Japanese Silent Cinema in UK?

chris howard fspdd
Fri Nov 17 10:46:40 EST 2006


Although silent Japanese films themselves were not readily circulating in the UK there was actually a reasonable degree of critical interest in Japanese cinema in British high-brow film journals of the early 1930s. Indeed there was even a correspondent from Japan reporting in 'Close-Up'. This critical reception would make an easier topic.
   
  If you have access to the BFI use their BIDS database.

  Regards,
  Chris Howard
  
"J.sharp" <j.sharp at hpo.net> wrote:
  Hi there,

I think you are going to have a very small workload with an essay like this,
because from my understanding, there was next to no silent film from Japan
released in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, nor most of Europe.

All I know is that Teinosuke Kinugasa's CROSSROADS / JUJIRO played in London
in some capacity, because the director travelled to Europe with the print
himself to introduce it to foreign audiences. Because of this, though the
film had been considered lost in Japan for many years, a print of the film
with English subs was "discovered" in the British Film Institute archives.
The print is still there, so you can go and book a room to go and watch it
in in their Stephen Street building, as I did several years back. See:
www.bfi.org.uk/nftva/enquiries/

Off the tope of my head, they also have a print of PAGE OF MADNESS, and I
think Ozu's I WAS BORN BUT... No Japanese silent film has ever been released
on DVD or VHS in the UK though. The earliest title out at the moment is
Eureka's HUMANITY AND PAPER BALLOONS. I think the problem is historically on
the Japanese were barely acknowledged as even having a film industry until
after the war with RASHOMON - a classic case of Eurocentric film snobbism
which still persists today, because essentially the only way for the average
person to see pre=war Japanese film is to travel to Japan and see them
there.

I wonder, were there any other titles that played Europe that I might have
missed?

Jasper Sharp

www.midnighteye.com

--------- Original Message --------
From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu 
Subject: Japanese Silent Cinema in UK?
Date: 17/11/06 03:14

> Hello to everyone in the list! I'm considering writing an essay on the
reception of Japanese cinema in Britain during 1920s and 30s. Right now, I'm
searching for the basic resources to study, but is there any Japanese
silent film of any form (print/VHS/DVD) that is out in UK? Or is there
an institution that has collections of Japanese silent films?
(BFI?) Any information regarding the topic would be appreciated. Thank you.
>
>  
>  
>

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