Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts
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JAPANESE CINEMA: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts includes twenty-four chapters on key films of Japanese cinema, from the silent era to the present day, providing a com- prehensive introduction to Japanese cinema history and Japanese culture and society. Studying a range of important films, from Late Spring, Seven Samurai and In the Realm of the Senses to Godzilla, Hana-Bi and Ring, the collection includes discus- sion of all the major directors of Japanese cinema including Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Oshima, Suzuki, Kitano and Miyazaki. Each chapter discusses the film in relation to aesthetic, industrial or critical issues and ends with a complete filmography for each director. The book also includes a full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography of readings on Japanese cinema. Bringing together leading international scholars and showcasing pioneering new research, this book is essential reading for all students and general readers interested in one of the world’s most important film industries. Contributors: Carole Cavanaugh, Darrell William Davis, Rayna Denison, David Desser, Linda Ehrlich, Freda Freiberg, Aaron Gerow, Alexander Jacoby, D. P. Martinez, Keiko I. McDonald, Joan Mellen, Daisuke Miyao, Mori Toshie, Abé Mark Nornes, Alastair Phillips, Michael Raine, Donald Richie, Catherine Russell, Isolde Standish, Julian Stringer, Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, Yomota Inuhiko, Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto. Alastair Phillips is Associate Professor in Film Studies at the University of Warwick. Julian Stringer is Associate Professor in Film Studies at the University of Nottingham. JAPANESE CINEMA: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS Edited by Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Editorial matter and selection © 2007 Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer; individual chapters © 2007 the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Japanese cinema : texts and contexts / edited by Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer p. cm Includes bibliographical references. 1. Motion pictures—Japan. I. Phillips, Alastair, 1963– II. Stringer, Julian, 1966– PN1993.5.J3J27 2007 791.430952—dc22 2007019975 ISBN 0-203-37464-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0–415–32847–0 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–32848–9 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–32847–0 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–32848–7 (pbk) CONTENTS List of figures ix Notes on contributors xi Acknowledgements xvii Introduction 1 ALASTAIR PHILLIPS AND JULIAN STRINGER 1 The Salaryman’s Panic Time: Ozu Yasujiro¯’s I Was Born, But . (1932) 25 ALASTAIR PHILLIPS 2 All for Money: Mizoguchi Kenji’s Osaka Elegy (1936) 37 MORI TOSHIE 3 Turning Serious: Yamanaka Sadao’s Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) 50 FREDA FREIBERG 4 Country Retreat: Shimizu Hiroshi’s Ornamental Hairpin (1941) 63 ALEXANDER JACOBY 5 The Riddle of the Vase: Ozu Yasujiro¯’s Late Spring (1949) 78 ABÉ MARK NORNES 6 History Through Cinema: Mizoguchi Kenji’s The Life of O-Haru (1952) 90 JOAN MELLEN 7 The Menace from the South Seas: Honda Ishiro¯’s Godzilla (1954) 102 YOMOTA INUHIKO v CONTENTS 8 Seven Samurai and Six Women: Kurosawa Akira’s Seven Samurai (1954) 112 D. P. MARTINEZ 9 Women’s Stories in Post-War Japan: Naruse Mikio’s Late Chrysanthemums (1954) 124 CATHERINE RUSSELL 10 A Cinematic Creation: Ichikawa Kon’s Conflagration (1958) 137 KEIKO I. MCDONALD 11 Modernization without Modernity: Masumura Yasuzo¯’s Giants and Toys (1958) 152 MICHAEL RAINE 12 Questions of the New: O¯ shima Nagisa’s Cruel Story of Youth (1960) 168 MITSUHIRO YOSHIMOTO 13 Ethnicizing the Body and Film: Teshigahara Hiroshi’s Woman in the Dunes (1964) 180 MITSUYO WADA-MARCIANO 14 Dark Visions of Japanese Film Noir: Suzuki Seijun’s Branded to Kill (1967) 193 DAISUKE MIYAO 15 Eroticism in Two Dimensions: Shinoda Masahiro’s Double Suicide (1969) 205 CAROLE CAVANAUGH 16 Transgression and the Politics of Porn: O¯ shima Nagisa’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976) 217 ISOLDE STANDISH 17 Unsettled Visions: Imamura Sho¯hei’s Vengeance is Mine (1979) 229 ALASTAIR PHILLIPS vi CONTENTS 18 Playing with Postmodernism: Morita Yoshimitsu’s The Family Game (1983) 240 AARON GEROW 19 Transgression and Retribution: Yanagimachi Mitsuo’s Fire Festival (1985) 253 DONALD RICHIE 20 Community and Connection: Itami Ju¯zo¯’s Tampopo (1985) 263 LINDA C. EHRLICH 21 The Imagination of the Transcendent: Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Maborosi (1995) 273 DAVID DESSER 22 Therapy for Him and Her: Kitano Takeshi’s Hana-Bi (1997) 284 DARRELL WILLIAM DAVIS 23 The Original and the Copy: Nakata Hideo’s Ring (1998) 296 JULIAN STRINGER 24 The Global Markets for Anime: Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirited Away (2001) 308 RAYNA DENISON Film availability 322 Glossary 323 Bibliography of works on Japanese Cinema 329 Index 351 vii LIST OF FIGURES Unless stated otherwise, illustrations are courtesy of BFI (British Film Institute) Stills, Posters and Designs. 1 Exploring the textures of everyday life: I Was Born, But . (1932). 4 2 The cinematic potential of the moving image: A Page of Madness (1926). Kinugasa Productions/The Kobal Collection. 5 3 A ‘national policy film’: The Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi (1940). The Kobal Collection. 7 4 Democracy and female identity: No Regrets for Our Youth (1946). 8 5 I Was Born, But . (1932) twins the emotions and dilemmas of the two boys with the circumstances of their father. 33 6 Elaborate mise-en-scène in Osaka Elegy (1936) serves as an insight into the place of female exploitation in Japanese society. 38 7 Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937): a bitter critique of traditional values focusing on the fragile existence of its samurai couple. 51 8 In Ornamental Hairpin (1941), camera placement, the position of actors, and the environment around them comment obliquely on the characters. 73 9 Father and Noriko travel to Kyo¯to for one last trip before she gets married in Late Spring (1949). Sho¯chiku/The Kobal Collection. 80 10 The brutalization of women in feudal Japan: The Life of O-Haru (1952). 91 11 The catastrophic power of Godzilla (1954). To¯ho¯/The Kobal Collection. 105 12 Passive aggression amid a fairy tale-like setting: Shino and Katsushiro in Seven Samurai (1954). To¯ho¯/The Kobal Collection. 119 13 The struggle for survival and self-esteem in post-war Tokyo: Late Chrysanthemums. 125 14 The burning pavilion in Conflagration (1958): a medieval masterpiece and symbol of an unattainable, pure beauty. 147 15 Giants and Toys (1958) parodies post-war celebrity culture by challenging prevailing modes of Japanese filmmaking. 153 16 A jarring and unpredictable Japanese youth film: Cruel Story of Youth (1960). 169 ix LIST OF FIGURES 17 Kishida Kyo¯ko and the ‘film of the flesh’: Woman in the Dunes (1964). Teshigahara/The Kobal Collection. 185 18 An avant-garde film inconsistent with Nikkatsu’s ‘project intention’: Branded to Kill (1967). 202 19 Dimensional limitations: the final scene of Double Suicide (1969). 211 20 The structuring opposition of private desire and the public gaze: In the Realm of the Senses (1976). Argos/O¯ shima/The Kobal Collection. 219 21 The unreliable nature of cinematic representation and the insecurities behind Japanese social organization: Vengeance is Mine (1979). 230 22 Breathing and slapping: Yoshimoto and Shigeyuki in The Family Game (1983). 245 23 Fire Festival (1985): a film about transgression and retribution, nature revenging itself upon modern man. 254 24 Tampopo (1985) gently illuminates absurdities in contemporary social rituals through parody and imaginative linkages. Itami/The Kobal Collection. 264 25 A young woman withdraws from the world after the untimely death of her husband: Maborosi (1995). TV Man Union/The Kobal Collection. 274 26 Both modest and grandiose: Hana-Bi (1997). Bandai Visual/The Kobal Collection. 285 27 Ring (1998): an ever-increasing spiral of malevolence. Omega/Kadokawa/The Kobal Collection. 303 28 Anime in the world: Spirited Away (2001). Touhoku Shinsha/The Kobal Collection. 309 x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS The Editors Alastair Phillips is Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Tele- vision Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of City of Darkness. City of Light: Emigré Filmmakers in Paris 1929–1939 (Amsterdam University Press, 2004) and the co-editor (with Ginette Vincendeau) of Journeys of Desire: European Actors in Hollywood (British Film Institute, 2006). His articles have appeared in a number of journals and edited collections including Screen, Iris, Positif, The French Cinema Book (British Film Institute, 2004) and Film Analysis: A Norton Reader (W. W. Norton, 2005). He is currently completing a book on Jules Dassin’s Du rififi chez les hommes (I.B. Tauris). Julian Stringer is Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is author of Blazing Passions: Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema (Wallflower Press, forthcoming), editor of Movie Blockbusters (Routledge, 2003), co-editor (with Mark Jancovich, Antonio Lázaro Reboll, and Andy Willis) of Defining Cult Movies (Manchester University Press, 2003), and co-editor (with Chi-Yun Shin) of New Korean Cinema (Edinburgh Uni- versity Press/New York University Press, 2005).