Writing in Light: The Silent Scenario and the Japanese Pure Film Movement (Contemporary Film and Television (Hardcover))

While most people associate Japanese film with modern directors like Akira Kurosawa, Japan's cinema has a rich tradition going back to the silent era. Japan's pure film movement of the 1910s is widely held to mark the birth of film theory as we know it and is a touchstone for historians of early cinema. Yet this work has been difficult to access because so few prints have been preserved. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Developing Images, Defining Words "First, the Story" The Benshi Intervenes A Word about Genre Drawing a Map Women in the Chain Drama 2. Kaeriyama Norimasa and The Glory of Life The First Writers "Observe to Learn" Aspects of Pure Film Smoke and Mirrors? 3. Reformation in Transition: Toyo Films and the Founding of Taikatsu Urbanization, Foreign Influence, Political Change "Foreign Film" in Close-Up: Mori Iwao's A Survey of the Moving Pictures, 1919-1920 Kurihara's Toyo Films and the Founding of Taikatsu Challenging Borders 4. The Literary Link: Screenwriter Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and the Screen A New Voice and "a Million Allies" for Reform Tanizaki' s Taikatsu Film S cripts After Taikatsu 5. Journalistic Discourse and Tanizaki's "The Present and Future of the Moving Pictures" Film Journalism and the Pure Film Movement, 1913-1917 The Gap Widens: Foreign Imports and the Domestic Film Debate The Intellectual Contribution "The Present and Future of the Moving Pictures" 6. Mayhem, Mischief, and a Certain Esprit de Corps: Amateur Club The "Vitality and Vigor of Youth" The Amateur Club Film Script The Audience Responds The Taikatsu Legacy Conclusion: Beyond Pure Film Appendix Translator's Note Mizusawa Takehiko [Kaeriyama Norimasa]: The Glory of Life (Sei no kagayaki, 1918-1919) Masumoto Kiyoshi: A Father's Tears (excerpt, Chichi nonamida, 1918) Tanizaki Jun'ichiro/Thomas Kurihara: Amateur Club (Amachua kurabu, 1920) Tanizaki Jun'ichiro: The Lust of the White Serpent (excerpt, Jasei no in, 1921) Notes Select Bibliography Index 1. Developing Images, Defining Words. First, The Story The Benshi Intervenes. A Word About Genre. Drawing A Map. Women In The Chain Drama -- 2. Kaeriyama Norimasa And The Glory Of Life. The First Writers. Observe To Learn Aspects Of Pure Film. Smoke And Mirrors? -- 3. Reformation In Transition: Toyo Films And The Founding Of Taikatsu. Urbanization, Foreign Influence, Political Change. Foreign Film In Close-up: Mori Iwao's A Survey Of The Moving Pictures, 1919-1920. Kurihara's Toyo Films And The Founding Of Taikatsu. Challenging Borders -- 4. The Literary Link: Screenwriter Tanizaki Jun'ichiro. Tanizaki And The Screen. A New Voice And A Million Allies For Reform. Tanizaki's Taikatsu Film Scripts. After Taikatsu. Joanne Bernardi. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 337-343) And Index. Joanne Bernardi offers a study of Japanese cinema's ""pure film movement"" era, recovering a body of lost film and establishing its significance in the development of Japanese cinema. Building on a wealth of original-language sources she examines how the movement challenged the industry.