JAPANESE FILMS

Seven Seas (1931, 1932)

Until recently, Hiroshi Shimizu was not a familiar name even among Japanese cinema aficionados. Though he had been well-regarded in Japanese movie industry during 1930’s and 40’s, and his works had been extremely popular among domestic movie-going public, Hiroshi Shimizu was eclipsed by his contemporaries after the war: Yasujiro Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. How many movies did he direct in his lifetime? Ever-exhaustive IMDb lists 57 titles as of today. More complete database for Japanese movies, jmdb, lists 166 tiles as his directorial works, large part of which are from 20’s and 30’s. As typical of Japanese films …

  /
Uncategorized

Daisuke Ito’s Masterpiece Discovered

The print of “Issatu-Tasho-Ken (一殺多生剣)”, Daisuke Ito’s 1929 film, was discovered and is scheduled to be screened at Kyoto Film Festival in October. Probably it is not a familiar title to you; even the name of the director, Daisuke Ito, is not usually among “all-time great Japanese directors” list. You might have seen the still photograph above in some of the Japanese cinema history books, though. The film was produced during the pinnacle of Jidaigeki cinema, late 1920s and early 30s, and Daisuke Ito was the central figure of the era. The reason the late 20s being the most productive …

  /
JAPANESE FILMS

Two More Fragments

Denjiro Okochi as Tange Sazen The previous post discussed the art of Jidaigeki in 1920s. Here are two more rare film clips of Denjiro Okochi. Zoku Ooka Seidan, Mazo, Kaiketsu-Hen (続大岡政談 魔像　解決篇, 1931) Directed by Daisuke Ito, cinematography by Hiromitsu Karasawa, this film is another variation of popular “Shin-Ban Ooka Seidan” trilogy. Pretty graphic. Daibosatsu Toge, Suzuka-Yama no Maki – Mibu Shimabara no Maki  (大菩薩峠　鈴鹿山の巻　壬生島原の巻, 1936) Based on the popular novel of the same title by Kaizan Nakazato, the film revolves around the character of Ryunosuke Tsukue (Daijiro Okochi), a psychopathic serial murderer in the last decades of Edo era. …

  / /