Poczatki filmu dokumentalnego w Japonii

• Authors: Krzysztof Loska

Title variants

EN

THE BEGINNINGS OF DOCUMENTARY FILM IN JAPAN

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article deals with the beginnings of Japanese film documentaries, their development and use as tools of the government propaganda in the 1930s. Two turning points demand particular attention – the first is related to the theoretical debate waged between advocates of politically engaged cinema and the supporters of the modernist avant-garde, which resulted in the emergence of a new proletarian cinema movement (Purikino) and numerous newspaper articles and books. The second turning point was the involvement of artists in the nationalist project imposed by the Tokyo government once Japan engaged in the hostilities in Southeast Asia. A particular manifestation of the new activity was the successful transfer of the German concept of culture film (Kulturfilm) to Japan, which here was called bunka eiga. The most prominent filmmaker who joined the movement, but who retained a critical stance to the dominant ideology was Fumio Kamei, the author of the “Chinese trilogy”, and the Fighting soldiers, which films are nowadays considered to be the most important achievements of the Japanese film industry at the time. The analysis of his films allow one to fully understand the ideological and aesthetic consideration of the period.

Keywords

EN

Kamei Fumio; Fighting soldiers; Japanese film documentaries; government propaganda in the 1930s; modernist avant-garde; new proletarian cinema movement (Purikino); German concept of culture film (Kulturfilm); bunka eiga

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Kwartalnik Filmowy
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 75-76
• Pages: 265-272

Contributors

author

Krzysztof Loska

• Institute of Audiovisual Arts, Jagiellonian University in Cracow