Category Japan

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

1940s, 1950s, Buddhism, Capitalism, Cinema, Colonization, Drama, Film History, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Maoism, masterpiece, Police, Poverty, Prostitution, Serial killer, Social justice, Tokyo, Tragedy, Violence

A Fugitive from the Past (Kiga Kaikyō;飢餓海峡), 1965

A middle-aged Japanese man with a mustache is looking towards the camera with a distressed expression

Other titles: The Hunger Straits, Straits of Hunger (literal English titles); Starvation Straits (alternative English title) Le détroit de la faim (literal French title); Szökevény a múltból [A Fugitive from the Past] (alternate Hungarian title) Production Company Toei (Tokyo) Scenarist…

RebelJack
April 30, 2023
1 Comment

1950s, Ainu, Cinema, Community, Drama, Folklore, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Politics, Race, Social justice, Uncategorized

The Outsiders (Mori to mizuumi no matsuri; 森と湖のまつり), 1958

A young Japanese man in modern clothes carrying a rifle crouches behind some shrubbery and looks into the distance, with a lake in the far distance behind him

Other titles: Festival of Lakes and Forests (literal English title) Production Company Tōei (Tokyo) Scenarist Uekusa Keinosuke Source Festival of Lakes and Forests (Mori to mizuumi no matsuri) [novel] by Takeda Taijun Producer Ōkawa Hiroshi Cinematographer Nishikawa Shōei Art Director…

RebelJack
December 30, 2022

19th Century, Buddhism, Drama, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Madness, Samurai, Theater, Tragedy, Violence, War

The Sword in the Moonlight Trilogy (Daibosatsu tōge I-III, 大菩薩峠), 1957-1959

At night, a man in samurai garb with an angry-looking face in medium close-up stares at someone in front of him

Other titles: The Great Bodhisattva Pass: Part I (1957), The Great Bodhisattva Pass: Second Part (Dai ni bu, 第二部) (1958) The Great Bodhisattva Pass: Final Version (Kanketsu Hen, 完結篇) (1959) (literal English titles); Swords in the Moonlight, Souls in the…

RebelJack
October 9, 2022

1920s, College, Comedy, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Slapstick, Sports, Students, Uncategorized

The Rowing King [Fragment] (Sōtei-ō, 漕艇王), 1927

Other titles: The King of Rowing, Rowing King (alternate English titles) Production Company Nikkatsu Scenarist Yano Yoshiaki Source Yano Yoshiaki (story) Cinematography Kiga Yasugō Performers Hirose Tsunemi (Mochizuki Eiichi, the Rowing King); Natsukawa Shizue (Mitsuko, the Rector’s niece); Kanbe Hikaru…

RebelJack
May 10, 2022

1930s, 1950s, 1960s, Cinema, Farmers, Film History, Folklore, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Uncategorized

Uchida Tomu and the Phantom Thread

A woman and a man in traditional Japanese dress are standing and seated, respectively, in a boat against a backdrop that looks like a theatrical set

Photo above: Zhang Ziyi and Odagiri Joe in the 2005 Japanese musical Princess Raccoon (Operetta tanuki goten), the final film directed by Suzuki Seijun (1923-2017). Note: As I’ve already done several times in this blog, I am interrupting my series…

RebelJack
April 24, 2022

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Comedy, Depression, Japan, Satire, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Slapstick, Uncategorized

Return to Heaven [Fragment] (Tengoku sono higaeri, 天国其日帰り), 1930

A 20th Century Japanese man in a bus driver's uniform looks up at somthing in a state of shock

Alternative titles: Heaven Day Return, Heaven Day Trip (literal English titles) Production Company Nikkatsu Uzumasa (Taiso) Scenarist Kobayashi Masashi Cinematographer Matsuzawa Matao Performers Tamura Kunio (Asahina Takuhachi, a bus driver); Sakuma Taeko (Kawai Kimiko); Mine Ginko (Kinoshita Akako); Miake Bontarō…

RebelJack
March 16, 2022

17th Century, Allegory, Children, Cinema, Drama, Feudalism, Japan, Samurai, Uncategorized, Violence, War

Swords of Death (Shinken shōbu; 真剣勝負), 1971

Photo of a young Japanese woman in period dress, looking at the camera and shouting

Other titles: Miyamoto Musashi VI, Death Match; Swords of Doom; Battle of Life or Death; Serious Game (alternative English titles); Duel with Real Swords, Real Sword Fight (literal English titles); Duel à mort [Duel to the Death] (alternate French title);…

RebelJack
February 20, 2022

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

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