Lesson Eleven: Earliest Japanese Cinema
I temporarily neglected my Movie Project not because I lost interest, but because I just had/have too much going on. But dammit, I WILL find time for everything I love in life even if it means waking up at 5.30am (and napping three hours later).
Actually, here’s my trick: break down all the “need to”s on the list into bite-sized morsels, and then break down all the “want to”s into other bite-sized morsels, and then make a big, long list of alternating “need to”s and “want to”s and cross them off until I’m so exhausted that the words on the list start to look blurry.
So, a quick bite-sized return to movies. I was getting tired of the American slant on Unit One: the Earliest Movie-Going Days, and decided to do some exploring into the cinematic histories of other countries. Turns out, though - and I probably should’ve seen it coming - that almost as soon as cameras were invented, EVERYONE started playing with them. So it just becomes too overwhelming to devote an entire lesson to pre-1920s cinema in every single country that heard about the camera.
Lacking a general and objectively-minded overview of the history of world cinema (thus directing me toward the most relevant players of the time), I just decided to consider the major players of filmmaking today, and then of those, focus on the countries that particularly float my boat for whatever reason: Japan, China/Hong Kong, France… From there, maybe I’ll decide to look into some other important early creative forces (Spain, Italy, Germany, India, Korea, Russia, Brazil?) until I tire of silent cinema (I’ve got to admit, I’m starting to feel eager to move on to the 1920s). But for today, I’ll turn my attention to a country I’ve recently been inspired by, the land of both the Rising Sun and Meg in 2005: JAPAN.
I started where all humble self-studies begin: Wikepedia. Very shortly after the kinetoscope was invented, films were shown in Japan. The country already had pre-cinematic traditions of kabuki and magic lanterns among other forms of theater, and it wasn’t long before the Japanese were making their own films. Many of the earliest films (around the turn of the century) were ghost stories. The first documentary (1899) was about geisha. Unfortunately, due in part to a humid Japanese climate, the vast majority of the earliest Japanese film footage hasn’t been preserved for us to enjoy or study today.
Wikepedia offers a long list of the earliest Japanese films, and it’s completely dominated by Japan’s pioneering director Shozo Makino. Along with former kabuki star-turned film star, Matsunosuke Onoe, he popularized Edo period dramas. He’s such an early influence in Japanese cinema that it’s a surprise and shame that I can’t find a single clip of his work anywhere on the Internet.
Unfortunately, I searched for all the earliest names, and came up with nothing, so I’m afraid I’ll have to wait until I reach the 20s and 30s before I can see for myself what early Japanese filmmaking looked like. What I did turn up, though, was a rare 1915 American version of Madame Butterfly in which my girl crush Mary Pickford plays "Japanese" lead. Apparently, she locked horns with the director over her refusing to "act Oriental." I'd rather not do this Last Samurai-style and present something "Japanese" through Western eyes. I wish I could offer (and see) something authentic. But in any case, this is a fascinating glimpse into early Western perceptions of the Far East.
Actually, here’s my trick: break down all the “need to”s on the list into bite-sized morsels, and then break down all the “want to”s into other bite-sized morsels, and then make a big, long list of alternating “need to”s and “want to”s and cross them off until I’m so exhausted that the words on the list start to look blurry.
So, a quick bite-sized return to movies. I was getting tired of the American slant on Unit One: the Earliest Movie-Going Days, and decided to do some exploring into the cinematic histories of other countries. Turns out, though - and I probably should’ve seen it coming - that almost as soon as cameras were invented, EVERYONE started playing with them. So it just becomes too overwhelming to devote an entire lesson to pre-1920s cinema in every single country that heard about the camera.
Lacking a general and objectively-minded overview of the history of world cinema (thus directing me toward the most relevant players of the time), I just decided to consider the major players of filmmaking today, and then of those, focus on the countries that particularly float my boat for whatever reason: Japan, China/Hong Kong, France… From there, maybe I’ll decide to look into some other important early creative forces (Spain, Italy, Germany, India, Korea, Russia, Brazil?) until I tire of silent cinema (I’ve got to admit, I’m starting to feel eager to move on to the 1920s). But for today, I’ll turn my attention to a country I’ve recently been inspired by, the land of both the Rising Sun and Meg in 2005: JAPAN.
I started where all humble self-studies begin: Wikepedia. Very shortly after the kinetoscope was invented, films were shown in Japan. The country already had pre-cinematic traditions of kabuki and magic lanterns among other forms of theater, and it wasn’t long before the Japanese were making their own films. Many of the earliest films (around the turn of the century) were ghost stories. The first documentary (1899) was about geisha. Unfortunately, due in part to a humid Japanese climate, the vast majority of the earliest Japanese film footage hasn’t been preserved for us to enjoy or study today.
Wikepedia offers a long list of the earliest Japanese films, and it’s completely dominated by Japan’s pioneering director Shozo Makino. Along with former kabuki star-turned film star, Matsunosuke Onoe, he popularized Edo period dramas. He’s such an early influence in Japanese cinema that it’s a surprise and shame that I can’t find a single clip of his work anywhere on the Internet.
Unfortunately, I searched for all the earliest names, and came up with nothing, so I’m afraid I’ll have to wait until I reach the 20s and 30s before I can see for myself what early Japanese filmmaking looked like. What I did turn up, though, was a rare 1915 American version of Madame Butterfly in which my girl crush Mary Pickford plays "Japanese" lead. Apparently, she locked horns with the director over her refusing to "act Oriental." I'd rather not do this Last Samurai-style and present something "Japanese" through Western eyes. I wish I could offer (and see) something authentic. But in any case, this is a fascinating glimpse into early Western perceptions of the Far East.
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