Shin No Shikoutei

[graham lincoln]

>
> >From the limited info on the web, it stars Shintaro Katsu and is about
> the first emperor of China (subject of recent films like
> Emperor and Assasin; Emperor's Shadow.) For those who have
> seen the 1962 film or know more about it, how does it stand in
> the overall sub-genre of Japanese adaptations of historical
> dramas set in China?
>
> Jacqui
>

thanks for your help, it certainly sounds interesting. I'll post some
comments on the film when/if I eventually receive it. As to your query, I
wonder how such works compare with the portrayals of Japanese people/culture
in Chinese film (I'm thinking here mainly of Hong Kong cinema).
For many years Japanese characters seem to have been used as staple villains
in popular Hong Kong film (for example the explanation of Japanese Karate
given in Wang Yu's film 'One-armed Boxer' which seems to relegate all of
Japanese culture to brutality and aggression). Only a few films that I can
think of have made much attempt at any real cultural understanding, such as
Liu Chia Liang's 'Shaolin Challenges Ninja' and some of the work of Eddie
Fong, such as 'Kawashima Yoshiko'.
Also, more recently, Yuen Woo Ping's 'Fist of Legend' has re-worked Bruce
Lee's horribly racist 'Fist of Fury' to include much more sympathetic
portrayals of Japanese characters. (I was hoping here to include some
comments on Leong Po-chih's 'Hong Kong 1941', which deals with Japan's
occupation of the colony, having just received the dvd. Unfortunately the
disc is faulty so any comments will have to be postponed.)

Apologies if my comments might seem off topic.

Graham