The Flash of Capital: Film and Geopolitics in Japan (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society)

__The Flash of Capital__ analyzes the links between Japan’s capitalist history and its film history, illuminating what these connections reveal about film culture and everyday life in Japan. Looking at a hundred-year history of film and capitalism, Eric Cazdyn theorizes a cultural history that highlights the spaces where film and the nation transcend their customary borders—where culture and capital crisscross—and, in doing so, develops a new way of understanding historical change and transformation in modern Japan and beyond. Cazdyn focuses on three key moments of historical contradiction: colonialism, post-war reconstruction, and globalization. Considering great classics of Japanese film, documentaries, works of science fiction, animation, and pornography, he brings to light cinematic attempts to come to terms with the tensions inherent in each historical moment—tensions between the colonizer and the colonized, between the individual and the collective, and between the national and the transnational. Paying close attention to political context, Cazdyn shows how formal inventions in the realms of acting, film history and theory, thematics, documentary filmmaking, and adaptation articulate a struggle to solve implacable historical problems. This innovative work of cultural history and criticism offers explanations of historical change that challenge conventional distinctions between the aesthetic and the geopolitical.

in Japan, Perhaps Uniquely, The History Of Capitalism Coincides Neatly With The History Of Film. What Links These Two Histories And What Their Relationship Reveals About Film Culture And Everyday Life In Japan, Is The Subject Of This Original And Provocative Work. Looking At A Hundred-year History Of Film And Capitalism, the Flash Of Capital Theorizes A Cultural History That Illuminates The Spaces Where Film And The Nation Transcend Their Customary Borders-where Culture And Capital Crisscross-and, In Doing So, Develops A New Way Of Understanding Historical Change And Transformation In Modern Japan And Beyond.

Eric Cazdyn Focuses On Three Key Moments Of Historical Contradiction: Colonialism, Post-war Reconstruction, And Globalization. In Great Classics Of Japanese Film, In Documentaries, Works Of Science Fiction, Animation, And Pornography, He Brings To Light Cinematic Attempts To Come To Terms With The Tensions Inherent In Each Historical Moment-tensions Between Colonizer And Colonized, Between The Individual And The Collective, And Between The National And The Transnational. Through A Close Reading Of Cinema Within Its Political Context, Cazdyn Shows How Formal Inventions In The Realms Of Acting, Film History And Theory, Thematics, Documentary Filmmaking, And Adaptation Articulate A Struggle To Solve Implacable Historical Problems.

Richly Illustrated, This Innovative Work Of Cultural History And Criticism Will Be Of Interest To Those Concerned With Japanese Film History, The Culture And Political Economy Of Japan, And Anyone Seeking Explanations Of Historical Change That Challenge Conventional Distinctions Between The Aesthetic And The Geopolitical.

about The Author

eric Cazdyn Is Assistant Professor Of East Asian Studies, Film, And Comparative Literature At The University Of Toronto.

david Cozy

[t]hose Who Can Find It In Themselves To Give A Project As Daring As Cazdyn's A Chance Will Be Pleasantly Surprised. In Prose More Lucid Than The Antitheory Grumps Might Have Led One To Expect, Cazdyn, Rubbing Japanese Film Up Against Japanese Geopolitics, Produces Many Fascinating-to Borrow His Term-'flashes' . . . . [s]o Bright Is This Book With Insight And Intelligence That It Just Might Serve To Win Over A Diehard Theory-phobe Or Two.—the Japan Times

1. Ichikawa Danjuro -- 2. Ichikawa Danjuro -- 3. Haneda Sumiko's Kataoka Nizaemon: Kabuki Actor -- 4. Kataoka Nizaemon -- 5.-9. Aum fugitives -- 10. Prokino -- 11. Iwasaki Akira's Film and Capitalism -- 12. Location shot of Kamei Fumio -- 13. Tanaka Junichiro's A History of the Developments of Japanese Film -- 14. Donald Richie and Joseph Anderson's The Japanese Film -- 15. Narrative structure of The Japanese Film -- 16. Oshima Nagisa's Fifty Years After theWar, One Hundred Years of Film -- 17. Sato Tadao's Japanese Film History -- 18. Shimazu Yasujiro's O-Koto to sasuke -- 19. Shindo Kaneta's Sanka -- 20.-22. Shindo's Sanka -- 23. Hara Kazuo's The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On -- 24. Hara's The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On -- 25.-26. Hara Kazuo's A Dedicated Life -- 27. Okuyama Kazuyoshi's The Mystery of Rampo -- 28. Osanai Kaoru -- 29. Murata Minoru's Souls on the Road -- 30. Murata's Souls on the Road -- 31. Murata's Souls on the Road -- Contents 6 Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 I. Relation: Film, Capital, Transformation 28 II. Historiography: Nation, Narrative, Capital 65 III. Adaptation: Origin, Nation, Aesthetic 101 IV. Acting: Structure, Agent, Amateur 142 V. Pornography: Totality, Reality Culture, Films of History 180 VI. Re-reading: Canon, Body, Geopolitics 217 Epilogue 268 Notes 276 References 308 Index 316 Looking at a hundred-year history of film and capitalism, this title theorizes a cultural history that illuminates the spaces where film and the nation transcend their customary borders, where culture and capital crisscross - and in doing so, develops a new way of understanding historical change and transformation in modern Japan and beyond.