A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to Videos and DVD's

by Donald Richie

Book Overview

In A Hundred Years of Japanese Films, Richie offers an insider's look at the achievements of Japanese filmmakers. He begins in the late 1800s, when the industry took its inspiration from the traditional stories of Kabuki and Noh theater, and finishes in the present with the latest award-winning dramas showcased at Cannes.

In between, Richie explores the roots of Japan's contribution to world cinema. He discusses the careers of Japan's rising...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 477002682X
• ISBN13: 9784770026828
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Kodansha
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 9.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Japanese Film Guide

This comprehensive, somewhat erudite book captures the history and genius of Japanese cinema. It is the author's intention to introduce the reader(s) to a different world of the film, where reality is interpreted differently from Western ideas of cinema. Included is a brief filmography of extant Japanese films, available on VHS and DVD. The hardback was a bargain!

He knows what he's talking about!

Donald Richie has spent a good part of his life living in Japan and has been reviewing Japanese films for just as long. He personally knows many of the film makers and so his reviews carry weight and are sensative to the changes in Japanese film-making. A must buy for the serious fan of films made in Japan.

The Essential History Of Japanese Film

Richie's latest writing on Japanese film is the definitive guide to the history and trajectory of one of the world's great national cinemas. Richie updates previous writing extensively, making use of a number of film and critical theories without overreliance upon any of them; the results are extremely detailed and authoritative. Major auteurs are analyzed in great detail, and Richie's friendships with a great many figures - Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu (both subjects of previous books), Susumu Hani and Nagisa Oshima inform the proceedings immeasurably. The book is a real treasure-trove in it's coverage of the pre-war history of Japanese film - the vast majority of this work is lost, so Richie's plot (and structural) analysis is extremely valuable; he goes to some lengths to contextualize each work within a directors' overall body of work, and in light of external political and historical events. From start to finish, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF JAPANESE FILM is extensively illustrated with stills, some previously unseen, especially in the case of pre-war films. Richie's skill at cultural critique and analysis begins to fail him with contemporary material - which is the sole weakness here. Anime, 'pink' film, and J-horror are all given short shrift, though Richie does spend some time with the latest wave of independents and documentarians. Testament to the importance of this work is the revival of interest in certain seemingly obscure (to non-Japanese audiences) filmmakers like Ko Nakahira, Mikio Naruse and Sadao Yamanaka, which is most probably attributable to this vast and immensely readable book. -David Alston

The single most important book on Japanese film

More than just a chronological history of Japanese movie making, "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film" tells the tale of Japanese storytelling evolution, how the language of cinema evolved in Japan over the years and what the differences are, both overt and nuanced, between Western and Japanese film making traditions. The motion picture camera in the West was seen as an extension of photography, and thus naturalism was the implied goal. In Japan, the camera was thought of as an extension of theater. The first films were recorded versions of Kabuki plays, with men playing all the roles including the women, a tradition that carried on for a surprisingly long time in Japanese films. In this style, representationalism is considered more important than any attempt at "realism." These roots can still be seen today, as many Western viewers are confused at the artificial nature of Japanese acting and film making. Richie explores this, as well as other uniquely Japanese film innovations such as the benshi, or silent film narrator, and how this affects modern films with their propensity for voice-over narrations explaining the plot. But this is only the beginning. Richie takes us on a journey through the Japanese film, intermixed with the vast social upheavals of the Taisho period, the rise and fall of the WWII fervor, the post-war depression of spirit, and the constant battle between Western and Japanese influences on modern cinema, as well as the strange marriage between the two seen in film makers such as Kurosawa Akira, Kitano Takeshi and Miike Takeshi. While there is an overview of almost every Japanese director, more time is spent exploring the visions of Mizoguchi Ken, Ozu Yasujiro, Kurosawa Akira, Itami Juzo ("Tampopo"), Oshima Nagisa ("In the Realm of the Senses") as well as other directors of note. Although there are not enough pages for a deep exploration, Richie shows how each of these milestone directors changed Japanese film in their own ways, and why they are important overall. The single flaw in "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film" is that Richie seems to have a blind spot for Japanese animated films, and such powerhouse directors such as Miyazaki Hayao do not get the attention they deserve, but are instead lumped into a final chapter on animation. It seems that such directors should be considered in the overall chronology, rather than as a separate category, but this is not how they are portrayed. But this is a minor complaint in what is an amazing book. For a text of this type, it is very easy to read and captivating. Richie's writing style keeps your interest over some of the most minor periods of film, and sparks your interest in some directors that you may never have heard of. In fact, the danger of "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film" lies in that soon you will find yourself on a desperate quest to hunt down and view some of the rare and tantalizing films described by Richie that fall out of the what may be at the local vid

A richly detailed history of great Japanese films

Written by Donald Richie (who was cited as "the dean of Japan's art critics" by Time magazine), A Hundred Years Of Japanese Film: A Concise History, With A Selective Guide To Videos And DVDs is a selective yet richly detailed history of great Japanese films, generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs. A Hundred Years of Japanese Film focuses primarily on live-action movies, with only a brief look at Japanese documentaries and animated movies. For a scholarly, thoughtful, in-depth analysis on just about every classic Japanese movie, as well as a meaningful overview about the genre as a whole, A Hundred Years Of Japanese Film is clearly and justifiably the principle reference to consult!