilarious, for example, director mind. In places, judgements can seem overly of the publications listed above. The impact of volume is arranged in three parts, beginning Nobuhiko Obayashi’s anecdotes about learning subjective – for example, the later films of this volume today will therefore depend on how with a series of short essays, a section the differences between American and British Takashi Miike are dismissed as “less interesting” it is used by scholars, teachers, and students. of interviews with directors, film industry English during a bathroom visit in the United (p.14) without justification or analysis. However, I believe that this collection will prove a useful personnel, and stars, and a longer segment of States (p.153). Others are more poignant, Schilling is transparent about the fact that resource for research and teaching if we Schilling’s Japan Times film reviews organised such as director Umetsugu Inoue’s recollection he writes as an individual engaging with the approach the volume as an historic document chronologically. The closing pages show ‘Best of the tough times that star Misora Hibari films he reviews as a person with particular and as personal testimony, as much as Ten’ and ‘Best Five’ lists from 2000–2018. The suffered due to family problems and bullying preferences and experiences, and as long as a factual guide. hundreds of films discussed and reviewed in the mass media (p.81). The stories such the reader does not forget this, the book will include lesser-known and rarer movies, some Golden Age directors recount of their early prove informative as well as entertaining. The relative ease of access to writing on still unavailable outside Japan, which will be years in the studio system are invaluable for Japanese cinema afforded by the Internet of value to student readers and researchers. their information about the informal networks Jennifer Coates, University has also sped up scholarship and research It is unfortunate that typographical errors in of influence in the industry during its peak of Sheffield, United Kingdom publication since Schilling’s earlier volume, the introduction and early sections sometimes period of production and audience attendance meaning that it is easier to access published risk misinterpretation of the useful industry (pp.77–8). Some of the Japanese cinema’s Notes work on recent cinema today than in 1999. There information contained therein, for example, most famous directors were interviewed is a significant and growing body of scholarly missing $ marks and their designations towards the end of their lives, and Schilling 1 For a full reference list, please see writing on Japanese cinema since 2000.1 The (millions, thousands, etc.) make budgets and often asks them to reflect on the changes the the online version of this review: triple disaster in Fukushima prefecture in March box office takings a matter of guess work in industry has undergone during their working https://newbooks.asia/review/ 2011 and its impact on filmmaking practices and places. However, with updates on alternative years. Shindo Kaneto’s observations about japanese-cinema-2000.

The struggles of independent organization of the alternative Vikalp Film Festival in 2004 which ran parallel to it critical filmmakers in India and where all the films rejected by the MIFF In the summer of 2019, when the central were screened (for a vivid account of the government in India denied permission for festival related politics, see Thomas Waugh’s Indian documentary ‘veteran’ documentary filmmaker Anand article Miffed! or “Gasping for [polluted?] Patwardhan’s latest film Vivek (Reason) (2018) air”, BioScope 3(1), 2012: 87–93). Thereafter, to be screened at the renowned International the censorship requirement at MIFF was film and filmmakers Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, withdrawn; of late, however, some notice the organizers of the festival, together with a new form of indirect censorship vis-à-vis Patwardhan, did what he often did when his critical independent documentaries that earlier films faced state censorship. They took simply do not get selected. Nadja-Christina Schneider the battle to court, won the case, and finally got permission to screen the self-funded and searingly critical documentary at the festival Not one, but many in Thiruvananthapuram. Structured in eight Reviewed title parts, Vivek scrutinizes the mainstreaming of forms and practices Indian Documentary violent Hindutva ideology and majoritarian Instead of a universal understanding nationalism in India during the last decade. of the term ‘independent’, Shweta Kishore Film and Filmmakers. While the successful litigation in Kerala could argues for a localized perspective that Independence in Practice be seen as a glimmer of hope for the continued needs to be contextualized historically possibility for audiences to engage with critical and spatially, and so her highly readable independent documentaries in India, the book starts with references to these two Shweta Kishore. 2018. fact that Vivek, along with a number of other ‘icons’ of independent documentary Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press critically acclaimed films, was not screened filmmaking practices in India – Vikalp and ISBN 9781474433068 at the 16th Mumbai International Film Festival Anand Patwardhan. It may be difficult to in January this year (MIFF 2020) may not imagine another Vikalp Film Festival in the have come as a surprise for many. current situation, but it continues to exist MIFF was launched in 1990 as Bombay as an important platform for “over 300 International Film Festival. It is the largest documentary filmmakers dispersed across biennial film festival of non-feature films India” (p.1) who communicate through in South Asia, organized by the Films the Vikalp Films for Freedom listserv. Division of the Ministry of Information and Yet, the coining of the term ‘independent Broadcasting. In the aftermath of the 2002 documentary film’ dates back to the violence in the west Indian state of Gujarat, mid-1970s, when the Emergency declared a censor requirement for Indian films at MIFF by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was introduced which, in turn, led to the threatened the democratic political The Newsletter No. 87 Autumn 2020 25 The Review

Hayao Miyazaki Exploring the early work of Japan’s greatest animator

Mari Nakamura

Reviewed title : Exploring the Early Work of Japan’s Greatest Animator

Raz Greenberg. 2018. New York: Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 9781501335945

Still from ‘ (2001)’. Reproduced with permission. © .

tudio Ghibli, led by Hayao Miyazaki volume filling this gap in the literature in Yōichi Kotabe, Yasuji Mori, and Yasuo Ōtsuka. and foreign literature as well as Miyazaki’s and the late , is one of the English. In this book Greenberg aims to offer Greenberg also discusses how Miyazaki was own life. Miyazaki’s later works, most notably Smost celebrated Japanese animation “‘Miyazaki in context’ in its reflection of how profoundly influenced by Paul Grimault’s The , however, depict far studios and has attracted a global audience Miyazaki grew within the emerging post- Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird (1952) and Lev darker and pessimistic visions, and Greenberg for over 30 years. Many books and articles World War II Japanese animation industry Atamanov’s The Snow Queen (1957) in terms suggests that his later works reflect the have been written in English about Studio and how his rise within the same industry is a of conceptual, visual, and narrative styles. sociopolitical uncertainty of Japan in the Ghibli’s works, including Susan Napier’s very important part of his country becoming The second chapter examines Miyazaki’s 21st century. from Akira to Princess Mononoke an animation superpower” (pp.xii-xiii). role in the animated adaptations of classic Here I would like to offer three brief (Palgrave, 2001), Helen McCarthy’s Hayao children’s literature in the 1970s, including critiques of this fascinating study of Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation The book showcases the richness of styles, Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974), 3,000 Leagues Miyazaki’s early work. First, although (Stone Bridge Press, 1999), Thomas Lamarre’s narratives and themes in Miyazaki’s works in Search of Mother (1976), and Anne of Green Greenberg emphasizes Miyazaki’s role Anime Machine (University of Minnesota Press, and how his creativity has evolved over the Gables (1979) as well as the original short in the animated adaptations of classic 2009), and Rayna Denison’s edited volume 50 years of his career. It starts by tracing filmsPanda! Go Panda! (1972, 1973). children’s literature in the 1970s and links Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Miyazaki’s early life – his childhood dream Miyazaki’s first trip abroad was an important them to his later directorial productions at Ghibli’s Monster Princess (Bloomsbury, 2018). of becoming a artist, his encounter source of inspiration, and his great love for Studio Ghibli, more compelling and nuanced Yet until very recently, Miyazaki’s early work with Tōei Animation’s first featured animated the European landscapes were integrated discussion of the animation production of has been less explored by scholars outside of filmPanda and the Magic Serpent (1958) into these shows. Linking these early television these shows is needed. Miyazaki did play Japan. A notable exception is Susan Napier’s – and his early years as an animator at series and short films to Miyazaki’s later a key role in these projects by being in recent groundbreaking autobiography, Tōei, the first large-scale animation studio films with Studio Ghibli, Greenberg argues charge of scene design and layout, but it Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art (Yale University in Japan, between 1963 and 1971. The first that Miyazaki started practicing new forms was director Takahata’s idea to approach Press, 2018). Raz Greenberg’s new book, chapter examines many works that Miyazaki of narratives, styles, and themes through film and animation in a more realistic way Hayao Miyazaki: Exploring the Early Work was involved in and the studio veterans he these projects. The third chapter focuses by depicting the protagonist’s everyday life of Japan’s Greatest Animator, is a welcome collaborated with, including Takahata, on Miyazaki’s directorial debut feature film in Heidi and other series (3,000 Leagues The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) as well as the and Anne), according to both Miyazaki’s preceding animated television series Lupin and Takahata’s writings. Second, including the Third (1971, 1972), which are based on the more primary sources – most notably, foundations of the country. By means Amudhan R.P. (Chennai), Paromita Vohra popular action manga by . publications by Takahata and Studio of “guerilla filmmaking on a borrowed (Mumbai) and the filmmaking partners The fourth chapter offers a close study of Ghibli’s Producer – would Super 8 camera, improvised editing and Anjali Monteiro and K. P. Jayasankar Miyazaki’s largest manga project, Nausicaa be fruitful for contextualizing Miyazaki’s underground exhibition” (p.2), Patwardhan (Mumbai). Monteiro and Jayasankar also of the Valley of the Wind (1982–94), and the career and works. These publications by developed his unique form and practice of co-authored a major contribution to the 1984 feature film adaptation he directed. key members of Studio Ghibli and their political filmmaking. His 1975 film Kraanti increasingly vibrant study of independent This chapter examines how the world of perspectives give insight into the studio and Ki Tarangein (Waves of revolution) is documentary filmmaking in India (A Fly in Nausicaa was built upon a wide range of its creative process. Third, as Greenberg paradigmatic for the conscious positioning the Curry: Independent Documentary Film themes and tropes from Japanese and foreign acknowledges, Miyazaki’s sources of of filmmaking practices outside the Films in India, SAGE, 2015). literature and films. For example, Nausicaa’s inspiration are indeed wide-ranging across Division of India, i.e. the “nationally dominant However, instead of focusing primarily character was inspired by the two literary time and space, from literary classics to state-run documentary production and on the textual level of their films, Kishore classics The Lady who loved Insect from Heian children’s literature, from Western sci-fi to distribution agency” (p.2). explores the specific practices, relationships, Japan (794–1185) and Homer’s Odyssey, manga to animation, and from his childhood Subsequently, the term ‘independent’ techniques, and evolving structures that form while the post-apocalyptic world drew from memories to adult experiences travelling in was for a long time primarily associated around the independent mode of filmmaking American and British science fiction novels Japan and abroad. Yet, what is less discussed with politically conscious (if not activist, of the directors in focus. All these aspects and films, including Brian Aldiss’s Hothouse is another important source: scholarly work. see Arvind Rajagopal and Paromita Vohra, contribute to a changing notion and meaning (1962), Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), and For example, Princess Mononoke is described On the aesthetics and ideology of the of cultural production and the relation Douglas Trumbull’s film Silent Running (1972). as a historical fantasy set in Muromachi Indian documentary film: A conversation, between visual culture, cultural producer, Greenberg suggests that Miyazaki’s tendency Japan and Miyazaki’s “own take on the BioScope 3(1), 2012: 7–20) and privately and society. Throughout the five chapters to create strong female protagonists in his famous Beauty and the Beast legend” (p.136), produced documentary films that were of her book, the author draws on a wide films can be traced to Nausicaa. Greenberg but perhaps it is much more than that if we distributed and screened outside the range of cultural, sociological and media also finds a link between Nausicaa and the consider how Miyazaki was influenced by the organized structures of the state or theory and thus offers new perspectives on heroines of influential works such as Panda works of archeologist Eiichi Fujimori, botanist commercial film theatres. But, as Kishore a field of research that for a long time had and the Magic Serpent and The Snow Queen Sasuke Nakao, and historian Yoshihiko convincingly argues, the distinction been under-theorized. Luckily, a number of as well as Heidi and Anne. Amino for many years. Princess Mononoke between independent and ‘mainstream’ important books and academic articles have The fifth and sixth chapters explore can also be read as an alternative historical or ‘commercial’ productions has become begun to fill this gap since the last 10 years or Miyazaki’s career as a feature-film director imagination beyond the ‘national history’, increasingly blurred (under which category so. Students and scholars who are interested at Studio Ghibli: (1986), My as a Japan and its people that Miyazaki would, for instance, NGO-sponsored in Indian documentary film studies or who Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service rediscovered and rebuilt. films be classified?) during the last four wish to deepen their understanding of the (1989), (1992), and later works In short, this book is a must-read for decades, and the same holds true for multiple ways in which individuals continue Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away anyone interested in Hayao Miyazaki and the diversification and blurring of genre to resist through an array of aesthetic and (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), anime as well as animation studies and film boundaries. Accordingly, Kishore selected sociocultural practices will find this book (2008) and (2013). Greenberg studies. It is an accessible book that invites filmmakers for her study who reflect the very insightful and interesting to read. finds many affinities in stylistic and thematic the reader into the worlds of Miyazaki contemporary diversity of individuals, elements between Ghibli productions and the and his sources of inspiration through the position(alities), artistic forms and aesthetic Nadja-Christina Schneider, works that Miyazaki was involved in before careful analysis of his works. practices of independent contemporary Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Ghibli, including strong female characters, filmmaking in India: Rahul Roy (New Delhi), Germany rich background designs, and complex Mari Nakamura, Leiden University, narratives that were inspired by Japanese The Netherlands