JAPANESE FILMS

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA (KAGUYA-HIME NO MONOGATARI, かぐや姫の物語) is based on the oldest Japanese fiction called ‘Taketori Monogatari (Spoilers)‘ written in late 9th century. The author is unknown and the original text didn’t survive. Set in the peaceful era of the Fujiwara regency, the story revolves around a ‘princess’, who was found inside a bamboo tree, when she was a baby. Raised by the old childless couple, she grew up to be the most beautiful lady on earth. So begins the story. Almost all Japanese know the story by heart, at least the beginning and the ending. But I …

 
JAPANESE FILMS

Lunchbox and Life Insurance

Michael Koresky explains the word ‘flunky’ from the title of Naruse’s silent film as ‘a loose translation of koshiben, which denotes a low-wage earner who brings his lunch to work’. I think this is excellent translation to capture the essence of the film in a single word. To help us understand how an insurance agent Okabe would have lived back in 1931, I explore a little bit more.

 
JAPANESE FILMS

Ozu Goes to Nanking

I posted some photographs of directors and one young actress from prewar Japanese cinema magazines in the past weeks. Today, I post three daring photographs of Yasujiro Ozu, to commemorate his 110th anniversary. The first photograph is from 1932. This was taken during the shooting of I WAS BORN, BUT … (1932), the film I consider the best among his extant silent works. According to the caption, these two kids had fallen ill during the shooting of the film previous year, and the production had to be stopped. Now, apparently these rascals were feeling better (is that a cigarette?) and …

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