Enshutsu / Kosei

[Jim Harper]

In Hideo Nakata's Joyu-rei/Ghost Actress, kantoku is frequently used as a mark of rank or a honorific; Yurei Yanagi's first-time director is referred to as kantoku-san now that he has begun working on his first project. Honorific titles are mostly used in the second and third person, and using it in the first person might well sound awkward and/or rather pretentious.
 
Jim.

 

________________________________
From: John Junkerman <jtj at rf7.so-net.ne.jp>
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu 
Sent: Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 15:09
Subject: Re: Enshutsu / Kosei

It's a challenge, and I don't think one that has a great solution. The terms are pretty straightforward in Japanese, so French equivalents might work in certain contexts but not in the way that Matsue is using the terms. Enshutsu and kantoku are really just two terms for director; I think enshutsu is often a sign of modesty for people who don't like the "boss" connotations of director. (Those who want to call themselves "filmmaker" tend to use eizo sakka.) One possibility for enshutsu might be "project direction." Kosei is the structuring of the film (finding the through-line, organizing the ideas), which is the director's role in the editing; it's close to a "written by" credit, even if there's no narration. 

It's not perfect but the combined term might be "project direction/conception [conceptualization]." It's ironic that Matsue decided to use the director credit precisely because he had to cede control over staging to the cameraman and control over structuring the content to the musician (the opposite of what's usually implied by "director" or 'auteur"). 

John

On Feb 14, 2012, at 4:43 PM, fujioka asako wrote:

> Hello. A translation question.
> I'm translating a Matsue Tetsuaki interview where he says that _Live Tape_
> is the first film he credits himself "kantoku" whereas he had always
> considered his role as "enshutsu / kosei." Does anyone have ideas for good
> English translations that illuminate the difference between the two terms?
> 
> 『ライブテープ』はそれができないんですよ。カメラが廻ってからは、今まで演出と
> して行っていた仕事は、カメラマンにゆだねるしかないんです。構成も前野健太さん
> が自分で歌を変えたりしているので、自分が何をやっていたかというと、企画を作っ
> て、人を集めて、「スタート」って言って、「カット」って言っているだけなんで
> す。それで演出・構成という言葉が自分で合わないと思い、監督というクレジットに
> 変えました。自分の中でドキュメンタリーに対するアプローチがすごく変わった作品
> ですね。
> 
> Many thanks. Asako
> 
> FUJIOKA Asako
> Tokyo Japan
> 

John Junkerman
jtj at rf7.so-net.ne.jp

2-18-6 Ehara-cho
Nakano-ku, Tokyo 165-0023
Phone/Fax +813-3951-3963
(in Japan: 03-3951-3963)
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