This was a programme of film curated by Alexander Jacoby and Johan Nordström with, as co-organiser, The National Film Archive of Japan. Kinugasa is best known for his early avant-garde films Kurutta ichipeiji / A Page of Madness, (1926) and Jujiro / Crossways, (1928). Yet Kinugasa’s work, made over four decades and over a hundred films, covered a rich variety of genres.

Kinugasa (1896 to 1982) started out in the film industry as an actor – a female impersonator (onnagata) at a time when women’s roles were still played by men. In the early 1920s, as studios moved towards the use of actresses, Kinugasa began his directorial career. During the silent era he worked at Makino Pro, the company established by pioneering film-maker Shozo Makino, as well as producing his experimental silent films, A Page of Madness and Crossways, independently. Later he worked at several of Japan’s major film studios, Shochiku, Toho and Daiei; these titles were mainstream releases which were well received by critics and audiences. Kinugasa’s films include literary adaptations, films set in Japanese theatre, and period dramas.

He scripted or co-scripted almost all his own films: he was  a stylist who worked in monochrome and colour. Japanese critics, praised his use of the close-ups and his direction of actors. He frequently worked with major Japanese stars.

Kurutta Ichipelji / A Page of Madness, 1926

This was an independently produced film, an avant-garde work that completely disregarded the conventions of mainstream Japanese cinema at that time. It is also a film that even today is a challenging viewing. Apart from the credits there is only one title card in a running time of 79 minutes. The basic situation is as follows:

this story about the guilt ridden husband of a madwoman who takes a job as a janitor in an asylum to be near her.

I have seen the film several times now and I was able at this screening to follow the film’s development, it is not strictly a narrative drama. The husband and wife appear throughout the film and, at times, they are joined by what I assume are a daughter and younger son. There are frequent scenes with fellow inmates and with the staff, doctors, nurses and administrators. We see the practices of the institution, the intense expression of inmates and later in the film a dramatic point where the control of the staff  breaks down but is finally restored.

It is a matter of judgement how much of what we see is actuality and how much is subjective imaginings by both the inmates and the family members of the wife. The Festival catalogue quotes one writer,

the film’s “doubling of past and present, reality and illusion”, which often makes it challenging for the viewer to distinguish between subjective and objective elements.

The inmates in particular perform in an extremely expressive manner. The style uses low-key effects with frequent shadows reminiscent of expressionist films. And at times there is relatively fast editing of the images.

The screening was introduced by Tomita Mika of the National Film Archive of Japan. The print was restored from an original nitrate copy. The film had been thought lost for decades and then in the 1970s Kinugasa found a 35mm print in a shed. In the first instance the film was released in a 16mm sound version; and that is how I first saw it. Now, the print is in proper silent aspect ratio and projected at a proper frame rate. This resulted in now complete opening credits and, Tomita told us, the addition of a very pale blue tint which was in the original release. This seemed so pale that I had difficulty in deciding whether I had noted it or not.

As a silent we also enjoyed musical accompaniment from Gabriel Thibaudeau at the piano and Silvia Mandolini on the violin. I thought the accompaniment was impressive, bringing out the dramatic but often discordant tone of the film.

Yukinojô Henge / known internationally as An Actor’s Revenge, 1935

Note, Yukinojô’ is the name of the main character,

The Japanese title carries a double meaning; “henge” refers to a costume change in the theatre as well as to a ghost.

The source novel was serialised in a Japanese newspaper in 1934. The narrative revolves around onnagata, a kabuki actor specialising in female roles. Here the lead is played by Hayashi Chojiro: later, under the name of Hasegawa Kazuo, he appeared in a remake in colour in 1963. The earlier version was a popular success. It seems that the fairly lengthy film was distributed in two episodes of feature length. The surviving version is a condensed print of both versions. Thus, there are some notable and slightly confusing ellipsis and a narrative voice over filling in the plot.

Young Yukitarō loses his parents when the commit suicide This is because the father’s business is bankrupted and the family shamed by three rivals. Left alone, Yukitarō is adopted by an actor-manager of a kabuki troupe based in Osaka. Developing as an onnagata he takes the name of Yukinojô. He prowess makes him a star and, finally, he is invited to perform in Edo, the then capital of Japan, (later renamed Tokyo). The rich and privileged live here, including the three men responsible for the death of his parents. Yukitarō is a popular success. And he maintains his feminine style off-stage as well as on-stage. Working his way through the trio, and using his famed and star status, one-by-one Yukinojô / Yukitarō wreaks his revenge. An important character, a local thief Yamitarō, provides a narrative voice and is also played by Chojiro Hayashi.

The patchwork nature of the film rather weakens the narrative drive. However, Chojiro Hayashi is impressive in his two roles and commands the centre of the screen. There are relatively extensive scenes from Kabuki dramas, which is fascinating. And there is an underlying macabre tone as the orphan manipulates and subverts the villains.

Kawanakajima Kassen / Battle of Kawanakajima, 1941

This is a historical film about a famous event; the key battle in a series of conflicts, this taking place in 1561. This was a period of ‘Warring States’; and here two powerful war lords fought over control of the large and important Shinano Province.

By 1941, with the Pacific War likely to start soon, Government and military censorship was  dominant with a demand for serious historical studies and an emphasis on military values. Yet,

Kinugasa strove to show the human side of war, and the ultimate mood is more tragic than heroic.

Shot in black and white and running just on two hours the film used locations from the North of the country, close to but not actually at the historical site. There are three strands running through the film. At the opening w encounter the ordinary foot and mounted soldiers from one of the armies. Their activities are part of the motivation for local villagers fleeing the area before battle commences. Both a foot soldier and a young female villager are key characters. And later we see the preparations and strategies of the commanders and their leading military officers.

There is an amount of initial skirmishing and then the onset of the full battle; a violent and bloody affair with substantial casualties. But Kinugasa’s approach is to emphasise the experiences of the ordinary people, both civilians and rank and file. Thus the film ends with the plane on which much of the battle was fought full of dead and dying soldiers.  Among these move the surviving villages, some distraught by the violence and loss of life; some taking the opportunity for looting. The tone is tragic rather than valorising and it is a surprising almost anti-war tone for the period.

Jujiro / Crossways, 1928

This is another silent by Kinugasa. I reviewed the film when it was screened at the Leeds International Film Festival. The print was sourced from the BFI archive, the same version I had seen before. On this occasion Donald Sosin provided the musical accompaniment.

This was an avant-garde work, though it has a narrative that is discernible in a way that in A Page of Madness is challenging.

Daibutsu Kaigen / Dedication of the Great Buddha, 1952

I unfortunately missed this film as the second screening was cancelled when rain forced the title in the Piazza Maggiore to be moved to the Arlecchino and Jolly cinemas.

Kinugasa was something of a specialist in period films set in a more remote past. This film  is in the Nara Period (710-784), when the city of Heijokyo, now Nara, south of present-day Kyoto, became the country’s first permanent capital. Under the acknowledged influence of Tang dynasty China and fired by zeal for the then recently imported creed of Buddhism, Japan attained a new level of cultural sophistication and artistic achievement.

The film focuses on the creation of one of Japan’s iconic monuments, the Great Buddha enshrined in the vast temple of Todaiji in Nara (which until the late 20th century remained the largest wooden building in the world). In a heavily fictionalised version of events, Kazuo Hasegawa plays the architect hired to create the idol, and the film charts the conflict with those opposed to its creation.

The screenings were in the Cinema Jolly, a venue which hosted many of the 35mm screenings, including all of the films by Kinugasa.

Inaugurated in the 1950s, it has a comfortable spoon-shaped stalls area and a 55m2 (10 x 5.5m) screen.

The screen has proper masking; not used for every title. The auditorium seats just under 400. Whilst the projection uses Cinemeccanica Victoria projectors, produced in Milan,  with a Barco machine for digital.