Category 1930s

1900s, 1920s, 1930s, Buddhism, Cinema, College, Domestic drama, Drama, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Meiji, Politics, Poverty, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Social justice, Students, Taisho, Tragedy, Violence, Yakuza

Theater of Life: Youth Version [Fragment] (Jinsei gekijō – Seishun hen, 人生劇場・青春篇),1936

A young Japanese man in traditional clothing from the early 20th Century, sitting in a semi-darkened room, his head bowed in grief

Production Company Nikkatsu (Tamagawa) Scenarists Yagi Yasutarō (adaptation); Kameya Gentoku (screenplay) Source Ozaki Shirō (novel) Cinematographer Yokota Tatsuyuki Performers (Note: actors credited in the cast list but who don’t appear in the extant version are noted with an asterisk.) Kosugi…

RebelJack
July 30, 2023

1930s, 1950s, 1960s, Cinema, Farmers, Film History, Folklore, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Uncategorized

Uchida Tomu and the Phantom Thread

A woman and a man in traditional Japanese dress are standing and seated, respectively, in a boat against a backdrop that looks like a theatrical set

Photo above: Zhang Ziyi and Odagiri Joe in the 2005 Japanese musical Princess Raccoon (Operetta tanuki goten), the final film directed by Suzuki Seijun (1923-2017). Note: As I’ve already done several times in this blog, I am interrupting my series…

RebelJack
April 24, 2022

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Comedy, Depression, Japan, Satire, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Slapstick, Uncategorized

Return to Heaven [Fragment] (Tengoku sono higaeri, 天国其日帰り), 1930

A 20th Century Japanese man in a bus driver's uniform looks up at somthing in a state of shock

Alternative titles: Heaven Day Return, Heaven Day Trip (literal English titles) Production Company Nikkatsu Uzumasa (Taiso) Scenarist Kobayashi Masashi Cinematographer Matsuzawa Matao Performers Tamura Kunio (Asahina Takuhachi, a bus driver); Sakuma Taeko (Kawai Kimiko); Mine Ginko (Kinoshita Akako); Miake Bontarō…

RebelJack
March 16, 2022

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Depression, Domestic drama, Drama, Japan, Silent Film, Silent Movie, Uncategorized

Crown of Life (Seimei no kanmuri, 生命の冠), 1936

Two modern Japanese women, a young girl and a middle-aged housewife, in traditional dress looking solemnly at someone beyond camera range

The Crown of Life (alternate English title) Production Company Nikkatsu Tamagawa (Chōfu) Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō Source Yamamoto Yūzō (play) Cinematographer Yokota Tatsuyuki Performers Oka Jōji (Arimura Kotarō); Takihana Hisako (Masako, his wife); Izome Shirō (Kinjirō, his younger brother); Hara Setsuko…

RebelJack
January 30, 2022

1930s, Capitalism, Cinema, Depression, Domestic drama, Japan, Madness, Satire, Surrealism, Uncategorized

Unending Advance (Kagirinaki zenshin, 限りなき前進), 1937

Other titles: Limitless advance (alternate English title); L’Avancée éternelle (alternate French title) Endless progress (literal English title) Production Company Nikkatsu Tamagawa (Chōfu) Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō Source Ozu Yasujirō (original story) Cinematographer Midorikawa Michio Music Yamada Eiichi Performers Kosugi Isamu (Tokumaru,…