Pordenone Silent Film Festival

[Stephen Cremin]

Thanks to Bodo for clarifying some of my misconceptions of the Silent Film
Festival.  I was hoping that the press release (below) was just a taster:
wishful thinking on my part.  I've done a little bit of research on my own
and the theatre seems to have only around 400 seats.  There are problems
with the hotel facilities with many people - including staff - having to be
coached in each day.  However, I still think its a very exciting occasion. 
If anybody on this list is the least bit interested in attending the event
then do fill in the application form online expressing your interest.  That
gets you on the database which they use to decide who will be offered free
accommodation, who will be put nearer the theatre, etc.  It doesn't reflect
any commitment on your part.  Also I don't think final decisions have been
made on panel discussions, presentations, etc, and there are many people on
this list extremely well qualified to contribute.  I think there is a
general feeling that the festival has an aging population of filmgoers - no
disrespect, Bodo! - and although this may reflect the demographics of Japan
they do want some young blood attending.  Anyway, it would be nice and
entirely appropriate if there was a delegation from Kinejapan this year. 
Even if you live in Japan, an extremely rare chance to see many of these
films on a relatively big screen.

Stephen

---
SILENT JAPAN AT THE GIORNATE DEL CINEMA MUTO
13-20 October 2001

The Japanese retrospective presented by the 2001 Giornate del Cinema Muto,
in Sacile, Italy, curated by Dr Hiroshi Komatsu, will be the first-ever
representative survey of Japanese silent cinema, covering the years from
1899 (Momijigari) to 1935 (Torajiro Saito's Kodakara Soso). It is presented
in collaboration with the National Film Center of Tokyo, from whose
collection the majority of the films to be shown are derived.

Already in the silent era, Japan had a flourishing film industry, which
developed its own distinctive national artistic character. Among the many
film makers of outstanding originality and accomplishment who emerged during
this golden era were Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Teinosuke Kinugasa,
Daisuke Ito, Torajiro Saito, Tomy Uchida and Hiroshi Shimizu.

>From the end of the silent era until the last quarter of the 20th century,
however, it was generally supposed that practically nothing of this rich
silent film culture survived. Everywhere in the world, negatives and prints
of silent films were lost or destroyed in vast numbers after the arrival of
sound films, but the situation was infinitely more acute in Japan than in
most other countries: in particular great stocks of precious negatives were
lost in the Tokyo earthquake of 1926.
However, starting with the pioneer work of the late Madame Kawakita, recent
decades have seen more and more films from the era retrieved, thanks to the
work of public bodies and private researchers, and above all to the
programme of restoration undertaken by the National Film Center.

So far, though, only a comparably small and selective part of the reclaimed
heritage has been publicly seen. Though the last years of the 20th century
saw international retrospectives of the work of the most prominent film
artists working in the silent era - Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kinugasa - the great
bulk of Japanese silent cinema and the work of film artists like Ito, Saito,
Uchida and Shimizu, still remains largely unknown.
The unprecented range of chronology, genres and creators represented in the
Giornate del Cinema Muto's Japanese retrospective will be a revelation, for
Japanese as well as for foreign spectators, of a unique national film
culture.

Here is the list of the films to be shown, all with live musical
accompaniment.

 (1) On the borderline of fiction and non-fiction
Although at least one Japanese cameraman was making films as early as 1898,
the earliest surviving print shot by a Japanese cameraman is MOMIJIGARI
(Maple Viewing). It was also the unique motion picture record of the famous
Kabuki players' performance. We can see the fictive contents of the play
itself and the moving playing of the famous Kabuki actors Danjuro and
Kikugoro. Started by this film, Japanese film history was influenced by the
tradition of Kabuki on one hand, and the other, the strange mixture of
fiction and non-fiction, which constituted one unique representation in the
early history of Japanese cinema until about the late teens.

MOMIJIGARI (1899, Camera: Tsunekichi SHIBATA) Theater Museum, Waseda
University ca. 5'
TAIKOKI JUDANME (1908, M.Pathe, Producer: Shokichi MUMEYA, Director unknown)
Kawakita Memorial Foundation ca. 18'
NIPPON NANKYOKU TANKEN (1912, M.Pathe, Camera: Yasunao TAIZUMI) (A
documentary film on the Japanese expedition to the South Pole) FC 20'
SENDAIHAGI (1915, M.Kashii, Producer: Shokichi MUMEYA, Director unknown) FC
5'
SESSHO NO MIYA DENKA KATSUDO SHASHIN TENRANKAI GOTAIRAN JIKKYO (1921,
Ministry of Education) FC 2'
SHIGEKI NANKO KETSUBETSU (1921, Nikkatsu) FC 17'

 (2) The tradition of Shinpa play
Shinpa as a genre of stage play was established around the late 80's and
early 90's of the 19th century. Almost always melodramatic, it reflected the
contemporary life of young people, in contrast to the traditional Kabuki
theater. After 1907-1908 when Yoshizawa Shoten, M.Pathe and Yokota Shokai
started to make fiction films systematically, the contemporary story of
Japanese life was normally viewed in the motion picture through the
convention of Shinpa play.

KANTSUBAKI (1921, Kokkatsu, Director: Ryoha HATANAKA) FC 86'
HOTOTOGISU (1922, Shochiku, Director: Yoshinobu IKEDA) FC 19'
KOHITSUJI (1923, Shochiku, Director: Zanmu KAKO) FC 53'

 (3) Film productions in the Kansai region after the Great Kanto Earthquake
After the destruction of Tokyo by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1st
September 1923, the headquarters and studios of Shochiku and Nikkatsu were
transferred to the Kansai region, with both companies in Kyoto. With this
stumulus, the Kansai region was suddenly activated as the centre of Japanese
film production. A notable phenomenon which resulted was that the smaller
companies produced quite new tendency films, free from the earlier
traditions. These smaller companies in particular contributed to the genre
of Jidaigeki - films that describe the period before the Meiji Restoration.

SOHTO (1924, Toa Kinema, Director: Bansho KANAMORI) FC 90'
KETANIMURA ROKUSUKE (1926, Toa Kinema, Director: Tamizo ISHIDA) FC 49'
BIJOBU, Second Part (1926, Makino Production, Director: Buntaro FUTAGAWA,
Shozo MAKINO) FC 61'
DATEHIROKU MATSUMAE TETSUNOSUKE (1927, Toa Kinema, Director: Tamizo ISHIDA)
FC 42'
TEKKETSUDAN (1928, Makino Production, Director: Ryota KAWANAMI) FC 36'
FUUN JOSHI (1928, Kinugasa Eiga Renmei, Director: Toko YAMAZAKI) FC 76'
RONINGAI, First Story (1928, Makino Production, Director: Masahiro MAKINO)
Matsuda 16mm 223ft.
RONINGAI, Second Story (1929, Makino Production, Director: Masahiro MAKINO)
Matsuda 16mm 1741ft.
ASHIGARU KICHIEMON (1930, Teikine, Director: Kiichiro SATO) FC 76'
BENI KOMORI (1931, Nikkatsu, Director: Tsuruhiko TANAKA) FC 101'
KOKUSHI MUSO (1932, Kataoka Chiezo Production, Director: Mansaku ITAMI) FC
21'.

 (4) Gendaigeki, the new genre
The Sinpa play became anachronistic - at least in the motion picture - after
the earthquake of 1923. The tragic destiny of young people no longer suited
the mood of contemporary life. Now the audience demanded to see more
plausible content in the motion picture drama. Thus the mood and taste of
the time transformed Shinpa into Gendaigeki (modern drama).

NASAKE NO HIKARI (1926, Tokusaku Eigasha, Director: Henry KOTANI) FC 62'
AI NO MACHI (1928, Nikkatsu, Director: Tomotaka TASAKA) FC 79'
MORI NO KAJIYA (1929, Shochiku, Director: Hiroshi SHIMIZU) Matsuda 16mm
674ft.
KOSHIBEN GANBARE (1931, Shochiku, Director: Mikio NARUSE) FC 38'
EIKAN NAMIDA ARI (1931, Fuji Eiga, Director: Shigeyoshi SUIZUKI) FC 110'
NIPPON (compilation film) Cinémathèque française.

(5) The Masters
Kenji MIZOGUCHI
FURUSATO NO UTA (1925, Nikkatsu) FC 50'
TAKI NO SHIRAITO (1933, Irie Production) FC 102'
Daisuke ITO
CHOKON (1926, Nikkatsu) FC 12'
CHUJI TABI NIKKI (1927, Nikkatsu) FC 94'
OATSURAE JIROKICHI GOSHI (1931, Nikkatsu) FC 59'
Teinosuke KINUGASA
TENICHIBO TO IGANOSUKE (1926, Makino Production, Co-director: Shozo MAKINO)
FC 20'.
JUJIRO (1928, Kinugasa Eiga Renmei ) FC 65'
Torajiro SAITO
AKEYUKU SORA (1929, Shochiku) MATSUDA 16mm 2148ft.
ISHIKAWA GOEMON NO HOJI ( 1930, Shochiku) FC 21'
KODAKARA SODO (1935, Shochiku) MATSUDA 16mm 1216ft.
Yasujiro OZU, New Discoveries
TOKKAN KOZO (1929, Shochiku) FC 18'
WASEI KENKA TOMODACHI (1929, Shochiku) FC 14'

(6) Last silents
The first attempt at sound film was by Yoshizo MINAGAWA in 1927, and several
sound features were produced in the years that followed. However, the
relatively poor capital of the motion picture industry in Japan precluded
the necessary investment in plant and equipment for sound film production.
Hence quite a number of major silent films were made in the early 30's. By
1936, however, the major studios had for the most part moved to sound film
production.

KUMA NO DERU KAIKONCHI (1932, Fuji Eiga, Director: Shigeyoshi SUZUKI) FC
104'
KEISATSUKAN (1933, Shinko Kinema, Director: Tomu UCHIDA) FC 91'
MUTEKI (1934, Shinko Kinema, Director: Minoru MURATA) FC 93'
SANRENKA (1935, Shinko Kinema, Director: Shigeo TANAKA) FC 96'

(7) Special event with Benshi and live music
OROCHI (1925, Bantsuma Production, Director: Buntaro FUTAGAWA) MATSUDA 16mm
2676m.
For further information please visit our website:
http://cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/
or contact us at:
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto c/o La Cineteca del Friuli
Palazzo Gurisatti, via Bini 50
33013 Gemona (UD) ITALY
Tel. +39-0432-980458   Fax +39-0432-970542
e-mail:   info.gcm at cinetecadelfriuli.org