Query re Ikeru Ningyo

Bernardi-Buralli dburall1 at rochester.rr.com
Wed Sep 17 12:33:16 EDT 2003


Hi Matt,

You're likely to get more detailed info, but  I think the title is meant as
a kind of existentialist comment on the "modern" human condition, a
reference to the protagonist's being no more than a living "doll" (more in
the sense of "puppet" or someone lacking any real substance or raison
d'etre). I think the protagonist is a young man who comes to the city for a
new job with the hopes of  "making it big."

It was an adaptation of a newspaper story by the "Shinkankaku ha" writer
Kataoka Teppei, and also featured Irie Takako as a quintessential working
"modern girl."

The film is often referred to as a representative "tendency film" and as far
as I know, is believed lost although material from this period seems to be
turning up in Moscow's Gosfilmofond (as was the case with the 1930 "What
made her do it?" (Nani ga kanojo o so saseta ka) that was shown  in
reconstructed form with missing footage replaced by title cards at Pordenone
in 1999. If your friend would like to read a synopsis in English, I think
one is included in the new book out from Matsuda Eigasha, synopses of a
number of silent films. An English language copy can be ordered from their
bilingual website: 

http://www.infoasia.co.jp/subdir/matsuda.html

best,
Joanne


I'm trying to track down information on the 1929 film by Uchida Tomu, "Ikeru
Ningyo" (The Living Doll). Do you by any chance know
anything about it?   I don't even know the plot, or if the film is still
extant, but I keep running across references to it. I'm tracing doll
symbolism from the 1920s through the war period, as dolls are gradually
militarized, and I'm intrigued by the movie's title.
Thanks!
Matthew Bernstein
Emory University



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