A Question about Kinugasa's "A Crazy Page"

[Bill Thompson]

A friend explained the madness of the Japanese title "Kurutta Ippeji"
to me as follows:

There are several words in Japanese to convey madness, including
"kyouki", suggesting a malady, "kyouran" (closer to wild confusion).
Kinugasa, instead, chose "kurutta" which is closer to "gone
crazy."  For Japanese speakers this word recalls "kuru-kuru",
meaning "to spin", or suggesting a circular, round motion.
The film itself is filled with images of the spinning wheels
of cars and trains superimposed upon splashing water.  The
dancer, initially graceful, begins spinning like a crazed wheel
at the film's beginning.  The title thus appears to act as a
"kake kotoba", a poetic term for a word that is so close to
another one that their meanings become bound together as well.
Using this reading, the title may be interpreted as "the madly
spun page."

As Aaron writes, there is considerable "madness" in this title.
The title for the American release, of course, is "A Page
of Madness."

Bill Thompson



Aaron Gerow <gerow at ynu.ac.jp> wrote:
To: "KineJapan" <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: A Question about Kinugasa's "A Crazy Page"

>>For what it's worth, when Richie introduced "Kurutta Ippeiji" at the
>>Harvard Film Archives recently, he stated that a proper translation
>>would be something "Pages out of order".  He took the blame for
>>originally mistranslating this as "Pages of Madness".
>
>Well, actually, the Japanese itself is ambiguous, which makes it such a
>good title.  Kurutta can mean both "madness" or a "out of order," and
>both clearly fit the film: it is set in a mental hospital and it featurs
>a complex re-ordering of narrative time.  Other meanings can also be
>drawn from the title.
>
>Aaron Gerow
>Associate Professor
>International Student Center
>Yokohama National University
>79-1 Tokiwadai
>Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
>JAPAN
>E-mail: gerow at ynu.ac.jp
>Phone: 81-45-339-3170
>Fax: 81-45-339-3171
>