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Contemporary Japanese Film
This comprehensive look at Japanese cinema in the 1990s includes nearly four hundred reviews of individual films and a dozen interviews and profiles of leading directors and producers. Interpretive essays provide an overview of some of the key issues and themes of the decade, and provide background and context for the treatment of individual films and artists.
In Mark Schilling's view, Japanese film is presently in a period of creative ferment, with a lively independent sector challenging the conventions of the industry mainstream. Younger filmmakers are rejecting the stale formulas that have long characterized major studio releases, reaching out to new influences from other media—television, comics, music videos, and even computer games—and from both the West and other Asian cultures. In the process they are creating fresh and exciting films that range from the meditative to the manic, offering hope that Japanese film will not only survive but thrive as it enters the new millennium.
In Mark Schilling's view, Japanese film is presently in a period of creative ferment, with a lively independent sector challenging the conventions of the industry mainstream. Younger filmmakers are rejecting the stale formulas that have long characterized major studio releases, reaching out to new influences from other media—television, comics, music videos, and even computer games—and from both the West and other Asian cultures. In the process they are creating fresh and exciting films that range from the meditative to the manic, offering hope that Japanese film will not only survive but thrive as it enters the new millennium.
- GenresJapanFilmNonfiction
400 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
About the author
Mark Schilling
19 books6 followersBorn in Zanesville, Ohio in 1949, Mark Schilling arrived in Tokyo in 1975 and has lived there ever since. He has been reviewing Japanese films for The Japan Times since 1989 and reported on the Japanese film industry for Screen International, a British film trade magazine, from 1990 to 2005. He is currently Japan correspondent for Variety. His articles on Japanese culture and society have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Asian Wall Street Journal, the Japan edition of Newsweek, USA Today, Interview, Winds, The Japan Quarterly and Kinema Junpo.
In 1997 Schilling published The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture and in 1999 Contemporary Japanese Film, both with Weatherhill. In 2003 he published The Yakuza Movie Book -- A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films with Stone Bridge Press.
He has contributed to several other books, including Japan Pop! (M.E. Sharpe, 2000), Ichikawa Kon (Cinematheque Ontario, 2001) and Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture (Routledge, 2002), as well as translating and writing the introduction for Princess Mononoke -- The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film of All Time (Hyperion, 1999).
In 1997 Schilling published The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture and in 1999 Contemporary Japanese Film, both with Weatherhill. In 2003 he published The Yakuza Movie Book -- A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films with Stone Bridge Press.
He has contributed to several other books, including Japan Pop! (M.E. Sharpe, 2000), Ichikawa Kon (Cinematheque Ontario, 2001) and Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture (Routledge, 2002), as well as translating and writing the introduction for Princess Mononoke -- The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film of All Time (Hyperion, 1999).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2019
It’s fair to say I took my time getting through this. The Japan Times film critic introduces and selects some of the interviews and reviews he conducted and wrote up in Japanese cinema’s re-emergence during the decade of the Nineties…and it would appear I chose to read it in real time.
Much like Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp’s “New Japanese Cinema” – a similarly named book covering a similar period, published after – I similarly read this as a “toilet book”, experiencing a whole film in the time it takes to evacuate ones bowels.
Rather than looking back, however, this is a collection of essays written at the time, and so are written without hindsight. Predictions of the overall legacy of a certain film, therefore, may be a little off, but shows how they were received at the time by one of the leading English-language writers on Japanese cinema. As such, it doesn’t focus on the films that would define the era, but as they come, with the good, the bad and the ugly all featured, painting a bigger picture of the time. It may have been a resurgence in Japanese cinema, but a lot of dross was produced as well.
With over three hundred titles reviewed, it also shows just how little I really know about my favourite era of cinema, having seen only a small percentage of them, but thankfully that means I have a lot more to discover.(Typically, I’m the sort of twat who would calculate the exact percentage I have watched, but today I simply cannot be arsed.)
One thing this could use, however, was a proofread. It has more typos than bullets in a 1989-1999 Kitano film (well, the ones that do have a lot of bullets, anyway – I do know some things).
Much like Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp’s “New Japanese Cinema” – a similarly named book covering a similar period, published after – I similarly read this as a “toilet book”, experiencing a whole film in the time it takes to evacuate ones bowels.
Rather than looking back, however, this is a collection of essays written at the time, and so are written without hindsight. Predictions of the overall legacy of a certain film, therefore, may be a little off, but shows how they were received at the time by one of the leading English-language writers on Japanese cinema. As such, it doesn’t focus on the films that would define the era, but as they come, with the good, the bad and the ugly all featured, painting a bigger picture of the time. It may have been a resurgence in Japanese cinema, but a lot of dross was produced as well.
With over three hundred titles reviewed, it also shows just how little I really know about my favourite era of cinema, having seen only a small percentage of them, but thankfully that means I have a lot more to discover.(Typically, I’m the sort of twat who would calculate the exact percentage I have watched, but today I simply cannot be arsed.)
One thing this could use, however, was a proofread. It has more typos than bullets in a 1989-1999 Kitano film (well, the ones that do have a lot of bullets, anyway – I do know some things).
March 24, 2022
This book was published in 1999, and the "contemporary" of the title therefore means "films produced in the 1990s." But it is a good overview - larded with lots of excellent reviews - of Japanese film making in the crucial 1990s.
The 1990s are an interesting period dominated by indies and anime. New directors, who had only appeared in small numbers in the 1970s and 1980s, when many of the best films were still made by the old guard, now gradually take center stage. This is “Generation X,” those who were (roughly) born around 1960 - such directors as Aoyama Shinji, Hiroki Ryuichi, Iwai Shunji, Kawase Naomi, Koreeda Hirokazu, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Mochizuki Rokuro, Nakahara Shun, Shinozaki Makoto, Nakata Hideo, Suwa Nobuhiro, Tsukamoto Shinya and Zeze Takahisa - an explosion of talent, to which also the older Kitano Takeshi who in 1989 started as director can be added. Mark Schilling has dubbed them in this book the “New Wave of the Nineties.” Not only in indies, but also in anime films we thus find true auteur directors - besides Ghibli's Miyazaki Hayao, these are Ishii Mamoru and Kon Satoshi.
These directors make independent productions, and in fact are true “indies” - in contrast to earlier independents who in many cases still leaned on the studios. They have learned their trade in documentary films (Kawase, Koreeda), commercials or music video (Iwai), the straight-to-video market (Miike, Mochizuki) or pink films (Nakahara, Zeze). Although there are individual differences, their films are made cheaply, and often very quickly. In this respect, they are also different from the more consciously “high art” independent films made by ATG and others in the late sixties.
While the shift in the 1960s with the New Wave films of Oshima, Shinoda, Yoshida and Imamura meant a move away from “sentimental humanism” to a tougher and more ideological stance, the paradigm shift of the 1990s is a step towards a much harsher (even stomach turning) and more cynical view on life. This is undoubtedly because of the severe economic downturn in this period, but it is also helped by the fact that most directors had learned the trade in often violent and cruel genre films. Thematically, they respond to the issues of unclear identity and uncertain future generated in the nineties by the crash and subsequent long stagnation of the Japanese economy. But this is always on the level of personal issues, the directors of the nineties are generally not interested in the larger themes of politics or history (in contrast to the New Wave of the 1960s).
The style of filming is often minimalist and detached, with very long shots and a static camera. This is not so much influence from Ozu, as is sometimes thought, as from the Taiwanese New Wave (Hou Hsia-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang). Their films also often have the character of documentaries.
In the nineties, the studios have dwindled to the Big Three (Toho, Shochiku and Toei) and although they only rarely engage in the risky business of producing new films themselves, they remain important distributors because they own most of the cinemas in Japan. Toho even manages to become the largest owner of multiplexes. The studios continue to use the systems of block-booking and advance ticket sales for their home-made films. The films they produce are made via committees (iinkai), ad-hoc combinations of a studio (for the distribution), TV station, advertising agency, publisher, and trading or other company. The companies which take part in these ad-hoc combinations do so to promote themselves and for tax breaks. They also try to generate sales from spin-offs. None of those concerned is interested in making a good film. In short, the films produced by these committees are glossy but forgettable junk.
In the last years of the millennium the revival of Japanese cinema through indies and anime finally becomes pronounced. 1997 even has been called an “annus mirabilis” (Mark Schilling). It is also at the end of the decade that Japanese cinema starts regularly appearing at film festivals abroad. Prestigious prizes are won by for example Imamura Shohei (his second Golden Palm) and Kitano Takeshi, but also films by Kawase (Suzaku) and Koreeda (Maborishi) create quite a splash. Shall We Dance? becomes a great box office success in the United States. Miike Takashi's Audition shocks worldwide audiences. Excellent anime films which conquer world screens are Princess Mononoke, Perfect Blue and Ghost in the Shell. These years also see the start of the J-Horror craze with the worldwide success of The Ring. Japanese cinema has finally overcome the chaos created by the demise of the studios (as producers) and an alternate system is now firmly in place.
That doesn’t mean that these films are in any way optimistic: many works express feelings of profound loss, alienation and hopelessness, caused by the disappearance of a beloved person, suicide or murder. There is a general feeling of lack of stability, something not only brought about by the economic malaise which continues, but also by the Kobe Earthquake and Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attacks which both happened in the first months of 1995 and were a huge shock to the whole population. Japanese society is not falling apart, but fissures have appeared in the form of such problems as youth crime, homelessness, school bullying, weird cults, and teenage girl prostitution. At the same time, many young people experience alienation and lack of identity. Examples of films addressing alienation and loss are Kitano's Hanabi, Koreeda's Maboroshi, Kawase's Suzaku, Imamura's The Eel, Shinozaki's Okaeri, Higashi's Village of Dreams and Ichikawa Jun's Tokyo Lullaby. The millennium ends on a sad note in Japanese cinema.
Read more about Japanese film at my blog: https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/p/...
The 1990s are an interesting period dominated by indies and anime. New directors, who had only appeared in small numbers in the 1970s and 1980s, when many of the best films were still made by the old guard, now gradually take center stage. This is “Generation X,” those who were (roughly) born around 1960 - such directors as Aoyama Shinji, Hiroki Ryuichi, Iwai Shunji, Kawase Naomi, Koreeda Hirokazu, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Mochizuki Rokuro, Nakahara Shun, Shinozaki Makoto, Nakata Hideo, Suwa Nobuhiro, Tsukamoto Shinya and Zeze Takahisa - an explosion of talent, to which also the older Kitano Takeshi who in 1989 started as director can be added. Mark Schilling has dubbed them in this book the “New Wave of the Nineties.” Not only in indies, but also in anime films we thus find true auteur directors - besides Ghibli's Miyazaki Hayao, these are Ishii Mamoru and Kon Satoshi.
These directors make independent productions, and in fact are true “indies” - in contrast to earlier independents who in many cases still leaned on the studios. They have learned their trade in documentary films (Kawase, Koreeda), commercials or music video (Iwai), the straight-to-video market (Miike, Mochizuki) or pink films (Nakahara, Zeze). Although there are individual differences, their films are made cheaply, and often very quickly. In this respect, they are also different from the more consciously “high art” independent films made by ATG and others in the late sixties.
While the shift in the 1960s with the New Wave films of Oshima, Shinoda, Yoshida and Imamura meant a move away from “sentimental humanism” to a tougher and more ideological stance, the paradigm shift of the 1990s is a step towards a much harsher (even stomach turning) and more cynical view on life. This is undoubtedly because of the severe economic downturn in this period, but it is also helped by the fact that most directors had learned the trade in often violent and cruel genre films. Thematically, they respond to the issues of unclear identity and uncertain future generated in the nineties by the crash and subsequent long stagnation of the Japanese economy. But this is always on the level of personal issues, the directors of the nineties are generally not interested in the larger themes of politics or history (in contrast to the New Wave of the 1960s).
The style of filming is often minimalist and detached, with very long shots and a static camera. This is not so much influence from Ozu, as is sometimes thought, as from the Taiwanese New Wave (Hou Hsia-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang). Their films also often have the character of documentaries.
In the nineties, the studios have dwindled to the Big Three (Toho, Shochiku and Toei) and although they only rarely engage in the risky business of producing new films themselves, they remain important distributors because they own most of the cinemas in Japan. Toho even manages to become the largest owner of multiplexes. The studios continue to use the systems of block-booking and advance ticket sales for their home-made films. The films they produce are made via committees (iinkai), ad-hoc combinations of a studio (for the distribution), TV station, advertising agency, publisher, and trading or other company. The companies which take part in these ad-hoc combinations do so to promote themselves and for tax breaks. They also try to generate sales from spin-offs. None of those concerned is interested in making a good film. In short, the films produced by these committees are glossy but forgettable junk.
In the last years of the millennium the revival of Japanese cinema through indies and anime finally becomes pronounced. 1997 even has been called an “annus mirabilis” (Mark Schilling). It is also at the end of the decade that Japanese cinema starts regularly appearing at film festivals abroad. Prestigious prizes are won by for example Imamura Shohei (his second Golden Palm) and Kitano Takeshi, but also films by Kawase (Suzaku) and Koreeda (Maborishi) create quite a splash. Shall We Dance? becomes a great box office success in the United States. Miike Takashi's Audition shocks worldwide audiences. Excellent anime films which conquer world screens are Princess Mononoke, Perfect Blue and Ghost in the Shell. These years also see the start of the J-Horror craze with the worldwide success of The Ring. Japanese cinema has finally overcome the chaos created by the demise of the studios (as producers) and an alternate system is now firmly in place.
That doesn’t mean that these films are in any way optimistic: many works express feelings of profound loss, alienation and hopelessness, caused by the disappearance of a beloved person, suicide or murder. There is a general feeling of lack of stability, something not only brought about by the economic malaise which continues, but also by the Kobe Earthquake and Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attacks which both happened in the first months of 1995 and were a huge shock to the whole population. Japanese society is not falling apart, but fissures have appeared in the form of such problems as youth crime, homelessness, school bullying, weird cults, and teenage girl prostitution. At the same time, many young people experience alienation and lack of identity. Examples of films addressing alienation and loss are Kitano's Hanabi, Koreeda's Maboroshi, Kawase's Suzaku, Imamura's The Eel, Shinozaki's Okaeri, Higashi's Village of Dreams and Ichikawa Jun's Tokyo Lullaby. The millennium ends on a sad note in Japanese cinema.
Read more about Japanese film at my blog: https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/p/...
October 1, 2014
I guess it is fair to say that at one time Contemporary Japanese Film was a contemporary film study, but it was published in 1999. That being said I think it is a good companion volume to The Midnight Eye Guide To New Japanese Film. It is a definitive look at Japanese film in the 90s. There are some foundation essays on "Mainstream Japanese Film," "The New Breed of Japanese Film," and "The New Wave of the Nineties." This is followed by a number of interviews/articles on leading figures: Masahiro Shinoda, Akira Kurosawa, Yoji Yamada, Kazuyoshi Okuyama, Yoichi Sai, Isao Takahata, Shunji Iwai, Masayuki Suo, Juzo Itami, Naomi Sento, Makoto Shinozaki, Takeshi Kitano, Jun Ichikawa, Takenori Sento, Hirokazu Koreeda. Schilling points out that 1997 was a sort of banner year for the next generation of film makers. In 1997 saw the release of Japan's highest grossing film in America in Shall We Dance? It was also the year that the horror film Ring transformed the genre. Shoji Immamura's film Unagi won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival and Naomi Kawase (Sento) won the Camera d'Or. Takashi Kitano won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his film Hanabi. It was also the year that Monoke Hime was released in Japan-it would eclipse the numbers posted by Shall We Dance.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews