Japanese cinema has evolved since its inception in 1904, experiencing interruptions during historical events like WWII and the Tokyo earthquake. The industry gained international acclaim through filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi, with notable films like 'Rashomon' and 'Ugetsu' showcasing unique artistic styles. By the 21st century, Japanese films, particularly anime, have gained significant popularity globally, with new production trends reflecting changing audience tastes.

1. Dr. J.JANARDHAN
JAPANESE CINEMA-1904-2019

2. JAPANESE CINEMA
• It has been strong from the beginning days
• The first studios were established in 1904-1905
• The development continued until Tokyo earthquake in 1923
• Talkies were slow in coming to Japan because of benshi
• Kenji Mizoguchi’s Fujiwara Yoshie no Furusato (Home
Town) was the first feature film in 1930s
• Heinosuke Gosho’s Madamu to nyobo, 1931 (The
Neighbour’s Wife and Mine)

3. JAPANESE CINEMA
• WW-II brought another pause
• Subsequently, US dominated from 1945 to 1952
• Censorship cramped the major Japanese film makers
• It notable not only for quantity and also high quality
• Because of its rich tradition, Japanese films were not popular
in outside the country as its counter part.

4. JAPANESE CINEMA
• Six major production companies controlled distribution and
the theater circuits
• It also has its own popular genres mainly,
Jidai-geki- historical films
Gendai-geki- contemporary films
• Studios, directors and actors tended to specialize in one or the
other of the two modes
• Jidai-geki- accounted for only 40% of production

5. JAPANESE CINEMA
• Japanese film got International acclaim with Akira
Kurosawa’s Rashomon in 1951
• It won the grand prize at
Venice Film Festival
• Daiei MPC, distributed worldwide

6. JAPANESE CINEMA
• Dir.Teinosuke Kinugasa made
first ever new Eastmon colour
Gate of Hell (1953)
• Kurusowa’s Seven Samurai (1954)
reached US with edited version
• Kurusowa got the appreciation abroad
With Roshman & Seven Samurai

7. JAPANESE STYLE
• Until the 1950s, World hadn’t seen the Japanese films
• But, Japan had been seeing the world films since late 1890s
• They developed their own medium parallel to the west
• Where as Americans made action films, Europeans with the
Psychological characters
• Japanese interested in overall mood
• Their themes are Universal

8. JAPANESE STYLE
• Many of the Japanese film are beautiful and visually elegant
• They give more importance to visual art
• These visual qualities are especially striking in Ugestu

9. JAPANESE MASTERS
• Japanese cinema introduced two of its greatest film makers
Akira Kurosawa
Kenji Mizoguchi

10. JAPANESE MASTERS
• Both carried their personal concerns from film to film
• Kurosawa is the most easily appreciated by westerns
• Most of his film were adaptation of European literary classics
Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot (1951)
Gogol’s The Lower Depths (1957)
Shakespeare’s Macbeth (The throne of blood, 1957)
• Some of the Kurosawa’s production have inspired Hollywood
notably Rashomon, (The Outrage-1964) & Seven Samurai
(The Magnificent Seven-1960)

11. JAPANESE MASTERS
• Kurosawa’s films set in contemporary times
• He keeps audience to on the social problems
• He died in 1998,
• In his later years he produced some of the notable Jidai-Geki-
historical films
• Kagemush (The shadow warior, 1981), Ran (1985)
• Numerous virtuoso battle sequences punctuate the action of
the film

12. JAPANESE MASTERS
• Kenji Mizoguchi favored the jidai-geki genre
• His attitudes, subjects and style are more traditional
• He began his career in 1923 and died in 1957
• The Life of O’Haru, Won the
grand prize at Venice in 1952

13. JAPANESE MASTERS
• Kenji Mizoguchi frequently focused on the plight of women
• Mizoguchi dealt with social problems
Osaka Elegy (1936)
Sisters of the Gion (1936)
Women of the Night (1957)
Street of the Shame (1956)
Princess Yang Kwei Fei (1955)
• He often presents leisurely tracking shots

14. JAPANESE MASTERS
• His film Ugestu is even more “painterly”
• Composition is always conceived in depth
• Music is extremely important
• Yasujiro Ozu is marked by the most rigorous austerity
• He rarely moved the camera, then slightly, slowly solely to
accommodate the action
• His camera sits eye level
• His career began in 1922, died in 1963

15. JAPANESE MASTERS
• All his films is an awareness of the extraordinary cultural
dislocation
• Ozu observed the changes and tensions not on broad social
scale
• But, within the intimacy of the family- parents and children,
husband and wife.
• Late spring (1949), Early Summer (1951), Late autumn
(1960), An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

16. JAPANESE NEW WAVE
• A group of innovative directors emerged during 1960-70s
• Japanese films developed new formulas-youth, action films
• Toho made monster movies and Sci-fiction spectacles
Godzill (Ishiro Honda, 1954)
Yakuza-gangster films
• In 1970s, Nikkatsu Studion began to specialize in soft-core
pornography
• Dir. Shohei Imamura and Nagisa Oshima produced films with
modernist bent.

17. JAPANESE NEW WAVE
• Oshima received his greatest international attention with In
the Realm of the Senses (1976)
• The golden era of Japanese cinema of 1950-60s came to end
by mid 1970s
• Television broadcasting began in 1954
• By 1980s, 99% of the homes had colour TV sets
• The old studio system broke down

18. JAPANESE NEW WAVE
• In 21st century , Japanese popular taste had changed
• A new kind of film export-Anime, started
• Japanese amines’ is flat and rough, visual design is
indisputable
• Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the shell got more popular
• Now, Japanese films are more popular in US
• Film Festivals being organized around the world
• New English language studios in Japan highlight the native
history

19. THANK YOU