Lost Japanese Films

Sun Dec 14 06:51:18 EST 2008

There's also a postwar Saito called Ta ga tameni kane wa naru, a pun on the Japanese title of For Whom the Bell Tolls. The joke here is that "kane" is written, not with the kanji for "bell", but with the kanji for "money".

--- On Sat, 13/12/08, Michael Raine <mjraine at uchicago.edu> wrote:
From: Michael Raine <mjraine at uchicago.edu>
Subject: RE: Lost Japanese Films
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Date: Saturday, 13 December, 2008, 11:11 PM

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,??  

??????  

>? ????????????, Kumaga S?ya, 1938)????????  

>???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????  

??????  

>? It's listed in the jmdb simply as ???????????????????

>? 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, ????????????, Kumaga S?ya, 1938) 

  It's listed in the jmdb simply as??????? 

   ? 

  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" <Christiane.Gruen at gmx.de> 

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

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

   ? 

  Great search results, great prizes. BigSnapSearch.com Search
  now  

 ? 

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