Japanese Cinema

Catalog description

This course examines representative Japanese films produced between the mid-1930s and the late-1980s. The primary goals are to foster critical understanding and appreciation of Japanese cinema, society, history, culture, politics and interpersonal relations. The artistic styles and thematic concerns of major directors of the “Postwar Humanist School” (Kurosawa, Mizoguchi and Ozu) and post-1960 Japanese “New Wave” group (Shinoda and Imamura) will be identified, analyzed and discussed. Works will be examined both in terms of the Japanese cinematic tradition and the values and conflicts characteristic of premodern, modern and contemporary Japan. Special consideration will be given to artistic representations of the experience and legacies of the Asia Pacific War (1931-45), lived experience in an exacting, hierarchical, group-oriented society, distinctive Japanese figures such as the samurai and geisha, and influential social institutions such as the family and public school. Students are encouraged to develop their own informed interpretations of the cinematic works under study and articulate the relevance of the issues treated in the Japanese filmic texts to their own lives and times. No prior knowledge of Japanese language, history or culture is required.