Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2005 Sommario / Contents
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2005 Sommario / Contents
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2005 Sommario / Contents
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<strong>del</strong>l’atmosfera <strong>del</strong> romanzo originale”.<br />
Quando, nel 1923, il grande terremoto di Kanto distrusse Tokyo e<br />
dintorni, sia la Nikkatsu che la Shochiku trasferirono i loro studi a<br />
Kyoto. A differenza <strong>del</strong>la Nikkatsu, che rimase a Kyoto, la Shochiku<br />
ritornò dopo breve tempo a Kamata, presso Tokyo – di fatto fu l’unico<br />
studio presente nella capitale durante il periodo muto. <strong>Le</strong> realizzazioni<br />
<strong>del</strong>la Shochiku di Kamata sono note per il loro tipico stile, il<br />
cosiddetto “modernismo di Kamata”, elaborato assorbendo la<br />
sofisticata atmosfera urbana di Tokyo nel periodo successivo al grande<br />
terremoto, quando la città andava rapidamente riprendendosi. Shimizu<br />
fu uno degli esponenti di punta di questo modernismo. Il film segnò<br />
anche il debutto <strong>del</strong>l’attrice Michiko Oikawa, che doveva diventare un<br />
nome importante e che si rivelò indispensabile nei film<br />
d’ambientazione urbana di Shimizu, quali Renai daiikka (Prima lezione<br />
<strong>del</strong>l’amore; 1929) e Minato no Nippon musume (Ragazze giapponesi al<br />
porto; 1933). – FUMIKO TSUNEISHI<br />
Toshie has a crush on Narita, but he marries her younger sister Reiko.<br />
Heartbroken,Toshie finds herself gradually being attracted to her boss,<br />
who is a widower. Reiko and Narita’s marriage does not go well, mainly<br />
because of Reiko, who is wonderfully cheerful but tends to have affairs.<br />
Eventually Narita decides to leave and go abroad. Among the group of<br />
people seeing him off he finds Toshie.<br />
This film adaptation of Kan Kikuchi’s serialized newspaper novel had<br />
extremely high built-in box-office potential at the time. Director Shimizu<br />
lived up to the Shochiku company’s expectations by making a film that<br />
was a huge success. Shimizu took the risk of employing many new<br />
actors, and despite a plot that was full of ups and downs he made a film<br />
that he described as “artistically integral as a film while respecting the<br />
atmosphere of the original novel”.<br />
When the Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed Tokyo and the surrounding<br />
area in 1923, both Nikkatsu and Shochiku evacuated their studios to<br />
Kyoto. Unlike Nikkatsu, which stayed in Kyoto, Shochiku returned to<br />
Kamata,Tokyo, after a short period of time, thus becoming effectively the<br />
only studio in Tokyo throughout the silent era. Shochiku Kamata<br />
productions are known for their so-called “Kamata Modernism” style,<br />
which was developed by absorbing the sophisticated and urban<br />
atmosphere of Tokyo in the era after the Great Kanto Earthquake, while<br />
the city was quickly recovering from the damage. Shimizu was one of the<br />
key directors of “Kamata Modernism”.This film marked the debut of the<br />
actress Michiko Oikawa, later an important talent, who was<br />
indispensable in Shimizu’s urban films such as Renai daiikka (Love, Part<br />
One; 1929) and Minato no Nippon musume (Japanese Girls at the<br />
Harbour; 1933). – FUMIKO TSUNEISHI<br />
Prog. 9<br />
TEITO FUKKO [RINASCITA DELLA CAPITALE / REBIRTH OF<br />
THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL] (Shochiku, JP 1930)<br />
46<br />
Re./dir, f./ph: Hamataro Oda, Asajiro Itoi; scen: Katsutake Naruse;<br />
ppp/rel: 3.1930; 35mm, 7247 ft., 107’ (18 fps), National Film Center,<br />
Tokyo.<br />
Didascalie in giapponese sottotitolate in inglese / Japanese intertitles,<br />
English subtitles.<br />
Sette anni dopo il grande terremoto di Kanto, l’Agenzia per la<br />
Ripresa <strong>del</strong>la Capitale, che sarebbe stata chiusa lo stesso anno,<br />
commissionò alla Shochiku un lungometraggio che descrivesse gli<br />
aspetti sociali e le fasi <strong>del</strong>la ripresa di Tokyo, la moderna capitale che,<br />
grazie ai progetti <strong>del</strong>l’Agenzia, stava rapidamente tornando alla<br />
normalità dopo il sisma. Il film consiste di 6 parti, ovvero: danni,<br />
progetti, procedure, risultati, ispezione imperiale, cerimonia finale.<br />
Catturando sulla pellicola il caos successivo al sisma, la parte sui<br />
“danni” include anche alcune sequenze ricostruite con l’ausilio di<br />
effetti speciali e disegni. La parte sui “risultati” propone come<br />
personaggio principale un impiegato, di cui documenta la vita in città,<br />
nei giorni feriali e festivi, come fosse un vero film. Il montaggio<br />
ritmico intreccia la parte sui più moderni mezzi di trasporto pubblico<br />
con le riprese di strade ordinatamente progettate e quelle<br />
<strong>del</strong>l’elegante vita urbana: è evidente l’influenza <strong>del</strong> genere “sinfonia<br />
metropolitana” come Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (1927), che era<br />
stato distribuito in Giappone. Nelle due ultime parti <strong>del</strong> film, il<br />
materiale sull’imperatore Hirohito rivela le enormi limitazioni<br />
imposte ai cineasti per filmarlo: dal numero <strong>del</strong>le cineprese, alla<br />
distanza <strong>del</strong>le stesse, alle angolazioni. – FUMIKO TSUNEISHI<br />
Seven years after the Great Kanto Earthquake the Bureau of Capital<br />
Recovery, which was to be abolished that year, commissioned a featurelength<br />
film from Shochiku to describe the social aspects and phases of<br />
recovery of Tokyo, the modern capital, which had quickly recovered from<br />
the earthquake damage via the Bureau’s projects.The film consists of 6<br />
parts, namely: the damage, plans, procedures, accomplishment, the<br />
Imperial inspection, and the accomplishment ceremony. Capturing the<br />
post-quake chaos, the “damage” part also includes some re-enactment<br />
sequences, with the help of special effects and drawings. The<br />
“accomplishment” part features an office worker as its leading character,<br />
and documents his urban life on weekdays and weekends in the manner<br />
of a fiction film. The footage of the most advanced means of public<br />
transportation, orderly designed streets, and stylish urban living are<br />
interwoven via rhythmic montage, clearly displaying the influence of “city<br />
symphony” films such as Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (1927),<br />
which had been wi<strong>del</strong>y released in Japan. Some of the footage of the<br />
Emperor Hirohito in the last two parts of the film show us how the<br />
cinematographers had to accept enormous restrictions to film the<br />
Emperor, involving the number of cameras, distance, and camera angles.<br />
Prog. 10<br />
FUMIKO TSUNEISHI<br />
CHIKYODAI [SORELLE DI LATTE / FOSTER SISTERS] (Shochiku,