introduction

[Michael Raine]

At 01:17 PM 1/23/99 +0000, you wrote:
>Alex wrote,
>
>>My present research is on Oriental
>>musicals with particular emphasis on Japanese productions of the 1950's
>>and 1960's. I've just accepted this unenviable offer, and hope to find
>>some productions from the period that reflect the aesthetics of the
>>classical American "song and dance" musical of the day, but oriental...
>>I guess my first contribution to this list therefore has to be a
>>question: Are there any? 
>
>Ah, you've touched on a subject very close to my heart: Japanese 
>musicals.  Someday, I'll write about it.....
>
>But yes, there are tons of Japanese musicals--depending on how you define 
>them.  If you define them strictly as films which depict a world in which 
>characters can burst out in song a dance without a moment's notice, where 
>songs and dance carry an important narrative burden (or, conversely, have 
>the power to completely stop the narrative), etc., then there are not 
>that many.  The majority of Japanese films with songs and dance are 
>either films in the Asakusa review tradition (the prewar Enoken films are 
>the best example) or the kayo eiga (Hibari's films in the 50s, Crazy 
>Cats, Funaki Kazuo, Saigo Teruhiko, the Group Sounds films in the 1960s, 
>Momoe-chan in the 1970s, etc.), where songs enter into the film but are 
>by no means central to the spectacle or narrative (though they do add a 
>lot to the entertainment).

Ah, should have read this one first! I"ve recently proposed giving a paper
on popular song in late 50s Japanese film -- which means I've promised to
know a lot more than I do... One problem I have is that I don't know how to
define a musical. I'm not sure why the "sannin musume" films directed by
Sugie Toshio in the late 50s (Janken musume, Romansu musume, Oatari
sanshoku musume) are kayo eiga but not musicals, for example. Sure, some of
the situations in which they sing are either contrived or outrageously
reflexive, but there also song sequences that comment on character
interiority and show-stopping finales that work to integrate the themes of
the film. 

What about a film like Arashi o yobu otoko? Unlike Altman's musicals, it
makes sense without the music, and nightclub settings were part of films
that it would be hard to call musicals -- Yoru no kiba and the like. But on
the other hand music articulates the relationship between the two brothers,
the title song is not just a shudaika but expresses Ishihara Yujiro's
character, and the younger brother's "fanfare for the common man" (or
whatever he called it) cites Yujiro's drumming style at the point in the
narrative when the mother finally recognizes Yujiro's goodness and rushes
out looking to forgive him. Not quite Altman's dual focus narrative, but
something is being resolved in this tearful finale! 

And as for Kobayashi Akira's "singing cowboy" westerns ... I don't know!
Would you call these musicals? 

Michael

>
>A few brave souls have tried to produce more full-blown musicals in the 
>American style, the best two examples being the prewar _Oshidori 
>utagassen_ (Makino Masahiro, 1939) and the postwar _Kimi mo shusse ga 
>dekiru_ (Sugawa Eizo, 1964).  The "Tanuki Goten" films (with many 
>editions, several filmed by Kimura Keigo) are also good examples.  While 
>the first film and the "Tanuki Goten" films are "oriental" in being 
>period pieces, I don't see why you should confine yourself to such 
>restrictions.  _Kimi mo shusse ga dekiru_ is a full blown, modern 
>"American" musical making fun of both Japan and America.  The work of 
>Makino, Sugawa, and Kimura is especially worth focusing on given how 
>central music was to their cinema.  Saito Koichi was also the best of the 
>kaiyo eiga directors in the 1960s (_Chiisana sunakku_, etc.).
>
>Not much has been written about the genre, even in Japanese.  Until 
>recently, many of the films were also ignored for release on video or LD. 
> But _Kimi_ finally came out on LD a few years ago, SHV put out _Chiisana 
>sunakku_, there's a box set of "Tanuki Goten" films, and almost 
>everything Hibari did (it seems) is out on video.  None with subtitles, 
>of course.
>
>Good luck.  I envy you having the time to write about this!
>
>Aaron Gerow
>YNU