Cinema year book of Japan (1937)

Characteristics of the Japanese Cinema By Seiitiro Katumoto 1 It is highly lyrical. Sometimes it is also sentimental. Needless to say, it is preoc¬ cupied with the affairs of the adult world. Yet it is none the less a fact that it is some¬ what akin to the “Shojo Kageki” — the Japanese revue performed entirely by young girls including the impersonation of male characters. Flowering plants swaying in the wind — such, in fine, is its ultimate effect. And it is precisely this effect which is inordinately ap¬ preciated, alike by film producers and by theatre-goers. The live and lovely flowers on the screen do not give the kind of performance which attempts to depict the inner life through facial or other physical means with frankness and an absolute scrupulousness to the last detail. Their mental state, on the contrary, is forcibly concealed in the depths of their being, thus rendering it invisible, incomprehensible. Even their bodies are hidden as much as possible behind their kimono. To be sure, one would not be justified in saying that the actors themselves do not aim at expressions which reflect a distinct inner quality. But their intentions, however well-meant, are inevitably obscured before one realizes it by that great and unseen power, the traditional taste. Very often the principal characters in the scenes of a film play are simply shown standing with a sad look on their faces, or sitting down in an expressionless fashion. In such instances, the film directors strive to sug¬ gest to the audience the thoughts and feelings back of the statuesque poses by provid¬ ing a background of a running brook in spring, of rolling summer clouds, or of falling autumn leaves. From these suggestions Japanese audiences must instantly grasp the whole concrete development of the joys, the sorrows, the intricate thoughts of the characters. It is as though the film directors of Japan repose an absolute faith in the power of suggestion contained in such accessory views. The attitude of these film directors is something like the mental position assumed by Japanese poets of the tanka and haiku schools since ancient times. Not all of them, of course, are conscious of the notion that their own particular art might have a close connection with the traditional poetry of this country. They evidently believe that they are striding youthfully along the path of modern art. Judged dispassionately and objectively, however, there is a surprisingly good deal of the ancient Japanese poet in them, their modern appearance to the contrary notwithstanding. Besides, a suggestion can after all do no more than suggest. What the suggestive method can impart is not the concrete view of mental and physical reaction, but merely 14