A Tribute to the World's Greatest Unknown Moviemaker

Tag satire

1920s, Buses, Capitalism, Cinema, Cities, Class, Comedy, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Poverty, Satire, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Slapstick, Yuppies

Vanity Is Hell [comic short] (Kyoei wa jigoku, 虚栄は地獄), 1925

A young Japanese couple from the early 20th Century, shown relaxing at home, she playing a wind-up gramophone; he wearing a bathrobe and smoking a cigarette

Production Company Asahi Kinema Scenarist Unknown Source Japanese newspaper article (page three) Cinematographer Hayakawa Kiyoshi Performers Tatsuta Shizue (Natsuko); Hasegawa Kiyoshi (unknown role); Hanazawa Yoshiyuki (unknown role); Uchida Tomu (bus passenger) Status Extant (presumably complete) Photography Black-and-white Music Composer unknown…

RebelJack
June 25, 2025

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…