Quick History
- The ’23 earthquake prompts rise of classic masters Ozu and Mizoguchi
- The shadow of ’30s militarism hampers industry development
- 1945 ushers in a golden age, with Kurosawa riding high, along with a host of
other classic directors - An industry-wide crisis puts a damper on things until the mid-’80s
- J-film then rejuvenates with ghosts, animation and crazy yakuzas
Key Titles
A Page of Madness (1926)
The most remarkable surviving Japanese silent film, an avant-garde startler by ex-kabuki actor Teinosuke Kinugasa. Set in a lunatic asylum, it shuns intertitles and plays games with appearance and reality.
Rashomon ( 1950)
By this time, Ozu had perfected the austere, contemplative style that frames his tale of an elderly couple visiting their married offspring in Tokyo. A deserved fixture of every, worthy greatest-movies list ever compiled.
Ugetsu Monogatari (1954)
The film that brought director Mizoguchi to international notice. Set in the strife-torn 16th Century, its intertwined stories of two villagers led astray by love and ambition are filmed with compassion and cool grace.
The Human Condition (1958-61)
J-horror starts here. Vengeful ghosts crawling out of TV screens, ancient curses, creepy water imagery, a feisty heroine taking on more than she imagined – much imitated but so far not surpassed.
