earliest translation of Pudovkin in Japan?

Chika Kinoshita kinotchka at gmail.com
Sun May 15 21:16:59 EDT 2011


Hi Weihong,

Yes, this is a fascinating topic! And I was obsessed with it for a while.

 V. I. Pudovkin's *Film Technique and Film Acting* initially suffered from
an awkward translation,* but was eventually put into lucid prose by Sasaki
Norio and published as a book from Ôraisha in February 1930.** The Pudovkin
book, entitled in Japanese *Eiga kantoku to eiga kyakuhon ron* (Study on
Film Direction and Screenwriting), included Timoshenko’s *The Art of the
Cinema* as an appendix, following the German edition’s format. Thus, it was
in February 1930 that the basic knowledge of Soviet montage theory became
accessible to the general reading public who did not necessarily follow
every issue of highly specialized film journals like *Kinema junpô *and *Eiga
hyôron*.



*Hatano Mitsuo translated Pudovkin’s “Introduction to the German Edition”
and “Part 1 Scenario” of the first chapter (The Film Scenario and Its
Theory) from the German translation of *Film Technique and Film Acting*,
serializing it from January 1929 to July 1929 in the monthly *Eiga hyôron*.
Hatano’s translation was, however, not serviceable, as he could not get the
key conceptual terms and important film titles (e.g., *Intolerance*) right.



**Sasaki, also relying on the German translation, translated what amounts to
Chapters 1 and 2 of the English version to which I have access. V. Pudovkin,
*Eiga kantoku to eiga kyakuhon ron*, trans. Sasaki Norio (Tokyo: Ôrai Sha,
1930); V. I. Pudovkin, *Film Technique and Film Acting*, trans. and ed. Ivor
Montagu, memorial ed. (London: Vision, 1958).


I'm looking at the Sasaki translation right now. It does include Pudovkin's
preface together with the special prefaces to the Japanese version written
by the luminaries like Murata Minoru (director), Kitamura Komatsu
(screenwriter), and Ushihara Kiyohiko (director).


Hope it helps. I can't wait to read your stuff on montage in Chinese film
culture in the 1930s.


Best,


Chika


On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Aaron Gerow <aaron.gerow at yale.edu> wrote:

> According to the Tsuji Kyohei bibliography, the German edition of
> Pudovkin's Filmregie und Filmmanuskript was published in Japanese
> translation in 1930. A translation of the English edition of Film Technique
> (using the 1933 new edition) was published in 1936. Pudovkin was one of the
> most cited Soviet theorists/filmmakers in the prewar.
>
> Of course translations of Soviet montage theory appeared in magazines from
> the late 1920s, including I believe excerpts of Pudovkin. Yamamoto Kikuo's
> book lists some of them, but my copy is at the office right now.
>
> Aaron
>
> On May 15, 2011, at 3:29 PM, Weihong Bao wrote:
>
> Dear list members,
> I am trying to find out information whether Pudovkin's *Film Technique *was
> translated into Japanese and if so, when?
>
> Thank you very much for your response.
>
> best wishes,
> Weihong Bao
> Columbia University
>
>
> Aaron Gerow
> KineJapan owner
>
> Associate Professor
> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
> Yale University
>
> For list commands, send "information kinejapan" to
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>
>


-- 
木下千花
静岡文化芸術大学
文化政策学部 芸術文化学科 専任講師
430-8533 静岡県浜松市中区中央2-1-1
Phone: 053-457-6192
Email: c-kino at suac.ac.jp
---------
Chika Kinoshita
Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
2-1-1 Chuo, Naka-ku
Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 430-8533
Japan
Phone: +81-53-457-6192
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