Daughter of the Samurai / New Earth

[janine.hansen@gmx.de]

Hi,

apparently, the fallout happened during shooting and started even before.
Itami didn't like Fanck's scenario so he came up with a completely different
story. But the producer Kawakita and Fanck wanted to stick to Fanck's
script. As Itami and Fanck did not get along at all--in fact they weren't
even speaking as one of the cutters told me--they shot two versions of the
Fanck scenario. People involved in the production said that they had to do
everything twice, they shot the scenes for Fanck in the mornings and again
in the evenings for Itami.

At least that's what I heard and read during my research on the film.
However, I have never seen the Itami film though I'd really love to. If
there's anyone out there who has seen it I'd be very grateful for any leads.

I've written on the film (mostly in German but there is also a short English
article in the recently mentioned "In Praise of Film Studies" edited by
Aaron and Markus) and David, I do have a VHS copy of the Fanck version which
is Japanese and German without subtitles.

The two titles are the distribution titles in Japan (Atarashiki tsuchi / New
Earth) and Germany (Die Tochter des Samurai / Daughter of the Samurai). I
guess the German title was Fanck's invention. He was probably hoping that
this somewhat exotic title would resound well with the German audience.

In 1937 the film turned out to be a huge commercial success in both
countries but whether that
is because or in spite of the titles I can't say. Anyway, today it is hardly
known at all and I am not aware of any bootlegs.

Janine Hansen



> It is my understanding that the co-production between Itami and Fanck
failed;
> hence two very different films emerged. I assume this means the fallout
> happened after filming was complete. ?Does anyone know more details on the
> unfolding of events?
> 
> JMH







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