REPERTORY CINEMA 2008 PROGRAMME
DEMOLISHING THE ESTABLISHED STYLE, THE ‘1960s JAPANESE NEW WAVE CINEMA’
CAPTURED THE ANGER AND MELOCAHNY OF THE FOLLOWING GENERATION.
Reminiscing the Japanese new wave in the 1960’s, film historian Yomota Inuhiko said ‘…They set themselves apart from the new comers in the 1950’s. No expectation from socialism and realism, let alone belief in democracy… Claiming to be seeing through the post-war fabrication, they criticised the reality in a sarcastic manner… Facing frequent problems in various natures, these situations gave rise to new subject matters, ways of story telling and language in Japanese cinema.’ Organised by the Leisure and Culture Services Department, ‘1960s Japanese New Wave Cinema’ is the second episode of ‘Repertory Cinema 2008 programme’ curated by acclaimed film practitioner Law Waiming.
In the 1960’s, when the new wave took over Europe, Japan was also strike by the student demonstration which regard anti-establishment as the new objective in life. The young generation rebelled against the tradition of apprenticeship in the film industry and wanted to break free.
They criticised the work of the masters to be dated and over conservative. The likes of Oshima Nagisa, Shinoda Masahiro, Shindo Kaneto, Yoshida Yoshishige and Masumura Yasuzo even left and set up on their own, and accomplished the ‘Japanese New Wave’ with the language and emotions of the young generation.
Even Truffaut would be astonished by this body of work. ‘Crazed Fruit’ by Nakahira Ko; Masumura Yasuzo’s strength in shaping different genre of movies, such as ‘Kisses’, ‘Giants and Toys’, ‘Afraid to Die’, ‘A Wife Confesses’, ‘Seisaku’s Wife’, ‘Red Angel’ and ‘Blind Beast’; ‘A Street of Love and Hope’, the debut of Oshima Nagisa, and ‘Sing a Song of Sex’, the first significant work after setting up on his own; ‘Double Suicide’, the most regard work of Shinoda Masahiro; and world-acclaimed ‘The Naked Island’, ‘Live Today, Die Tomorrow!’ and ‘Devil Woman’ by Shindo Kaneto.
One of the key figures in Japanese film history, the awarded films ‘Hogs and Warships’, ‘The Insect Woman’ and ‘The Pornographers’ by Imamura Shohei; Yoshida Yoshishige’s claim to fame ‘Akitsu Springs’, and the well-known ‘Eros Plus Massacre’ and ‘Coup d’Etat’; Urayama Kirio’s celebrated debut ‘Foundry Town’ and cover from literature ‘The Girl I Abandoned’; Teshigahara Hiroshi’s multi-awarded ‘Woman in the Dunes’, drama ‘Pitfall’ and ‘The Face of Another’; as well as the quirky ‘Tattooed Life’ and ‘Fighting Elegy’ by cult master Suzuki Seijun.
Text: BEBOP | Translation: dilettante
Photo Courtesy: Film Programmes Office
Update: 5 Sept 2008
1906s JAPANESE NEW WAVE CINEMA
5-8 Sept 2008
FILM PROGRAMMES OFFICE
www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp
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