Lost Japanese Films

Sat Dec 13 18:11:50 EST 2008

These King Kong films are examples of the "citation and intertextuality" that I wrote about two or three weeks ago. There are dozens of instances, from punning titles to citations to full-on parodies. Yamamoto Kikuo, in his invaluable book on the "influence" of foreign film in Japan, lists quite a few examples (p.301 in my copy). For example, he mentions Saito's version of King Kong and says the titles of Saito Torajiro's films in particular were often jokey tweaks of existing film and literary titles: 

Zenbu seishin ijo ari = Seibu zensen ijo nashi (All Quiet on the Western Front) 

Kono ana o miyo = Kono haha o miyo (Tasaka Tomotaka, 1930) 

Namerareta aitsu = Nagurareta aitsu (He Who Gets Slapped)

Aa hakujo = Aa mujo (Les Miserables)

Uma kaeru = Chichi kaeru (Kikuchi Kan short story, Nomura Hotei film, 1927)

Sadly, I haven’t seen any of these films and doubt that many survive, even in fragments. Has anyone seen any of these films? An interesting and important aspect of Japanese film history that is ignored in the search for masterpieces and "authentically" local contexts, I think... just another indication of how archival practices (emphasis on complete films, and the work of auteurs) affects the writing of broader histories. 

Michael

---- Original message ----

>Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:03:22 +0000 (GMT)

>From: Alexander Jacoby <a_p_jacoby at yahoo.co.uk>

>Subject: RE: Lost Japanese Films

>To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu

> 

>Not sure about that, but Torajiro Saito directed a film

called      

>Wasei Kingu Kongu - King Kong Japanese Style - shortly after

the    

>release of the American monster movie.                      

>                                                            

>ALEX                                                        

>                                                            

>--- On Wed, 10/12/08, Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>

>wrote:                                                      

>                                                            

>  From: Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>             

>  Subject: RE: Lost Japanese Films                          

>  To: "kinejapan" <kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>      

>  Date: Wednesday, 10 December, 2008, 5:29 PM               

>                                                            

>  Talking of lost films, something that keeps coming up in

>  conversations recently has been the following title:      

>                                                            

>  King Kong Appears in Edo (Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu,   

>  江戸に現れたキングコング, Kumaga Sôya, 1938)         

>                                                            

>  It's listed in the jmdb simply as キングコング              

>  Can anyone confirm it ever existed? It seems to good to be

true.  

>  There's some information on the web,                      

>  namely

http://www.tcat.ne.jp/~oguchi/Ape%20Movie%201900-1939.html 

>  It appears it only screened for one week only at most then

>  disappeared, but I've never even heard of its production

company  

>  Zenshou Kinema (Zenkatsu Kinema?) before - it makes me

realise    

>  just how much weird stuff in the prewar period there was.

So sad  

>  its all vanished!                                         

>  Jasper                                                    

>  Midnight Eye www.midnighteye.com                          

>                                                            

> 

---------------------------------------------------------------   

Michael Raine

Assistant Professor in Japanese Cinema

The University of Chicago

mjraine at uchicago.edu

From: Alexander Jacoby [mailto:a_p_jacoby at yahoo.co.uk] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:03 PM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: RE: Lost Japanese Films

Not sure about that, but Torajiro Saito directed a film called Wasei Kingu Kongu - King Kong Japanese Style - shortly after the release of the American monster movie.

ALEX

--- On Wed, 10/12/08, Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Lost Japanese Films
To: "kinejapan" <kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Wednesday, 10 December, 2008, 5:29 PM

Talking of lost films, something that keeps coming up in conversations recently has been the following title:

King Kong Appears in Edo (Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu, 江戸に現れたキングコング, Kumaga Sôya, 1938)

It's listed in the jmdb simply as キングコング

Can anyone confirm it ever existed? It seems to good to be true. 

There's some information on the web, namely http://www.tcat.ne.jp/~oguchi/Ape%20Movie%201900-1939.html

It appears it only screened for one week only at most then disappeared, but I've never even heard of its production company Zenshou Kinema (Zenkatsu Kinema?) before - it makes me realise just how much weird stuff in the prewar period there was. So sad its all vanished!

Jasper

Midnight Eye www.midnighteye.com

  _____  

Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 13:39:06 +0000
From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: Lost Japanese Films

Dear Christiane Gruen,

You ask -

"Therefore we ask if anybody knows of any Japanese films, which are believed lost, that they please post to the list or get in touch with me at the email address listed below."

Alas, for Japan, the question is overwhelming, if not mocking, since most Japanese films are lost.  Of the many thousands of films made before 1940 (such as to be found on the JMDb website) all but a few hundred, I believe, are lost.  And plenty after this date are also lost - for example, Jasper Sharp points out, in his new book that most pink films have not been preserved. 

So, for practical reasons, our focus is on what films are preserved.  We have had recent threads on this list as to the availability of information on which films are preserved - see 'Film archive catalogues' and 'Japanese governmental agencies/film culture promotional policies'.  Due to the lack of easy availability of preservation information, Professor High's pointer to his book is particularly useful.

The discussion on your website as to what might constitute a 'lost film' is valuable.  But whilst we have your attention, may I ask one question and make one suggestion, please?

Question: (Assuming the Deutsche Kinemathek is the institution in Germany that holds information on films preserved in Germany,)  Is it one of those institutions that puts on line the listing of those films it has preserved?  If so, what is the link, please.  If not, a listing of any East Asian films up to 1945 that are held would interest scholars, particularly as there are a few films that may have reached Berlin via Moscow.

Suggestion: There is another category of found films that are hidden, in so far as there is no budget to produce projection copies.  Publicity for these might produce the positive result of procuring sponsorship for their projection and distribution.  For example, the only copy of a 1923 film by Conrad Wiene, DIE MACHT DER FINSTERNIS, (with Russian actors and, presumably, a Russian script) exists at Waseda University, Tokyo with English titles - see the report by Dr. Uli Jung in Filmblatt, Summer, 2003.  Perhaps your institution could find the budget to combine the revival of this hidden German film with that of a Japanese film in a similar state?

sincerely,

Roger Macy

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Christiane Gruen" < <mailto:Christiane.Gruen at gmx.de> Christiane.Gruen at gmx.de>

To: < <mailto:kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu> kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>

Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 3:52 PM

  _____  

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