Re: KINEJAPAN digest 2473 / Eiga hihyô

[Fabienne Marie Delpy]

Dear Mathieu,

This is a subject of interest to me as well, since my PhD dissertation looks at Oshima and Matsumoto as two central figures in the development of eiz?ron in the early 1960s. I have also been wondering what happened between them since they collaborated early on around the making of Shiiku (1961) and had both been writing for Kiroku eiga. Even at the time their perspectives on film were quite different, although I'm arguing that they were in fact complementary. If you look at Matsumoto's early writings, you'll find various references to Oshima's films, such as Night and Fog and The Catch. These reviews are somewhat mixed. Also, Matsumoto's closeness with Hanada Kiyoteru may have been problematic to Oshima, who had a big fall out with the latter.

In any event, that's just guess work and I've never asked Matsumoto about it. Remember that Oshima isn't known for his easy temperament and got into arguments with everyone he possibly could at one point or another. What is clear is that Matsumoto's contribution to Expo 70 made him an outcast in the eyes of many; not just Oshima but for instance Taki K?ji as well. I'd be curious to know if you find out about something else.

Best, 

Fabienne

PS: as for info about Eiga hihy? and any other 50s/60s magazine, Hirasawa's Underground Film Archives has a few good synthetic pages I'd suggest you look at. 


Fabienne Adler
Ph.D. candidate
Art History and Film Studies Department
Stanford University