Category Domestic drama

1900s, 1920s, 1930s, Buddhism, Cinema, College, Domestic drama, Drama, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Meiji, Politics, Poverty, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Social justice, Students, Taisho, Tragedy, Violence, Yakuza

Theater of Life: Youth Version [Fragment] (Jinsei gekijō – Seishun hen, 人生劇場・青春篇),1936

A young Japanese man in traditional clothing from the early 20th Century, sitting in a semi-darkened room, his head bowed in grief

Production Company Nikkatsu (Tamagawa) Scenarists Yagi Yasutarō (adaptation); Kameya Gentoku (screenplay) Source Ozaki Shirō (novel) Cinematographer Yokota Tatsuyuki Performers (Note: actors credited in the cast list but who don’t appear in the extant version are noted with an asterisk.) Kosugi…

RebelJack
July 30, 2023

17th Century, 1950s, 1960s, Ainu, Allegory, Bar, Cinema, Communists, Domestic drama, Drama, Feudalism, Film History, Foxes, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Koreans, Maoism, Mining, Politics, Poverty, Prostitution, Race, Samurai, Satire, Social justice, Tragedy, War

Uchida the Sellout?

An old Japanese man wearing a cap, sitting outdoors on a chair and holding a cigarette in his hand

Photo above: Uchida Tomu directing a film, probably Swords of Death (Shinken shōbu, 1971) Note: As I’ve already done several times for this blog, I am interrupting my series of reviews of the films of Uchida Tomu to post my…

RebelJack
July 1, 2023
2 Comments

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Depression, Domestic drama, Drama, Japan, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Uncategorized

Crown of Life (Seimei no kanmuri, 生命の冠), 1936

Two modern Japanese women, a young girl and a middle-aged housewife, in traditional dress looking solemnly at someone beyond camera range

The Crown of Life (alternate English title) Production Company Nikkatsu Tamagawa (Chōfu) Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō Source Yamamoto Yūzō (play) Cinematographer Yokota Tatsuyuki Performers Oka Jōji (Arimura Kotarō); Takihana Hisako (Masako, his wife); Izome Shirō (Kinjirō, his younger brother); Hara Setsuko…

RebelJack
January 30, 2022

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Depression, Domestic drama, Japan, Madness, Satire, Surrealism, Uncategorized

Unending Advance (Kagirinaki zenshin, 限りなき前進), 1937

Other titles: Limitless advance (alternate English title); L’Avancée éternelle (alternate French title) Endless progress (literal English title) Production Company Nikkatsu Tamagawa (Chōfu) Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō Source Ozu Yasujirō (original story) Cinematographer Midorikawa Michio Music Yamada Eiichi Performers Kosugi Isamu (Tokumaru,…

RebelJack
December 21, 2021
6 Comments

1950s, Cinema, Colonization, Domestic drama, Japan, Music, Politics

A Hole of My Own Making (Jibun no ana no nakade; 自分の穴の中で), 1955

A black-and-white photo of a Japanese girl in a low-cut gown, looked anxiously off to one side

Alternative titles: In My Hole (alternate English title); Chacun dans sa coquille [Each in his shell] (alternate French title); Önhibámból [Through my own fault] (alternate Hungarian title) Production Company Nikkatsu Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō Source Ishikawa Tatsuzō (novel) Producer Iwai Kaneo…