A brief history of independent cinema in Japan and the role of the Art Theatre Guild

Roland Domenig (University of Vienna)

The notion of „independent cinema“ varies consid- dominate the film market, but a closer look reveals erably depending on the context. Whereas in the that this is true only at the level of distribution, not United States the term „independent“ in relation at the level of production. Today the three big stu- with cinema primarily relates to the films made dios Tōhō, Shōchiku and Tōei turn out only a hand- outside the dominant film studios of Hollywood, ful of in-house productions. More than 90 % of all in Europe it has quite different connotations. On films are produced independently from the studios. the one hand, the term „independent“ refers to Even on the level of distribution, where the studios films funded publicly by communities, the state or still play a dominant role, more than 75 % of the the European Union. The subsidies system, so the films are distributed by “independent” distributors. argument goes, guarantees the filmmakers the free- These films usually have a far more limited release dom to realize their visions of cinema „independ- than the films distributed by the studios, which also ently“ from commercial considerations and without run their own theatres. Most of these films are low- catering to the tastes of the movie-going majority. budget productions with little prospect of making The subsidies system is seen as a guarantee for the a lot of money at the box-office or even to recoup continuity of national film traditions that without the production costs. Although the term “independ- financial support could not compete with the block- ent” still connotes an opposition to the big studios, busters made in Hollywood and elsewhere. On the the fact that they have virtually dismissed their film other hand, in countries like in Germany the term production and that the majority of films are distrib- „independent“ sometimes refers to low-budget pro- uted by distributors other than the studios, makes ductions that fall through the grid of the subsidies the term “independent” very ambiguous. The het- system and that are made without public funding. erogeneity of form, style and content makes it also In Austria the term is also used for productions difficult to understand “independent” as a synonym made without participation of the public broadcast for “Arthouse” films, for commercial “mainstream” system that dominates domestic film production. In films fall into this category as well. As it seems, the China or other authoritarian nations, the term pri- denomination “independent film” has today all but marily means “independent from state control or lost its meaning. interference from the authorities”. This article will The advent of independent produc- examine the meanings of „independent cinema“ in tions relation to Japan. I will point out how the meaning has changed over time and that it is necessary to In the 1920s, when the first so-called independ- keep the historical context in mind when speaking ent productions or dokuritsu puro appeared, the of “independent Japanese cinema”. In accordance situation was quite different. Since the formation of with the topic of the conference the focus will be Nikkatsu, the first big film studio in Japan, in 1912, on the 1960s and 1970s and especially on the Art a studio system had developed that dominated the Theatre Guild. rapidly growing film production, but that left many Now, what exactly does “independent” mean directors and actors dissatisfied. The establishment in the context of Japanese cinema? State control or of their own production companies was a deliber- interference from the authorities does not seem to ate reaction against the studio system, which dis- be a big issue in Japan. Neither is there a public sub- tinguished them from the other small production sidies system such as in most European countries. companies that existed before or alongside the film There are film studios in Japan that still seem to studios. The motivations behind the establishment 6 MINIKOMI Nr. 70 of dokuritsu puro were manifold. Some became An overview of independent film production “independent” for artistic reasons, as in the case of before the war would not be complete without Kinugasa Teinosuke, who founded his own produc- mentioning the Proletarian Film Liga or Purokino. tion company in 1926 in order to realize the ambi- Founded in 1927, the Communist Purokino move- tious Kurutta ippeiji (“A Page of Madness”), an ment was short-lived – it was banned in 1934. early masterpiece of avant-garde cinema. Another Other than the star productions and the director’s example is Makino Shōzō, who was disillusioned productions which operated within the confines with the conservatism of Nikkatsu, in 1921 left the of a commercial cinema, the Purokino movement studio and established his own production company pursued primarily a political goal. Although they Makino kyōiku eiga seisakusho, later renamed never accomplished making feature films, the Makino Kinema (1923) and finally Makino Pro- Purokino played an important role in advocating an duction (1926) which played an important role for alternative mode of film exhibition. A premise of the development of Japanese cinema. From Makino the movement was that the cinema must go to the Production there emerged a number of important people and not the other way round. They rejected directors such as his sons Makino Masahiro and movie theatres and took their documentaries and Matsuda Sadatsugu and actors, who reinvented the animation films to factories and assembly halls as jidaigeki genre. part of their political activism. The anti-capitalist In most cases, however, it was economic con- Purokino movement strived not only for independ- siderations that caused actors and directors to estab- ence in production but also independence in distri- lish their own companies. Along with the studio bution and exhibition. This alternative way of pro- system a star system emerged; the leading actors duction, distribution and exhibition – jishu eiga and and actresses started to compete with the benshi, jishu jōei in Japanese – became an important model the obligatory film narrators, for the favour of the for independent productions after the war. audience. Very soon the stars began to demand their Independent film after the war share in the profits. Kataoka Chiezō, Bandō Tsuma- saburo, Arashi Kanjūrō and Tsukigata Ryūnosuke, In the late 1940s,a second wave of independent pro- the leading stars of the popular jidaigeki, founded duction companies emerged, this time mostly for their own production companies which marked the political reasons. After the war, the studios had to beginning of the so-called star-productions. A simi- conform to the new demands of the allied occupa- lar development can be observed in the 1960s when tion forces headed by the United States. They also popular stars like Mifune Toshirō or Katsu Shintarō had to deal with labour unions that were established established their own production companies. Thus, under the influence of the allies and exerted enor- the stars were able to make more money. Also, they mous pressure. Tōhō was shaken by three major were no longer dependent on a single employer, but strikes which brought the studio to the edge of ruin. had more choices. This brought them higher sala- The third strike, which lasted for 195 days, was ries as well as a greater freedom. In the end, how- ended in August 1949 by the intervention of the ever, the stars remained dependent on the studios Japanese police and the U.S. army. Later on, during and the big cinemas, just as the studios and cin- the so-called Red Purge, Tōhō and the other stu- emas depended on the popularity of the stars. Many dios took their revenge by firing left-wing filmmak- important directors such as Itami Mansaku, Inagaki ers and personnel. The outbreak of the Cold War Hiroshi or Yamanaka Sadao emerged from these led to a change in occupation policies and to the star productions that flourished in the late 1920s suppression of the communist-dominated labour and early 1930s. From the mid-1930s onwards, unions. In 1950, members and sympathizers of the with increasing centralization and tightening of Communist Party were removed first from official state control many of these independent production positions and later from the private sector by order companies were swallowed up or supplanted by the of General MacArthur. More than 300 people in big studios, who gained power and dominated the the film industry lost their jobs in this way. As a film market. In 1941, the war government ordered result many left-wing directors established their all movie companies to merge into the three blocks own production companies. Yamamoto Satsuo, Shōchiku, Tōhō and the newly established Daiei. Imai Tadashi and Kamei Fumio founded Shinsei Thus the first phase of independent productions Eigasha, Kamei later created his own Kinuta Puro, came to an end. Yoshimura Kōzaburō, Shindō Kaneto and Yamada

MINIKOMI Nr. 70 7 founded Kindai Eigasha, and there were a number pied certain gaps in the market, but were often of other leftist production companies such as Yagi dependent on the studios either as sub-contractors Puro, Shinseiki Eigasha, Gendai Puro and Mingei or because they had to fill out their repertoire. How- Puro. With the backing of labour unions as well ever, in the late 1950s, when the studios regained as the Communist Party they made films about their power and the studio system flourished, the the proletariat and the citizen’s struggle against studios left almost no room for independent pro- the bureaucracy and the state. The films criticized ductions. In 1959, when the studio system reached the establishment and exposed the contradictions its peak, there were no independent productions at within Japanese post-war society. Most of these all. Thus the second wave of independent produc- independently produced films were distributed by tions ended. Hokusei Eiga, the distributor of movies from the The third wave Soviet Union. The films were also shown in film circles organized by the labour unions as well as in The 1950s are generally regarded as the Golden smaller and medium-sized cinemas that supported Age of Japanese cinema. They were certainly the the independent filmmakers. Some of the films were Golden Age of the Japanese studios. After the financed by labour unions: Kamei Fumio’s Onna painful adjustments of the post-war period, Tōhō, hitori daichi o yuku (“Woman Walking on Earth Shintōhō, Shōchiku, Daiei, Nikkatsu and the newly Alone”, 1953) by the Japan Coal Miners Union of established Tōei dominated not only film production Hokkaidō, Imai Tadashi’s Yamabiko gakkō (“The but, as they were distributors and exhibitors at the Yamabiko School”, 1952) by the Yamagata Teach- same time, all other levels of the movie market. er’s Union, or Sekigawa Hideo’s Hiroshima (1953) Together with radio the movies were a favour- by the Japan Teacher’s Union Nikkyōso. ite pastime. Many people went every week to see Around the time these films were released the new double feature. At the end of the 1950s the studios had completed their restructuring and Japanese cinema reached its zenith. In 1958, 1.13 had recovered from the loss of talented staff in the billion people went to the movies, and in 1960 course of the Red Purge. In 1953 Tōei introduced production reached an all-time high with 548 new the double bill (nihontate ) system and the other films. In order to satisfy the ever-increasing demand studios quickly followed Tōei’s example. Because for new material, several young assistant direc- of the block-booking system the studios now had tors were given a chance to direct their first films to provide their cinemas with two new films every at a (for the time) rather early age. Nikkatsu and week. If they could not keep up on their own, they Shōchiku in particular had several talented assist- resorted to independently produced films to fill ant directors who debuted in this way. Nikkatsu had out their programme. The independent filmmak- resumed film production in 1953 after being active ers profited from this arrangement insofar as it only as distributor for American films during the allowed them to reach a wider audience. The loser occupation years. The studio poached young assist- was the independent distributor Hokusei Eiga, who ant directors from the other studios, notably from went bankrupt in 1953. Although most independent Shōchiku (e.g. Suzuki Seijun, Imamura Shōhei, films after the war were made by leftist filmmakers, Nakahira Kō, Kurahara Koreyoshi), whose subse- there are several noteworthy independent produc- quent films infused the Japanese cinema with new tions that were not politically motivated. Shimizu vitality. Shōchiku itself, having specialized in mel- Hiroshi, Gosho Heinosuke or actor-turned-direc- odrama for a predominantly female audience, tried tor Saburi Shin also made a number of independ- to counter the sudden decrease in audiences (partic- ent albeit not ostensibly political films. Their films ularly the decline of female movie-goers) by giving were mostly distributed by the studios Shintōhō, its young assistant directors a chance to try out Shōchiku and Daiei. new and innovative ways. In 1959 Ōshima Nagisa In the 1920s and early 1930s the independent debuted with Ai to kibō no machi (“A Town of Love production companies had profited from the rela- and Hope“), in 1960 Shinoda Masahiro followed tive weakness of the capital-weak studios, after the with Koi no katamichi kippu (“One Way Ticket for war they also had capitalized on the weakness of Love”), Yoshida Yoshishige (later Kijū) with Roku the studios hit by labour unrest and restrictions de nashi (“Good-for-Nothing”), Tamura Tsutomu from the occupation forces like the ban of sword- with Akunin shigan (“Desire to be a Bad Man”) and fight scenes in jidaigeki . They successfully occu- Takahashi Osamu with Kanojo dake ga shitte iru

8 MINIKOMI Nr. 70 (“Only she knows”) in 1960. Their films set a new Theatre Guild, which in the mid-1960s became the course and the press was quick in labelling them artistic home of the directors of the Japanese Nou- “Shōchiku Nouvelle Vague” after the French Nou- velle Vague. Ultimately, even the Art Theatre Guild velle Vague, whose films were introduced to Japan was dependent on Tōhō, its main financer and one at the same time. The difference between the two of its initiators. ATG did not compete with Tōhō was that the Japanese Nouvelle Vague was essen- and the other studios, they rather complemented tially a product of the studios (Imamura Shōhei, each other. Experiments made possible by ATG who, at least in the West, is also associated with the were unthinkable within the structure of the studio Japanese Nouvelle Vague, worked for Nikkatsu), system, especially in times of dwindling attendance whereas the French Nouvelle Vague like many and decreasing revenue. The studios preferred to other innovative movements in Europe established let others worry about the unprofitable auteur films itself outside the studio system. and concentrate instead on the rather more lucra- Ōshima, Yoshida and Shinoda soon encoun- tive genre cinema. To a certain extent, however, the tered difficulties where the studio was concerned, studios supported independent productions such because they were not allowed the freedom they as ATG’s because their experiments were consid- needed to develop their ideas. As early as 1960, ered an important source of innovation. From 1968 Ōshima left Shōchiku, when the studio pulled back onwards, ATG became the major experimental lab- his fourth feature Nihon no yoru to kiri (“Night oratory of Japanese film. Soon they began to act as and Fog in Japan”) after only four days in the cin- talent scouts as well, so the studios had new talents emas. Yoshida left the studio in 1964 after his film to fall back on whenever they needed them. Nihon dasshutsu (“Escape from Japan”) had been Until the 1950s there had been no real con- severely cut by Shōchiku (before that, one of his flict between artistic claim and commercial value projects had been cancelled and he had had to go (almost all of Ozu’s films, for instance, were box back to work as assistant director for a while). In office hits), but during the 1960s commercial con- 1965, Shinoda finally left Shōchiku after making siderations became increasingly important. This a dozen of films there. For the directors of the was partly the result of a change in the audience, Shōchiku Nouvelle Vague and others who later which became more and more varied and eventu- followed their example, escaping from the assem- ally split up into little groups of people with speci- bly line production system of the studios was an fied interests and predilections that could not be important step in order to unfold their individuality satisfied by one single film. and to gain independence. They founded their own In the 1960s, television replaced the cinema as production companies Sōzōsha (Ōshima), Gendai the favourite form of entertainment. Because of this Eigasha (Yoshida) and Hyōgensha (Shinoda) and and the rapidly developing leisure industry cinema continued making films independently. Despite attendance declined drastically. This had its effect the friction between the directors and the studio not only on the studios but mainly on exhibitors, (they did not always settle amicably, especially in who were bound to the studios by exclusive con- the case of Ōshima), the break was not complete. tracts. Smaller theatres in particular were no longer Even after they had parted company, many of their able or even willing in view of decreasing profits to films were still distributed by Shōchiku. Only after pay for expensive studio productions. They started finding a new distributor and later a new producer looking for cheaper alternatives and found them in in the Art Theatre Guild could the Nouvelle Vague low-budget films of independent companies, which directors completely disengage themselves from mushroomed in the early 1960s. As these films Shōchiku. What becomes obvious here is the fact provided a topic which was still taboo in the stu- that holds true even today that independent produc- dios, i.e. sex, they quickly found their audience and tions continue to a certain extent (especially with brought handsome profits to the cinema owners as regard to distribution) to depend on the big studios. well as the small independent production compa- This dependency was not necessarily one-sided, nies at the expense of the studios. The number of however, because the studios had reduced their these so-called “eroductions” increased from 15 in production in order to cut costs and depended on 1962 to 98 in 1965 and 207 in 1966. In 1968, the independent productions to meet their block-book- 265 “eroductions” for the first time outstripped the ing contracts. film production of the studios. In some respects this is also true for the Art By the late 1960s, these independently pro-

MINIKOMI Nr. 70 9 duced “eroductions” became known as pink eiga, a doubly decisive role. On the one hand, apart from term still used today. Like studio productions they Teshigahara Hiroshi’s Sōgetsu Art Center, ATG’s were made primarily for commercial reasons, but Shinjuku Bunka Cinema and its underground they were less restricted as far as content and plot theater Sasori-za had become the most important were concerned. Therefore, many directors used venue where experimental film was concerned. them as far as the low budgets permitted to make On the other hand, ATG gave several experimental very individual and innovative movies. Wakamatsu directors the chance to make feature films, among Kōji, Adachi Masao and other radicals used their them Matsumoto Toshio, the stars of the amateur pink eiga for political agitation, others such as Yam- 8mm scene Ōbayashi Nobuhiko and Takabayashi atoya Atsushi used them for formal experiments. Yōichi, as well as Terayama Shūji, famous poet The manager of the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka, and playwright and leading figure of the Japanese Kuzui Kinshirō, who organized special screenings avant-garde theatre. ATG enabled them to direct at his cinema, is to be thanked for the fact that the groundbreaking films, that became masterpieces of films of these directors were made available to an Japanese avant-garde cinema. audience outside of the confined pink eiga circuit, Matsumoto had originally directed documenta- which at last led to their recognition by film crit- ries, the third important pillar (beside pink eiga and ics. experimental and student films) of Japanese inde- In the 1970s, the big studios started to encroach pendent cinema in the 1960s. The film department upon the lucrative sexploitation market as well. of the publishing house Iwanami (established in Nikkatsu changed its entire production to so-called 1950) played a decisive role, especially with regard Roman Porno (softcore sex films) in 1971, Tōei to PR films and documentaries. Hani Susumu, started its so-called “Pinky Violence” series and Kuroki Kazuo, Tsuchimoto Noriaki, Ogawa Shin- even the family-oriented Shōchiku studio started suke and Higashi Yōichi as well as many others making sex films trough its daughter company started out with Iwanami Eiga. Ogawa and Tsuchi- Tōkatsu. This did not mean, however, that the inde- moto continued to make documentaries and became pendently produced pink eiga lost their importance. internationally distinguished directors in their field. On the contrary, as most studios (except Nikkatsu) Others later moved on to feature films. had stopped employing new assistant directors in In the 1960s and 1970s the Art Theatre Guild order to reduce costs, aspiring filmmakers found held all the strings as far as Japanese independent their chances for a career severely limited. They had cinema was concerned. ATG united the directors to look for alternatives and found them in directing of the Nouvelle Vague who had left the studios, pink eiga as they provided a way of getting into the documentarists of Iwanami Eiga, directors of the movie business. Takita Yōjirō, Suō Masayuki, “eroductions” as well as representatives of the ama- Kurosawa Kiyoshi, and other successful directors teur and experimental film scene. But what exactly of the 1980s and 1990s started out like this. Even was the Art Theatre Guild? In order to answer this directors who are not usually associated with pink question it is necessary to return once more to the eiga, like for instance Oguri Kōhei, Hara Kazuo or Golden Era of Japanese cinema. Suwa Nobuhiro, worked at the beginning of their The Art Theatre Guild careers as assistant directors in this genre that is so essential to Japanese film. Akira Kurosawa’s Rashōmon winning the Golden Many of these directors had made 8mm films Lion at the Venice film festival in 1951 gave the as early as high school or university. Student and Japanese movie industry a first glimpse of the inter- amateur films became an important aspect of the national market. The subsequent success of other cinematic landscape of the 1970s. These activi- Japanese films at European festivals impressively ties did not start in the 1970s, but go back to the demonstrated the strength of the Japanese film late 1950s. The film club of Nihon University in industry. Still, film exports could in no way com- particular played a decisive role in this. Jōnouchi pare to film imports. Foreign movies had always Motoharu, Adachi Masao and Hirano Katsumi been popular in Japan, but after WW2 their number later became important representatives of Japanese was limited because of currency regulations, and experimental film. If the term “independent” fits importers were allocated quotas by the government. any aspect of movie industry of the 1960s at all it As domestic film production in the 1950s increased has to be experimental films. Here ATG played a at the expense of foreign imports, distributors were

10 MINIKOMI Nr. 70 less willing to take risks. They preferred films that November 15, 1961 the Art Theatre Guild of Japan could guarantee commercial success and largely (Nihon āto shiatā girudo / ATG) was launched. Iseki ignored ambitious and “difficult” films. Taneo became its first president. In the 1920s, he There were several initiatives that attempted had edited the programmes of the Musashinokan, to adjust this imbalance. One was instigated by the one of Tōkyō’s most prestigious first-run cinemas. group Cinema 57 which had been founded in 1957 Later he had worked for Shōchiku and P.C.L. (a by the young directors Teshigahara Hiroshi, Hani predecessor of Tōhō), and in 1946 he had gone into Susumu, Matsuyama Zenzō and Kawazu Yoshirō, business for himself. He founded the cinema chain the critics Ogi Masahiro and Kusakabe Kyūshirō, Sanwa Kōgyō and become an exhibitor. Sanwa Maruo Sadamu (later director of the National Film Kōgyō brought one million yen and a cinema, the Center), the editor of the journal Geijutsu Shinchō Shinjuku Bunka, into the new undertaking. Tōhō Sakisaka Ryūichirō and Mushanokōji Kanzaburō. contributed five million yen and five cinemas (the Their first project was the film Tōkyō 58, which was Nichigeki Bunka in Tōkyō, the Meihō Bunka in shown at the first festival of experimental film in Nagoya, the Kitano Cinema in Ōsaka, the Tōhō Brussels in 1958. Another project was the forma- Meigaza in Fukuoka, and the Kōraku Bunka in Sap- tion of the Association of the Japanese Art Theatre poro). The cinema operators Etō Rakutenchi, Tea- Movement (Nihon āto shiatā undō no kai) which toru Kōgyō und OS Kōgyō joined in with one mil- aimed at setting up special cinemas for the show- lion yen respectively and four cinemas (the Sōtetsu ing of non-commercial art movies. This association Bunka in Yokohama, the Kōrakuen Art Theatre in was joined by the critic Togawa Naoki, the director Tōkyō, the Kyōto Asahi Kaikan in Kyōto and the Horikawa Hiromichi and Kawakita Kashiko, the Sky Cinema in Kōbe). Thus, the Art Theatre Guild vice-president of Tōwa who became a driving force had ten cinemas in the whole of Japan at their dis- of the Japanese Art Theatre Movement. posal. Before the war, Kawakita Kashiko, together In April 1962, ATG started their program with with her husband Kawakita Nagamasa, had Matka Joanna od aniołów (“Mother Joan of the imported many important European films to Japan. Angels”, 1961) by Polish director Jerzy Kawale- After the war the Kawakitas were still committed rowicz. The repertoire was chosen by a program- to the ambitious European art cinema. In the mid- ming committee consisting of mainly film crit- 1950s Kashiko spent two years in Europe, getting ics. At the time of its founding these were Iijima acquainted with the art theatre movement, which Tadashi, Iida Shinbi, Izawa Jun, Uekusa Jin’ichi, became international in 1955, as the International Shimizu Chiyota, Togawa Naoki, Nanbu Keino- Association of European Art Theatres C.I.C.A.E. suke and Futaba Jūzaburō. Most of them had pub- (Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art lished in the programs of the Musashinokan and et d’Essai) was founded. On returning to Japan knew Iseki Taneo from that time. Further mem- she worked towards the establishment of a film bers of the committee were Ogi Masahiro, Hani library, of an institution similar to the Cinémath- Susumu, Matsuyama Zenzō, Sakisaka Ryūichirō, èque Française and the British Film Institute and Kusakabe Kyūshirō, Maruo Sadamu and Kawak- a movie art theatre like the National Film Theatre ita Kashiko from the Association of the Japanese in London, which had opened in 1957 with Akira Art Theatre Movement. Teshigahara Hiroshi was Kurosawa’s Kumonosu-jō (“Throne of Blood”, not included as he had already started work on 1955). Otoshiana (“The Pitfall”, 1962), which was later Kawakita Kashiko and the Japanese Art Thea- distributed by ATG. tre Movement were supported by Mori Iwao, then Setting up an independent committee was a vice-president of Tōhō and a close associate of the radically new approach. As most of its members Kawakitas. Mori had started out as a film journal- were film critics the films were chosen with artistic ist and had written the first comprehensive study instead of commercial considerations in mind. At of the American movie business in Japanese. Then first, the films distributed by ATG were predomi- he started to write screenplays, became a producer nantly European productions, mostly contemporary, and, in the 1920s, initiated the “Association for but also some classics that had never been shown the Recommendation of Good Films” (Yoi eiga o in Japan such as the films of Sergei Eisenstein and susumeru kai). Mori talked Iseki Taneo, the presi- Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941). Apart from mas- dent of Sanwa Kōgyō, into supporting them and on terpieces by Bergman, Cocteau, Antonioni, Buñuel,

MINIKOMI Nr. 70 11 Fellini, Resnais and other established directors, simply come and go during a performance like they ATG introduced several less famous names such did in the other cinemas, but were asked to wait as young Polish directors (Kawalerowicz, Wajda, until the next screening started. The foyer acted as Munk), the French Nouvelle Vague (Godard, Truf- a gallery where well-known painters and illustra- faut, also Agnès Varda and Bertrand Blier), Soviet tors exhibited their work. ATG posters were often filmmakers (Kalatozov, Shvejtser, Kheifits, Para- designed by famous artists and were utterly differ- janov), young rebels like John Cassavetes and Tony ent from traditional movie bills (see the interview Richardson, and, not to be forgotten, Satyajit Ray with Kuzui). and Glauber Rocha. ATG thus played a vital role in In the evenings, after the movies were over, the creation of a new consciousness of film history Kuzui, who was also interested in modern thea- in Japan. tre, started to organize theatrical performances. He Apart from foreign movies, ATG also acted benefited from the fact that several new troupes had as distributor for several independently produced split off from established ensembles in the early Japanese films such as Teshigahara’s Otoshiana 1960s and were now looking for suitable venues. as well as films by Shindō Kaneto, Hani Susumu, The first stage performance in the Shinjuku Bunka Kuroki Kazuo, Yoshida Yoshishige, Ōshima Nagisa was the Japanese premiere of Edward Albee’s and Jissōji Akio, whose subsequent films ATG also The Zoo Story on June 1, 1963, followed by more produced. plays by Albee, Tennesse Williams, Samuel Beck- Not only the method of selecting the films ett, Harold Pinter, LeRoi Jones, Tankred Dorst, was new, the way in which they were presented Jean Genet, Edward Bond, Barbara Garson, and was novel, too. One of ATG’s basic rules was to other contemporary foreign dramatists. Many of show each film for at least a month, irrespective of these were Japanese debuts. Apart from these, the attendance. In the 1960s, the repertoire was usually Shinjuku Bunka also put on plays by leading Japa- changed weekly, and a four-week run was excep- nese writers such as Terayama Shūji, Kara Jūrō, tional even for box-office hits. ATG’s flagship was Betsuyaku Minoru, Shimizu Kunio and Mishima the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka in Tōkyō, which Yukio. Thus the Shinjuku Bunka was not only one was managed by Kuzui Kinshirō who remained of the most important cinemas in Japan but also pivotal until the mid-1970s. The Shinjuku Bunka (despite the tiny stage) one of the major venues for had been built in 1937 as the contract cinema of contemporary drama. Tōhō. Kuzui readapted it according to his own Kuzui envisaged an expansion of the Shinjuku plans and created a completely new type of cinema. Bunka into a comprehensive art theatre. Together The whole cinema was painted dark grey, bills and with ATG productions and in special programs he posters and any other kind of flashy advertising presented experimental short films, among them were banished, there were only afternoon shows works by Iimura Takahiko, Tomita Katsuhiko, (most cinemas opened in the morning), the seats Donald Richie, Ōbayashi Nobuhiko (whose films were spacious and comfortable, there was enough were shown publicly for the first time), Itami Jūzō space between the rows so nobody had to get up (who was responsible for the design of the ATG to let someone pass, and the audience could not logo) and Adachi Masao’s Sain (1963), which was

12 MINIKOMI Nr. 70 shown as the first “Night Road Show” in 1965. The eign movies was abolished. So was the allocation Shinjuku Bunka was the first cinema in Japan that of quotas that had determined the number of films had regular shows later than 9 pm, a practice that per distributor. One result of this liberalization was was later adopted by many small theatres. a rise in distribution costs so that it became increas- In order to present even 8mm and 16mm films ingly uneconomical to import foreign films. ATG in the best possible quality (the screen of the Shin- decided that it would be more profitable to produce juku Bunka was too big for these formats), Kuzui its own movies. had a small theatre built in the basement of the In the case of Imamura’s Ningen jōhatsu ATG Shinjuku Bunka for film and theatrical perform- had not been involved in the planning stage but had ances, concerts, and other events. The Sasori-za was only helped out in the final phase of production. inaugurated on June 10, 1967 with a performance The first film planned and produced by ATG was by the flamenco dancer Komatsubara Yōko. The Ōshima Nagisa’s Kōshikei (“Death by Hanging”), first film that was shown there in August 1967 was which was released in February 1968. Production Adachi Masao’s Gingakei (“Galaxy”, 1967). It was costs were split between ATG and Ōshima’s pro- Mishima Yukio who was responsible for the name duction company Sōzōsha. Later productions fol- Sasori-za (Theatre Scorpio), a tribute to Kenneth lowed the same pattern. The films were financed by Anger’s film Scorpio Rising that had been shown at ATG and the director’s company in equal shares. the Shinjuku Bunka before. The Sasori-za was the Compared to those of the studios, feature film budg- first underground theatre in Japan, others soon fol- ets were quite modest. Even though the estimated lowed. It was a center of experimental drama and 10 million yen were hardly ever enough, ATG’s experimental film (beside Teshigahara’s Sōgetsu films were referred to as “10 million yen movies” Art Center) as well as a popular meeting place for (issenman’en eiga). all kinds of artists. There were movie and theater Projects were again chosen by an independent performances, concerts and recitals, happenings, planning committee of film critics. In the begin- and dance performances by Hijikata Tatsumi, the ning, the directors of the Japanese Nouvelle Vague founder of butoh dance. The Sasori-za was one of were at the center of ATG’s production activities. the major centers of the Japanese avant-garde and Many of their major works were made in collabo- set an example for many other underground thea- ration with ATG: Kōshikei, Shōnen (“Boy”, 1969), tres. Tōkyō sensō sengo hiwa (“The Man Who Left His Five days after the opening of the Sasori-za Will On Film”, 1969), Gishiki (“The Ceremony”, ATG released Imamura Shōhei’s controversial 1971), and Natsu no imōto (“Little Summer documentary Ningen jōhatsu (“A Man Vanishes”, Sister”, 1973) by Ōshima Nagisa; Rengoku Eroika 1967). This was the first film that ATG also co- (“Heroic Purgatory”, 1970) and Kaigenrei (“Coup produced. The idea of not only distributing but d’Etat”, 1973) by Yoshida Kijū; Shinjū ten no Ami- actually producing films had taken shape in 1965 jima (“Double Suicide”, 1969) and Himiko (1974) with Mishima Yukio’s Yūkoku (“The Rites of Love by Shinoda Masahiro, as well as Hatsukoi jigoku- and Death”), the only film he directed, which was hen (“The Inferno of First Love”, 1968) by Hani screened with great success at the Shinjuku Bunka. Susumu. Furthermore, ATG distributed Ōshima’s As the film is merely 28 minutes long, it was shown Ninja bugeichō (“Manual of Ninja Martial Arts”, as a double feature together with Buñuel’s Le Jour- 1967) and Shinjuku dorobō nikki (“Diary of a nal d’une femme de chambre (“Diary of a Cham- Shinjuku Thief”, 1968) and Yoshida’s Saraba bermaid”, 1966). A little later, Ōshima’s Yunbogi natsu no hikari (“Farewell to the Summer Light”, no nikki (“Yunbogi’s Diary”, 1965) was similarly 1968), Erosu+Gyakusatsu (“Eros Plus Massa- successful. These triumphs provided the encour- cre”, 1970) and Kokuhakuteki joyūron (“Confes- agement for ATG to start producing films. sions among Actresses”, 1971). ATG’s importance Calculating the profits of their previous films, for the Japanese Nouvelle Vague can hardly be ATG decided that with a budget of approximately overestimated. 10 million yen (then less than US$ 28.000) they At the same time, ATG gave several experimen- should be able to cover the production costs. What tal directors the chance to realize their extremely eventually facilitated the decision to expand into individual fantasies, most importantly Matsumoto production was the liberalization of the import Toshio and Terayama Shūji whose first feature films market. In 1964, the official limit for importing for- Bara no sōretsu (“Funeral Procession of Roses”,

MINIKOMI Nr. 70 13 1969) and Shūra (“The Pandemonium”, 1971) The early films of ATG were determined by respectively Sho o suteyo, machi e deyō (“Throw the explosive political climate of the late 1960s and Away the Books, Let’s Go into the Streets”, 1971) early 1970s. The highlight of their political films and Den’en ni shisu (“Pastoral: To Die in the Coun- is Wakamatsu Kōji’s Tenshi no kōkotsu (“Ecstasy try”, 1974) were made possible by ATG. Teraya- of the Angels, 1971”), which, in 1971, was closer ma’s last film, Saraba hakobune (“Farewell to the to the events of the day than any other film. Tenshi Ark”, 1984) was again co-produced by ATG. Jissōji no kōkotsu is based on a screenplay by Adachi Akio and Kuroki Kazuo also were experimental in Masao, who two years later defected to Lebanon their approach; in the 1970s they became ATG’s and became a member of the Japanese Red Army. leading directors. Jissōji had started out in televi- The film anticipated the terrorism of the left-wing sion and had only directed one short film, Yoiyami guerrilla in an almost prophetic manner and thus semareba (“When Twilight Draws Near”, 1969), made for one of the biggest scandals in the history which ATG had distributed and shown as a double of ATG (see the interview with Wakamatsu). feature together with Ōshima’s Shinjuku dorobō After 1972, political topics faded into the nikki. Mujō (“This Transient Life”, 1970) was the background. It is possible to identify two strands first of four films that Jissōji realized with ATG. of escapism in ATG’s films: an escape from urban The story of the incestuous relationship of two sib- to more rural settings and an escape into the past. lings became the biggest hit of ATG and won inter- Symptomatic for this development are Saitō national recognition by winning the Grand Prix at Kōichi’s Tsugaru jongara-bushi (“Tsugaru Folk the Locarno Film Festival in 1970. Together with Song”, 1973) and Ichikawa Kon’s Matatabi (“The Mishima’s Yūkoku, the film was the most contro- Wanderers”, 1973), both released in 1973. Both versially discussed film at the FIPRESCI confer- films were directed by studio directors, which indi- ence on “Eroticism and Violence in Cinema” held cates a development towards increasingly orthodox in Milan in October 1970. However, like so many films. ATG, admittedly, continued to co-operate other films of this period the film soon fell in obliv- with experimental directors such as Takabayashi ion and is still waiting to be rediscovered as one of Yōichi and, later, Ōbayashi Nobuhiko, but the films the masterpieces of Japanese cinema. This can also made after 1973 were much less radical than the be said about Kuroki Kazuo’s films of this period. films earlier. The main reason, apart from the gen- ATG distributed his early masterpiece Tobenai chin- eral spirit of the age, was the closing of the Shin- moku (“Silence Has No Wings”) in 1966 and pro- juku Bunka in 1975. ATG thus lost one of its most duced his following feature films Nihon no akuryō important assets. (“Evil Spirits of Japan”, 1970), Ryōma ansatsu Most of ATG’s other cinemas had already (“The Assassination of Ryoma”, 1974), Matsuri no bailed out earlier. The profits were simply not big junbi (Preparations for the Festival; 1975) and Gen- enough, neither were the people in charge suffi- shiryoku sensō (“Lost Love”, 1978). ciently farsighted. The last film to be shown at the Other directors, many of whom worked for a Shinjuku Bunka before it was closed was Terayama studio, got the chance to finally realize their dream Shūji’s Den’en ni shisu. When in 1978 the Kitano projects which they could not do within the struc- Cinema in Ōsaka also closed down the Nichigeki ture of the studios: Okamoto Kihachi made Niku- Bunka in Yūrakuchō was the last of the originally dan (“Human Bullet”, 1968) and Tokkan (“Battle ten cinemas directly run by ATG. With the closing Cry”, 1975), Nakahira Kō Hensōkyoku (“La Varia- of the Shinjuku Bunka ended the heyday of the Art tion”, 1976), Kumai Kei Chi no mure (“Apart from Theatre Guild. Kuzui Kinshirō, who embodied the Life”, 1970), Masumura Yasuzō Ongaku (“Music”, essence of ATG like nobody else, even though he 1972) and Sonezaki shinjū (“Double Suicide at had remained an employee of Sanwa Kōgyō and Sonezaki”, 1978), Nakajima Sadao Teppōdama no had never officially been a member of ATG, stayed bigaku (“Aesthetics of a Bullet”, 1973), and Naka- on for some time as an independent producer, but gawa Nobuo his swansong Kaidan Ikiteiru Koheiji his function as main producer was taken over by (“The Living Koheiji”; 1982). ATG also produced Taga Shōsuke, who had been responsible for edit- several of Shindō Kaneto’s films, the veteran of ing the programs ever since the beginning of ATG. Japanese independent film, among them Sanka Tōhō took over the Shinjuku Bunka and reopened (“Okoto ad Sasuke”, 1972) and Kokoro (“Love the newly refurbished cinema with Just Jaeckin’s Betrayed”, 1973). Emmanuelle.

14 MINIKOMI Nr. 70 Sexploitation films kept many afloat in Japan critic’s poll. What so far had rather been the excep- as well, as it was the only market in the 1970s that tion became the rule of ATG under Sasaki. actually boomed. Still, many directors tried to break There was no lack of young talents. Several out of this quandary and ATG gave a number of promising filmmakers had emerged from the self Roman Porno and pink eiga directors such as Sone financed and self produced 8mm and 16mm jishu Chūsei,Yamaguchi Seiichirō, Kumashiro Tatsumi, eiga circles. In 1978 Ōmori Kazuki, the star of the Ōhara Kōyū, Negishi Kichitarō, Ikeda Toshiharu, independent film scene of the Kansai region, won Takahashi Banmei and Izutsu Kazuyuki the chance the Kido Award with his screenplay of Orenjirōdo to establish themselves outside this field. ekispuressu (“Orange Road Express”), the most Among the directors who had left Nikkatsu prestigious screenplay Award in Japan. Shōchiku was also Hasegawa Kazuhiko, who had debuted bought the rights of the screenplay and produced with ATG to great acclaim in 1976 with Seishun no the film that marked Ōmori’s feature film debut. satsujinsha (“Young Murderer”). This film marked In the same year Nikkatsu hired Ishii Sōgō for a the beginning of a new development in the history remake of his 8mm film Kōkō daipanikku (“Panic of ATG: the promotion of young directors who had in High School”) that was also Ishii’s feature film not yet gained a lot of experience in the making of debut. In 1979 the Pia magazine, which had started feature films. in 1972 as a monthly entertainment information magazine, launched an Off-Theatre Film Festival The Sasaki years of ATG that followed smaller exhibitions of jishu eiga in In 1979 Iseki Taneo retired as president of ATG 1977 and 1978. Eventually this developed into the and was succeeded by Sasaki Shirō. As a student Pia Film Festival that until today is one of the most at Waseda University Sasaki had been a member important showcases for young filmmakers. of the Waseda theatre group Gekidan Kodama. An often neglected role in sustaining this new Together with Betsuyaku Minoru and others he generation of independent filmmakers was played founded the theatre group Shingekidan Jiyū Butai, by several meigaza or small arthouse cinemas that the predecessor of the Waseda Shōgekijo troupe. actively supported these filmmakers by produc- After graduation he briefly joined TBS as assistant ing their low-budget 16mm films. Ōmori Kazu- director and in 1971 founded the company Tōkyō ki’s Natsuko to nagai owakare (“Long Goodbye”, Video Center that rented facilities for radio and 1978), Yamakawa Naoto’s Anaza saido (“Another television programmes. Sasaki’s first contact with Side”, 1980), Inudō Isshin’s Aka-suika ki-suika ATG was when ATG distributed Hashiura Hōjin’s (“Red Melon, Yellow Melon”, 1982) and Imaseki Hoshizora no marionetto (“Puppets under Starry Akiyoshi’s Furūtsu basuketto (“Fruit Basket”, Skies”, 1978), which Sasaki had produced with his 1982) were produced by the Bungeiza, Tsuchikata company. It was the first feature film of Hashiura, Tetsujin’s Sensō no inutachi (“The Dogs of War”, who knew Sasaki from their common Gekidan 1980) by the Namikiza and Ōya Ryūji’s Kami no Kodama days. The change from the 79 year old ochite kita hi (“The day God fell down”, 1979) and Iseki to the 38 year old Sasaki was not only a gen- Ishii Sōgō’s Kuruizaki sandārōdo (“Crazy Thun- eration change at the top of ATG, it also denoted der Road”, 1980) by the Kamiita Tōei Cinema. Of a change in ATG’s orientation towards a stronger these Ishii’s Kuruizaki sandārōdo was bought by support of young film talents. Tōei and released nationwide as 35mm blow-up. In the 1970s the decline of the Japanese Even though Ishii and Ōmori had made their studio system continued and with the exception feature film debuts with the major studios, the stu- of Nikkatsu, whose Roman Porno production dios were not interested in developing their talents flourished, the studios ceased hiring new assistant further. Here Sasaki stepped in and deployed their directors and thus were not able any more to spawn talents for ATG. The first film of the new Sasaki new talents. In its undertaking to fill this void ATG regime, that was no longer governed by a planning under Sasaki became a major promoter of prom- committee as in the past, was Hashiura Hōjin’s ising young filmmakers. ATG had launched new second feature film Kaichōon (“Before Spring”, talents in the past as well, most notably Hasegawa 1980), followed by Ōmori Kazuki’s Hipokuratesu- Kazuhiko, whose debut film Seishun no satsujinsha tachi (“The Disciples of Hippocrates”, 1980). With had caused a sensation in 1976 and was voted Best Nagasaki Shunichi’s Kugatsu no jōdan kurabu- Film of the Year by the renowned Kinema Junpō bando (“The Lonely Heart Club Band in Septem-

MINIKOMI Nr. 70 15 ber”, 1982) and Ishii Sōgō’s Gyakufunsha kazoku but with Sasaki’s departure the activities of ATG (“Crazy Family”, 1984) Sasaki subsequently also practically came to a halt. Three more films were produced films of two other important representa- distributed by the Guild until 1992, among them tives of the independent jishu eiga scene. scriptwriter Nakajima Takehiro’s debut as direc- The second pillar of Sasaki’s new ATG line tor, Kyōshū (“Remembrances” 1988). Nakajima’s were directors with a background in pink eiga and screenplay had won a screenplay award sponsored Roman Porno. He produced Kumashiro Tatsu- by ATG, but the film was not produced by ATG any mi’s Misutā, misesu, misu ronrii (“Mr., Mrs., Miss more, but only distributed. Kumashiro Tatsumi’s Lonely”, 1980), Izutsu Kazuyuki’s Gaki teikoku Beddotaimu aizu (“Bedtime Eyes”, 1987), Kaneko (“Empire of Punks”, 1981), Negishi Kichitarō’s Shūsuke’s 1999-nen no natsuyasumi (“Summer Enrai (“The Far Thunder”, 1981), Takahashi Ban- Vacation 1999”, 1988) and Yamakawa Naoto’s SO mei’s Tattoo ari (“Tattoo”, 1982) and Ikeda Toshi- WHAT (1988), which had been planned by Sasaki haru’s powerful Ningyo densetsu (“The revenge as ATG productions, were realized with other pro- of the Mermaid”, 1984). The last film was co-pro- duction companies, too. Although ATG was never duced by the Director’s Company, an independent officially disbanded, after 1992 there are no signs production company founded in 1982 by Hasegawa of further activities. Sasaki continued a very suc- Kazuhiko, Sōmai Shinji, Negishi Kichitarō, Ikeda cessful career as independent producer. In 1989 he Toshiharu, Ishii Sōgō, Ōmori Kazuki, Takahashi joined ranks with five other producers and launched Banmei, Izutsu Kazuzuki and Kurosawa Kiyoshi, the short-lived but important ARGO-Project and which also produced Ishii’s Gyakufunsha kazoku in 1993 founded the production company Office and Sōmai Shinji’s Taifū kurabu (“Typhoon Club”, Shiros. 1985). The latter won the Grand Prix of the Young One could say that when Sasaki left ATG the Cinema Competition of the 1st Tōkyō International Art Theatre Guild had fulfilled its task. Until the Film Festival and was distributed by ATG. 1980s it had been one of very few refuges for inde- The Director’s Company was one of several pendent cinema. In the 1980s other independent new independent production companies estab- companies took over the tasks of the Art Theatre lished in the 1980s. Another was NCP (New Cen- Guild and continued along the path set by ATG. tury Producers), started in 1981 by a group of With the retreat of the studios from film production producers who had left Nikkatsu. Together with the notion of “independency” had changed consid- ATG they produced Negishi’s Enrai and Morita erably in the three decades that the Art Theatre Yoshimitsu’s acclaimed Kazoku gēmu (“Family Guild was active in film production. What remains Game”, 1983). Kaichōon, Hashiura’s second ATG is an impressive legacy of 75 films produced and feature Mitsugetsu (“Honeymoon”, 1982), Naga- another 105 films distributed by the Art Theatre saki’s Kugatsu no jōdan kurabubando and Ōmori’s Guild and a secure place in Japanese film history Kaze no uta o kike (“Hear the Wind Sing”, 1981, for its accomplishment as innovator, motor and after Murakami Haruki’s novel) were all produced backbone of Japanese independent cinema. together with Cinema Haute, the film-producing section of Sasaki’s Tōkyō Video Center that he had established as independent company when he was appointed president of ATG. The increase of inde- pendent production companies and the emergence of a number of new small movie theatres, so-called Mini-Theatres, and independent distribution com- panies drastically reshaped Japanese cinema in the 1980s. Investments of other businesses into film production during the time of the so-called bubble economy in the late 1980s contributed to these developments. In November 1986 Sasaki stepped down as president of ATG after disagreements with the executives of Tōhō, the studio that stood behind ATG. Sasaki was followed by Kusano Shigeo,

16 MINIKOMI Nr. 70