Cremin. Galbraith books

[Mark Schilling]

From: Mark Schilling <schill at gol.com>
> To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: Re: specific film: death on the mountain
> Date: Monday, December 21, 1998 

Re Antoine Kilian's query on the Cremin and Galbraith books -- I own both
and both have their merits. Stuart Galbraith's The Japanese Filmography,
which is published by McFarland & Company, contains info on 209 filmmakers
and 1250 films, from 1900 to 1994, though I found many gaps in the entries
for the current decade. One strength of the book is the capsule bios of
actors and directors that accompany the filmographies. Another is that the
credit lists for the films are quite thorough, including character names
and detailed release data on US versions. Still another are the appendixes,
which include an industry chronology, market statistics and Japan Academy
Award winners. 
	Stephen Cremin's The Asian Film Library Reference to Japanese Film 1998
comes in two volumes, one on films, the other on cast and staff. The first
contains credits lists for 2259 films, the second filmographies of 3535
actors, directors, producers, scriptwriters, composers, cinematographers,
editors and production designers. 
	As these numbers alone should tell you, Cremin's book is far superior in
quantity of information. Also, it is more up-to-date, including credits for
films that are still in the theaters. It is not as thorough as the
Galbraith book in its credit listings, but it gives titles in three forms:
the Japanese title in kanji, the Japanese title in roman letters and the
English title. The Galbraith book omits the kanji -- which creates problems
when trying to look up the film or filmmaker in Japanese-language sources.
Also, its index is superb, listing each entry by not only alphabetical
order, but number -- speeding up seaches considerably.
	In general, I find myself reaching for the Cremin book first, though
someone looking for the US distributor of a Japanese film would find it
only in the Galbraith book.  
	`One other recommendation for the Cremin book: the author is on the list
and can answer your queries directly. Also, I can vouch that he delivers
promptly!

Mark Schilling