The Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, in conjunction with the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, present
OUT OF THE ASHES
Early Postwar Japanese Movies
"PU-SAN” © 1953 Toho Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Curated by Linda Hoaglund
As Japan emerged from the catastrophic wreckage of WWII, many film directors turned to the bleak realities of the postwar to inspire their movies, and audiences flocked to newly-built theaters, hungry for entertainment that spoke to their privations. Ironically, through these stories of poverty, orphaned children, political turmoil and corruption, filmmakers ushered in Japan’s golden age of film. Working with a stylish palette of black humor, irony and compassion, Japanese postwar movies—some of the best of which are featured in this series—unflinchingly stared down a ruined nation and championed the unlikely heroes struggling to resurrect it.
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“Children of the Beehive” (SHIMIZU Hiroshi, 1948)
Tuesday, February 26, 20086:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Alfred Lerner Hall is located at 2920 Broadway
(at W. 115th St).
Please go to http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/lerner.html for a concept map.
This event is free of charge, but registration is required; please RSVP by Sunday, February 24 to outoftheashes_weai@hotmail.com
Film Summary:
A motley crew of real-life war orphans—shrewd, exuberant and vulnerable—latches onto a repatriated veteran as he wanders homeless through the desolate ruins of postwar Japan searching for work and shelter. Devoid of sentimentality and graced with an optimism that defies all odds, this landmark film is a precious near-documentary record of the wreckage of the immediate postwar.
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“Battles Without Honor and Humanity” (FUKASAKU Kinji, 1973)
Tuesday, March 11, 20086:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Davis Auditorium, Schapiro Center, Columbia University
Schapiro Center is located 530 W. 120th between Broadway and Amsterdam.
Please go to http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/schapiro_center.html for a concept map.
This event is free of charge; no registration is required.
Film Summary:Perhaps the only film to open with the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, this sprawling yakuza yarn bursts out of the black markets dominating postwar Japan. The film, which was a smash hit and launched a series, charts a violent but ultimately decent man’s evolving relationship with the unscrupulous boss who controls his syndicate. Though superficially a gangster film, Fukasaku’s lifelong theme was Japan’s lost opportunities for genuine freedom and radical democracy as it rebuilt itself.
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“Doctor’s Day Off” (SHIBUYA Minoru, 1952)
Monday, March 31, 20086:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Alfred Lerner Hall is located at 2920 Broadway
(at W. 115th St).
Please go to http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/lerner.html for a concept map.
This event is free of charge, but registration is required; please RSVP by Thursday, March 27 to outoftheashes_weai@hotmail.com
Film Summary:
Set in 1946, on the first anniversary of Japan’s defeat, this film chronicles the hopeless efforts of a doctor in a poor neighborhood, trying to take a day off. His attempts to nap are foiled by a colorful stream of characters scarred by postwar trauma and lawlessness. The film’s guileless heart guides this tragic comedy to a deeply affecting conclusion. (Based on the short story by Ibuse Masuji.)
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“Pu San” (ICHIKAWA Kon, 1953)
Tuesday, April 8, 20086:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Alfred Lerner Hall is located at 2920 Broadway
(at W. 115th St).
Please go to http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/lerner.html for a concept map.
This event is free of charge, but registration is required; please RSVP by Friday, April 4 to outoftheashes_weai@hotmail.com
Film Summary:
Inspired by the eponymous comic strip, Pu San traces the misadventures of a hapless widower edging past his prime, trying to stay employed and out of jail, while keeping an eye on the landlord’s daughter, fittingly named Stubborn. Ichikawa manages to stir up a wicked and sardonic brew of raucous politics, rambunctious students, inflation, and corruption.
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“Black River” (KOBAYASHI Masaki, 1957)
Tuesday, April 15
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
8:00 PM-9:00 PM --- Panel Discussion
Featuring
Kim Brandt, Columbia University
Aaron Gerow, Yale University
Linda Hoaglund, Filmmaker, Translator, and "Out of the Ashes" curator
Hikari Hori, Columbia University
Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Alfred Lerner Hall is located at 2920 Broadway
(at W. 115th St).
Please go to http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/lerner.html for a concept map.
This event is free of charge. Registration is not necessary for Columbia University ID holders. For guests to Columbia, please RSVP by Sunday, April 13 to outoftheashes_weai@hotmail.com
Film Summary:
An early film by Kobayashi Masaki, who made a career out of films “pitted against entrenched power,” Black River exposes the organized crime, prostitution and corruption that proliferated around American military bases during and after the occupation. At the center of it all, a mild-mannered college student helplessly fumes as a girl is sucked into a life of prostitution by yakuza. Featuring a startling debut by the legendary actor Nakadai Tatsuya, this film is gripping from start to finish.
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About the Curator:
Linda Hoaglund was born in Japan, the daughter of American missionary parents, and was raised in rural Japan where she attended Japanese public schools. A graduate of Yale University, she was a bilingual news producer for Japanese television. She also worked as a producer for an independent American film production company. Since 1996, she has subtitled 200 Japanese films by directors including KUROSAWA Akira, MIYAZAKI Hayao, OSHIMA Nagisa, ICHIKAWA Kon, FUKASAKU Kinji, SAKAMOTO Junji, KORE-EDA Hirokazu, KUROSAWA Kiyoshi, YAGUCHI Shinobu and AOYAMA Shinji. She represents Japanese directors abroad and serves as an international producer’s liaison.
In 2004, she received a commendation from the Foreign Minister of Japan for her work promoting Japanese film abroad. She served as the Film Curator for the Japan Society in New York from 2005 – 2007. Ms. Hoaglund has also provided translations for numerous Japanese artists, novelists, photographers, playwrights and curators. In the summer of 2007, she provided the English translation of “HOKAIBO,” a kabuki performance at Lincoln Center starring Nakamura Kanzaburo.
She recently wrote and produced Wings of Defeat, a feature documentary about kamikaze survivors, currently in release in Japan and slated for international release in 2008. She also produced Wings of Defeat: Another Journey, a companion film.
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This series is presented in conjunction with the following Columbia University East Asian History courses:
G8871--Colloquium on the History of Modern Japan
W3869--Modern Japan, 1800 to the Present