Japanese Cinema

by Stuart Galbraith IV, Paul Duncan (Editor)

Exploring the work of the greatest Japanese filmmakers

Until recently, the western world has viewed Japanese cinema through a very narrow prism. For years, Westerners interested in Japanese film had to content themselves with the collected works of Akira Kurosawa , a spotty sampling of films by Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu , gobs of anime, and badly dubbed monster movies. Many great filmmakers like Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita have remained unknown in the West, and Japanese musicals and comedies are hardly known outside Asia. This volume sets the record straight, illustrating an in-depth history of Japanese cinema with vivid posters and stunning photography.
 

Genres: Japan, Film, Nonfiction, History, Japanese Literature, Reference, Media Tie In

191 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Stuart Eugene Galbraith IV is an American film historian, film critic, essayist, and audio commentator. He lives in Kyoto.

Reviews

[Vleegoodfellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise, 2009 Published, large-format photography book covering the past 70 years of Japanese Cinema. Broken up in sections by genre and period, it contains concise articles supplementing its rich, vivid photography. Sections include Japan on Japan, Great Filmmakers of the 50’s & 60’s, Comedies & Musicals & Romance, Monster Movies, Yakuza Movies, Samurai Films, Anime, Adaptations, and the Second New Wave.

The book too covers the films made in Japan before the 40's, but falls short, unable to deliver on anything more than superficial details because almost all films produced before WWII were destroyed in the fire bombings of Tokyo, causing the highly flammable nitrate film stocks to be lost.

If you know next to nothing about Japanese Cinema this is a fantastic introduction. If you've had some exposure to Japan's culture and cinema previous to this, you probably won't learn anything new of value, but its still worthwhile for the breathtaking photography.

[Richard Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Japanese cinema for as long as I can remember. For much of that time I've apparently had this book sitting on my shelf remaining a casual reference at best. So a combination of several Japanese film festivals and a third term of learning the ol' Nihongo prompted me to dust this off. While it's not as much of a critical analysis as Donald Keene's (frequently referenced) books, or as much of a deep dive as the Japanese New Wave bible Eros + Massacre, it's a fun overview. Which is what I what I was after: something to pad out my watchlist and lead me down some undiscovered paths. Full of imagery, there's substantial sections on the essential cinema of the first half of the 20th century, the Sun-Tribe era, yakuza films, chanbara and jidaigeki, kaiju film and, of course, anime. It's the latter that gets a bit of a glossed-over summary, and the contemporary coverage cuts off rather abruptly. Although published in 2009, Galbraith concludes that "In the next century, Japanese cinema limps..." and suggesting that it's all sequels and remakes now. While acknowledging Miike, Kore-eda,Yamada, Yamashita and a handful of contemporaries, he ignores the more avant-garde side of things (think Sion Sono). Still, I've walked away with about three notebook pages of things to watch and that was kind of the point for me.

[King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kvaliteetpiltide ja suureformaadilisuse eest neli, seda Tacshen oskab!

Sisu oli yldine kokkuvote žanrite kaupa, enamasti tuntud nimed ja filmid kergelt tutvustatud. Natsa see häiris, et lause katkes poole pealt ja siis tuli kolm lehekylge igast pildimaterjali, eri suurustes piltidega ja igayhel veel selgitav tekst all ning pärast siis see raamatuteksti lause läks edasi poole pealt, sellist poolitamist juhtus pidevalt, prioriteedid tacshenlikult paigas yhesonaga

[David Wilentz]

So glad that Taschen has released one of their patented coffee table books on one of my favorite subjects, Japanese films. Galbraith, who wrote a bio of Kurosawa and Mifube (The Emperor and the Wolf) does a nice job of summing up Japanese film history in a clear text nicely laid out amongst beautiful still photos from the films themselves. It includes silents, pre-war, the New Wave, Anime, the 80's and beyond and so forth. You've got Ozu, Naruse, Imamura, Oshima, Fukusaku, Suzuki, Itami, Miike, Tsukamoto, Kaiju (including MATANGO!), Jidai Geki and more. Glad to see Galbraith appreciates the surreal exploiter "Female Scorpion Convict - Jailhouse 41" as much as I do. He covers the canonical and the cult stuff. A few broad statements and misleading photo captions, but all in all a nice primer on a rich subject.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sure ragging on the weak text in a Taschen book may not be the most productive or enlightening task but Author Galbraith IV is particularly obnoxious in his complete dismissal of the extreme Japanese Cinema that's become so popular in the west and in many ways opened up the region's films to a new generation of movie goers. He also seems to think any Japanese film available to a Western audience is "overrated." As always with Taschen the pictures are awesome.

[Jim]

Picked this up for $10 at Kinokuniya Bookstore's stand at the LA Times Festival of Books yesterday. Lavishly illustrated coffee table book from Taschen, but more than just a picture book. Makes a point of going much deeper than the usual Japanese genres/filmmakers with which westerners are usually familiar. I now want to explore a lot more films, though I think my chances for finding some of the silent and early sound ones are probably slim.