The Development of Early Japanese Cinema.docVIP

The Development of Early Japanese Cinema: From Chushingura to A Page of Madness While the history of Japanese cinema has been well documented in both Eastern and Western literature, there has been a tendency to neglect its humble beginnings in favour of post-1930s films, most particularly those made during the post-World War II years. Although these films, most notably directed by Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa and Mikio Naruse, have undoubtedly had an enormous impact on world cinema, it is important to recognise the films which preceded and indeed influenced them. Through a comparative analysis between Japan’s oldest existing feature film, Chushingura, and A Page of Madness, I aim to outline the development of major film conventions and techniques during this period, taking into account the implications of these changes for the audience. Perhaps the most important aspect of early silent Japanese cinema was the use of benshi, a popular presence in Japanese cinemas from 1896 to 1939. A benshi was a silent film narrator who would stand beside the cinema screen and provide setsumei (vocal narration) to help the audience understand the events and details shown onscreen (Dym 2003:2). As well as providing commentary and interpreting the images on screen in order to provide narrative clarity, the benshi was also there to enrich the moving image experience, and was especially useful, if not vital, for explaining foreign films to a Japanese audience (Dym 2003:8-9). Before a film viewing, a benshi would stand in the centre of the stage and provide a maesetsu (opening remarks) which would typically involve an introduction of who he/she was and a basic explanation regarding the film being shown (Dym 2003:164). Aside from benshi, there were also kowairo. A kowairo was responsible for essentially dubbing the voices of onscreen actors (Dym 2003:65). It is also important to be aware that no more than 4% of products from the Japanese film industry made before 1945 are