Greetings - first post

[C. Jacqui Chen]

Dear all on the KineJapan list,

Hi! I'm very exhilarated to locate the list, as I recently fell in love
with the films of 50's/60's Japan (via Kurosawa, Kobayashi, Imamura...yes
the usual introductions)! My primary interests (undergraduate) at
UT-Austin are documentary making, international film flow, and Chinese
cultures. From the handful of posts I've gotten, I have to say the
discussions on this list are of high calibre! Enjoyable and
educational.....thanks to you all!

>And now, getting back to Japanese films, I would like to ask the
following 
>question. The French critics were activists spearheading a revolution 
>in  filmmaking, and had a strong influence on filmmakers in other 
>countries as well - more so then the other auteur theory critics who I
believe 
>(correct me if I am wrong) mostly influenced other critics. What degree 
>of influence did they have on Japanese films, in a country that already 
>seemed to have post-war revolutions going on in film and all of its 
>other popular arts?

I'm really a novice to Japanese films, but your question brings to mind
Oshima's initial struggle to find a visual style - one that could augment
the expressive revolutionary in him. From Bock's descriptions, it seemed
the "spearheading" of New Wave as Japan's own version was more
coincidence than a conscious decision to emulate the French. Both Oshima
and Shinoda just happened to "exploit youth, sex, and violence", as
Oshima put it himself. It'd be interesting to know how the Japanese
audience responded to French New Wave and other foreign auteurs, as they
too were an integral piece in the making and conception of the Japanese
New Wave brand of auteurs.

Best,
Jacqui

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