Japanese Movies Journal

1: Write your response to the each of these films. The topic could be anything related to the film (style of cinematography, acting, costume, plot, …). Each respond should be separate to the others and around 300-500 words long.

I Was Born, But… [Umarete wa mita keredo, Yasujiro Ozu, 1932, 91 min.]

Ugetsu [Ugetsu monogatari, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953, 96 minutes]

Rashomon [Rashômon, Akira Kurosawa, 1950, 88 min.]

Late Spring [Banshun Yasujiro Ozu, 1949, 108 min.]

Gojira (Godzilla) [Gojira, Ishiro Honda,1954, 98 min.]

I Live in Fear [Record of a Living Being/Ikimono no kiroku, Akira Kurosawa, 1955, 103 min.]

Fireworks [Hana-bi, Takeshi Kitano, 1997, 103 min.]

Pigs and Battleships [Buta to gunkan, Shohei Imamura, 1961, 108 min.]

Rebellion [Joiuchi, Masaki Kobayashi, 1967, 128 min.]

Tampopo [Juzo Itami, 1985, 114 min.]

Shoplifters [Manbiki kazoku, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2018, 121 min.]

The Ring [Ringu, Hideo Nakata, 1998, 96 min.]

The Wind Rises [Kaze tachinu, Hayao Miyazaki, 2013, 126 min.]

2: Respond to the weekly discussion.

– Ozu is considered the most Japanese of directors. From the films you saw, and from the lectures, discuss why this is? Compare it to Yamanaka’s Humanity and Paper Balloons; how it is similar and how is it different?

– All three films this week are jidai-geki films. Are there differences in the way Kurosawa and Mizoguchi approach the past? Are there similarities beyond costuming? Can you make any conclusions about the way the two directors approach filmmaking?

– Takeshi Kitano’s film Fireworks is in essence a crime film. Discuss how it fits into that category and compare it to other crime films you have seen But also discuss how it differs from a standard crime film.

– Discuss how the filmmakers of Gojira and I Live in Fear approached the topic of nuclear radiation – what was similar in their approaches and what is different? Discuss the legacy of the films – how they are seen today and their relevance to today’s concerns and fears (i.e., the environment, nuclear weapons, pandemics)?