Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context

by Keiko I. McDonald

Overview

Reading a Japanese Film, written by a pioneer of Japanese film studies in the United States, provides viewers new to Japanese cinema with the necessary tools to construct a deeper understanding of some of the most critically acclaimed and thoroughly entertaining films ever made. In her introduction, Keiko McDonald presents a historical overview and outlines a unified approach to film analysis. Sixteen "readings" of films currently available on DVD with English subtitles put theory into practice as she considers a wide range of work, from familiar classics by Ozu and Kurosawa to the films of a younger generation of directors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780824829391
Publisher:	University of Hawaii Press, The
Publication date:	11/30/2005
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
1	Synergy of Theme, Style, and Dialogue: Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion (1936)	17
2	Dream, Song, and Symbol: Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (1948)	33
3	A Meiji Novel for the Screen: Shiro Toyoda's The Mistress (1954)	49
4	Period Film Par Excellence: Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)	66
5	Simple Means for Complex Ends: Yasujiro Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959)	93
6	Eros, Politics, and Folk Religion: Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba (1963)	108
7	The Age-Old Paradox of Innocence and Experience: Kohei Oguri's Muddy River (1981)	122
8	Satire on the Family and Education in Postwar Japan: Yoshimitsu Morita's The Family Game (1983)	136
9	Defeat Revisited: Masahiro Shinoda's MacArthur's Children (1984)	152
10	Satire on Contemporary Japan: Juzo Itami's A Taxing Woman (1987)	165
11	Animation Seminal and Influential: Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (1988)	176
12	Cultural Responses to Simplicity: Akira Kurosawa's Madadayo (1993)	187
13	The Danger and Allure of Phantom Light: Hirokazu Koreeda's Maboroshi (1995)	198
14	Stressed-Out Nineties Youth in Laid-Back Sixties Dress: Takeshi Kitano's Kids Return (1995)	219
15	Bittersweet Childhood: Yoichi Higashi's Village of Dreams (1996)	232
16	A Woman Director's Approach to the Country Family: Naomi Kawase's Suzaku (1997)	244
	Notes	259
	Selected Bibliography	277
	Index	283