ASIAN 2252 - Introduction to Japanese Film

(crosslisted)
(also PMA 2402) (GB) (CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits.

J.M. Law.

This course is designed to familiarize the students with developments and directors in Japanese cinema in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Beginning with a brief overview of the advent of silent film in Japan, we turn to an exploration of the ideological uses of film in the 1930s. Following this segment of the class, we examine the works of Japanese major early post war film directors, including Ozu Yasujiro, Mizoguchi Kenji, Kurosawa Akira and Imamura Shôhei. We then turn to late twentieth century developments, including the global rise of Studio Ghibli (Miyazawa Hayao and Hayahata Isao) and other anime (Satoshi Kon and others) and popular directors with instant success such as Itami Juzo and a number of other directors (Makoto Shinzaki). The course will demonstrate how the success of Japanese film has always been tied to its ability to deal with complex social issues and place them in the public arena for scrutiny and discussion. Students in this class will become familiar with many of the unique innovations of Japanese directors and see how these artists and their stylistic developments have influenced cinema in many other contexts around the world. Monday night viewings for this class are required. (SC)