'Benshi' as a Film Co-author

• Authors: Loska K.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The author explores the phenomenon of 'benshi', the Japanese narrators and commentators of silent movies. The 'benshis' were expected to both translate the subtitles and also to add a live commentary to the images presented on the screen; an oral story that would clarify the meaning the commentator extracted from the film by. In this sense, the 'benshis' were actually co-authors of the story; they were responsible for unfolding the storyline. The 'benshi' did not emerge just because it was necessary to clarify the meaning of moving pictures to Japanese viewers but rather because of their attachment to a certain form of presentation and the style of performance combining various means of expression. The presence of the 'benshis' can be attributed both to the tradition of oral commentary and mixed theatrical forms as well as the societal and moral changes taking place in Japan at the turn of the centuries. Then we will come to understand that the role of the 'benshi' was not restricted to passing of an aesthetic tradition but also participating in the process of modernisation. The author focuses on what an ideal 'benshi' should be like, and traces the development of the profession in the early stages of the evolution of Japan's cinema.

Keywords

EN

'BENSHI' IN JAPAN CINEMA

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Kwartalnik Filmowy
• Year: 2007
• Issue: 59
• Pages: 59-65
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Loska K.

• K. Loska, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Instytut Sztuk Audiowizualnych, ul. Pilsudskiego 13, 31-110 Kraków, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA03527187