Category Politics

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

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

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…

RebelJack
September 20, 2021
6 Comments

Cinema, Japan, Meiji, Music, Politics, Poverty, Silent Film, Uncategorized

Six Lost Uchida Films That I Wish Were Found

Six middle-age Japanese men in suits, three of them seated, the other three standing behind them.

From time to time, I will interrupt my series of reviews of the films of Uchida Tomu to post general observations on Uchida, his current reputation and his art. Photo above: A snapshot of six Japanese film directors, taken in…

RebelJack
September 9, 2021

1950s, Bar, Japan, Music, Musical, Opera, Politics, Uncategorized

Twilight Saloon (Tasogare Sakaba; たそがれ酒場), 1955

A man onstage in a white shirt with his back to us sings in a crowded Japanese beer hall

Alternate title: Twilight Beer Hall (literal English title) Production Company Shintoho Scenarist Nada Senzo Producer Sakaeda Seiichiro Cinematographer Nishigaki Rokurō Art Director Itō Toshikazu Music Akutagawa Yasushi Editing Kasama Hideo Performers Kosugi Isamu (Umeda Moichirō, a painter); Miyahara Takuya (Kenichi,…