UK Japanese Film Events/ Ringu

[ryan.cook at yale.edu]

Interesting.  I recently wrote a paper on this very topic.  Of course, the
immediate literary precursor to Nakata's Ringus are the Koji Suzuki novels.  I
wasn't able to find any indication that these were in direct dialogue with the
Tanizaki story and ran into some difficulty trying to make the argument 
for the
influence of the one on the other (which is not to say there was none).  But
there are obvious parallels.  I found it useful to consider the reincarnation
of this haunted film narrative as a glimmer of continuity between the context
of Tanizaki's writings and the early 1990s of Ringu: the silent cinema and the
era of analogue home video, Taisho modernity and postmodernity, public
entertainments and private home entertainment, tuberculosis and HIV...  
Anyway,
those interested might also want to look at Haruo Sato's 1918 story The
Fingerprint (Shimon), another early macabre reflection on the cinema.  Our own
list moderator Aaron Gerow also touches on Jimenso in his article on 
Tanizaki's
and Kawabata's cinematic literature "Celluloid Masks" in the journal Iris (I
hope I'm free to pass this along...).  And I second Jasper's evaluation of the
LaMarre book!

-Ryan Cook

East Asian Langs/Lits and Film Studies
Yale University


Quoting "J.sharp" <j.sharp at hpo.net>:

> I just been reading Thomas LaMarre's excellent book on novelist Junichiro
> Tanizaki's relationship with cinema, Shadows on the Screen, and reading the
> 1918 short story The Tumour With the Human Face (Jinmensou), it suddenly
> dawned on my that here was a literary precursor to Ringu that Hideo Nakata
> MUST have been aware of, written some 80 years before. I strongly advise you
> check it out.
>
> Jasper
>
>> That sounds great! I am doing my PhD piece as a critical study into
> 'Ringu'
>> in all its varied incarnations (books, films, grafic novels, manga, Tv
>> series) examining issues of representation and the impact of regional
>> ideologies and mythologies. Hopefully youe book will be in print in the
> next
>> four years and it can help me along!
>>
>> Emma Newbery BA
>> Programme Leader
>> BTEC National Diploma in Media (Moving Image)
>> Blackpool and the Fylde College
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> &gt;From: Jim Harper &lt;jimharper666 at yahoo.co.uk&gt;
>> &gt;Reply-To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>> &gt;To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>> &gt;Subject: RE: UK Japanese Film Events
>> &gt;Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 15:05:42 +0100 (BST)
>> &gt;
>> &gt;Hi Emma- there are indeed very few around, so there's definitely room
> for
>> &gt;one more. Basically, my book is a look at modern Japanese horror,
> starting
>> &gt;at the mid-eighties and covering right up to the present day. It's
> part
>> &gt;analysis and part history, covering all the major themes, with a
> closer
>> &gt;look at the major directors of the period. I've opted to cover more
> films
>> &gt;in less detail (as opposed to selecting a handful of representative
> films)
>> &gt;and provide a fairly extensive picture of the genre as a whole. This
> means
>> &gt;my approach has had to be informal (definitely not 'fanboy-style',
>> &gt;however)- it's closer to (for example) Kim Newman's 'Nightmare Movies'
> than
>> &gt;to the recent Edinburgh University publication, for example.
>> &gt;
>> &gt;   Publishing dates had been arranged, but for various reasons they
> had to
>> &gt;be set aside and I'm not working on another deal, with interest being
>> &gt;fairly strong so far.
>> &gt;
>> &gt;   Thanks for your interest, and I'll keep you informed!
>> &gt;
>> &gt;   Jim Harper.
>> &gt;
>> &gt;Emma Newbery &lt;emmanewbery at hotmail.co.uk&gt; wrote:
>> &gt;   Jim, tell me more about your book, as there are so few English
> texts on
>> &gt;Japanese horror!
>> &gt;
>> &gt;
>> &gt;
>> &gt;Emma Newbery BA
>> &gt;Programme Leader
>> &gt;BTEC National Diploma in Media (Moving Image)
>> &gt;Blackpool and the Fylde College
>> &gt;
>> &gt;
>> &gt;
>> &gt;http://www.flipsidemovies.com
>> &gt;http://jimharper.blogspot.com
>> &gt;
>> &gt;---------------------------------
>> &gt;  Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. Get the new
> Yahoo!
>> &gt;Mail.
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Be the first to hear what's new at MSN - sign up to our free newsletters!
>> http://www.msn.co.uk/newsletters
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> ________________________________________________
> Message sent using Hunter Point Online WebMail
>