Underdogs of Modern Cinema: Japanese New Wave
Date originally created: May 3, 2005
In the years and decades after World War II, a revolution was happening across all aspects of modern life around the globe. Economic growth created new jobs, both in the United States as well as abroad. In Europe, a handful of countries wanted both political and economic cooperation to prevent future conflicts so the European Union was established. Woman finally got the rights they deserved, playing an important role in a war that paved the way for future employment and increased societal status. The entertainment sector was changing as well. Filmmakers from across the globe started to change their filmmaking methods in order to shatter traditional cinematic conventions. Movie-goers got to enjoy an explosion of "New Wave" cinema as it was called, a style previously never seen before. In Japan, this style was heavily influenced by films coming out at the time in France. These movies broke social barriers, changing narrative structure from a mundane linear format. The visuals in these films started to become radical and provocative to challenge the "establishment", both culturally and politically. Even though Japanese New Wave Cinema was usually overshadowed by its French counterpart globally, New Wave films spurred a development in the Japanese film making process all across the Land of the Rising Sun.
Traditionally, Japanese movies have been dominated by major studios such as Shochiku, Tobo, and Daiei which favored traditional narratives and well-established directors. However, the post-war era brought in rapid modernization, youth rebellion, and political unrest in response to the changed landscape that World War II caused. Steeped in it's own imperial past, the events of World War II uprooted Japan's old-fashioned mindset and turned it on its head. The youth of Japan wanted a change and it started to show in all aspects of life, including entertainment. It was this fast-changing landscape that forged a new generation of directors who wanted to document this shift in Japanese culture.
As noted, Japanese New Wave was influenced by France's similar cinematic shift at the time. France's New Wave movement gave power to a new generation of filmmakers who previously weren't already in the industry. Most of them were critics, yes, but essentially the floodgates opened for anybody with an interest in movie making to get in on the action and try their hand at making a movie. Japan's New Wave movement occurred more "in the industry" so to say. Sparked by new film making methods created by newcomers to these studios, Japanese New Wave helped to rejuvenate Japan's film making image by giving new and younger directors freedom to experiment. Even though these new directors were given everything they needed by these established studios, they went against tradition and made films that were a complete 180 from what had been put out before. In a sense, they changed these studios into something totally new while keeping their venerable names.
Focusing on the filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, we can examine this cultural shift in Japan and how Japanese New Wave changed film making not only for already established studios but for the entirety of Japan as well. During the two World Wars, most films produced by Japanese film studios were largely seen as propaganda. Motifs of these films focused on the reality of war and typical war-time themes like other countries invading Japan or how war affected Japanese life. Using studio Shochiku (where Nagisa Oshima got his start) as an example, this could be seen in films such as Rikugun (Army) and even in animation, like Momotaro: Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro: Sacred Sailors). When the war was over, there was an initial revival of the safe and theatrical style of films that were seen as familiar to Japanese audiences before World War I and II, but it was short lived. By the start of the 1960's, audiences wanted something new and Shochiku's films were starting to be seen as "old-fashioned". Rival studios like Toho and Nikkatsu brought in younger directors that were creating movies that focused on the youth of Japan which were proving to be very popular among audiences. In response to this, Shochiku was forced to do the same and launched their studio's "new wave policy" which gave new talent the power and the tools to create their unrestricted filmmaking visions. One of these fresh faces at Shochiku, a recent university grad by the name of Nagisa Oshima, made his debut feature film under Shochiku named A Town of Love and Hope in 1959. Originally titled by Oshima The Boy Who Sells Pigeons, this film went against the grain of studio Shochiku's usually safe and family-friendly films. It stars a child who comes from a poverty-stricken family and is forced into a life of petty crime to pay for his mother's medical bills. The boy has to make ends meet by selling pigeons who end up returning to the family's home only to be resold again for profit. This scam eventually attracts the interest of a rich woman who takes the young man under her wings in the hopes of landing him a successful job. Upon release, Shochiku studio head Shiro Kido wasn't a fan of the film's theme of delinquency and punished Oshima by suspending him for six months. Even after being rehired by the studio, Oshima continued to produce his style of provocative cinema into 1960 with films such as Cruel Story of Youth and Night and Fog In Japan. Upon the release of Night and Fog In Japan, Nagisa Oshima once again struck a nerve with studio Shochiku who immediately withdrew the film in the wake of Inejiro Asanuma's (a Japanese Socialist Party politician) assassination by far-right student Otoya Yamaguchi. The film touched on the political and social unease of the Anpo Protests and includes themes of student activism and criticism of the modern Zengakuren opposition. In response to this revoking by the studio, Oshima left Shochiku and started his own production company, where he had the freedom to direct his features without any restrictions. These films often touched on themes of rape, extortion, human guilt and justice. One film released during this time period, Death by Hanging in 1968, dealt with these themes of negative human natures and showcased how imperfect the human species really is. It employed the typical "New Wave" cinema hallmarks of social crimes and discrimination, touching on the reality of how fickle we are as a human species. Using Nagisa Oshima as an example for Japanese New Wave cinema, you can see how much the style was connected to the identity of Japanese society after World War II and how it brought Japan into a modern era for film making. Now that we have examined the themes of this powerful cinematic movement, let's take a look at the techniques that filmmakers like Oshima used to elevate their movies above their predecessors.
New Wave filmmakers utilized unconventional techniques to tell stories to changing audience tastes. Unlike the more linear plots of Japan's cinematic past, audiences got to enjoy fragmented narrative structures, where stories lack linear plots and use non-traditional disordered narratives. These disoriented plots were reflective of the postwar disorientation felt across Japan at the time. If we go back to Nagisa Oshima's Night and Fog In Japan, we can see this on display due to the flashback sequences for Nozawa in the movie. These flashbacks bring back both personal and political memories for Nozawa, symbolism reminding viewers of the political unrest in recent years. Besides changes in storytelling, there was visual and auditory experimentation as well. Often, there was heavy use of wide-angle lenses, jump cuts, unusual framing, and handheld camera work which added to a movie's uniqueness. In Tokyo Drifter, directed by Seijun Suzuki, budget cuts by production company Nikkatsu led to Suzuki getting creative with the camera work to properly convey the fight scenes in the movies, amplifying the surrealism. In the audio department, unorthodox methods for audio were used as well. In Woman In the Dunes by Hiroshi Teshigahara. The film's composer Toru Takemitsu composed experimental music that clashes with the desert setting of the movie. As Roger Ebert wrote in his review of the film, "The score by Toru Takemitsu doesn't underline the action (Eiji Okada's desert trips) but mocks it, with high, plaintive notes, harsh, like a metallic wind." The new and experimental aspects of Japanese New Wave are what make movies from this era memorable. A post-war ravaged Japan was a perfect setting to try these new ideas, and filmmakers in Japan recognized this. Movies made during the Japanese New Wave movement helped to break new ground that future movie makers could utilize and much like French New Wave, it left a lasting impact on cinema.
Japan's New Wave movement left an incredible mark in cinematic history and it's effects have been used and portrayed by directors decades later. Inside Japan, the New Wave movement created a new generation of Japanese directors, who's impact can be felt as recent as the 1990's. Legendary director Takeshi Kitano uses New Wave techniques in his existential Yakuza films. Features of New Wave can be seen in Shinya Tsukamoto's cyberpunk classics, like Tetsuo: The Iron Man and in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's horror films like Cure. Globally, Japanese New Wave has gained influence on Western Filmmakers as well. In Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Jim Jarmusch's works, elements of Japanese New Wave can be seen in films like Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai or Kill Bill. Japan's New Wave movement helped lay the groundwork for experimental film as well like in Funeral Parade of Roses, often considered a forerunner to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. The New Wave movement of Japan helped to shape the future of cinema in the country and, much like France's movement, abroad. Because Japan was able to successfully break away from their cinematic past and embraced a new cinematic future, New Wave filmmakers created a revolution in movie making magic that left a legacy that continues to be employed and enjoyed today.