JAPANESE FILM: THE VIRTUAL AND THE REAL COURSE DESCRIPTION: Spring 2008 JAPN 480

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1 Spring 2008 JAPANESE FILM: THE VIRTUAL AND THE REAL JAPN 480 M :00-2:15p Tu Th 121 Olscamp Hall SCREENINGS Monday 4-7 Gish Film Theater COURSE DESCRIPTION: This survey of Japanese film from the silent era through the 2000s examines how films and filmmakers have dealt with the issue of representational truth and documentary fiction. From its origins through periods of high consumption, war, prosperity, angst, and destitution, filmic history is a history of the cultural reception of a technology with a marvelous, seductive allure while film promises to record an image of reality by chemically captured light reflected from real objects, that image is continuously confused with the reality it inscribes. Film s inherent connection through light to the real world of tangible objects has served a multitude of ends in Japan. This course will explore how fictional representation plays with events and truths. COURSE OBJECTIVES: To understand salient features and develop basic knowledge in the following areas: Japanese film history. film aesthetics, technical aspects of the film medium, and Japanesecultural history. To learn to interpret film through sensitivity to cultural context and symbolic content while coming to understand the stakes involved in interpretation. To refine your understanding of the relationship between works of art and social/cultural context. To learn to organize thoughts and express them clearly. To learn to think critically about film s unique role in representation and to become a more engaged, critical spectator of film and related media. All course readings are in English. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. The course assumes no prior knowledge of film theory or Japanese language or culture. Jonathan Abel jeabel@bgsu.edu Office Hours: T, TH 2:30-3:30pm or by appointment Office Location: 119 Shatzel Jitsuroku eiga (True records) Bordering on documentaries, a branch of yakuza (mobster) films pioneered by Fukasaku Kinji were said to represent the reality of lives of organized crime, bordering on documentaries. But exactly how real could they be? [1]

2 GRAND MASTERS FLASH Course Schedule Week 1 Introduction Tuesday January 8 What is Japanese Film? Silent Film: Benshi and Chambara Shibukawa Bangoro (1922) Thursday January 10 Histories, Historicity, and Time of Cinema Backward Flow (1928) McDonald, Keiko I. "Introduction. Standish, Chapter 1 Japanese Cinema, Corrigan, Six Approaches to Writing about Film Week 2 Light and Sound Monday 14, 4-7pm Optional Screening Serpent (1925), Tokyo March (1929), Page of Madness (1926), Water Magician (1933) Tuesday January 15 Dym, Tokugawa Musei Standish, Cinema, Nationalism and Empire Thursday January 17 Tanizaki, The Present and Future of Moving Pictures, Miscellaneous Observations on Cinema Foucault, Ceci n est pas un pipe Selections. Monaco, Film Theory Friday, January 18 Special screening Ugetsu (1953) MIZOGUCHI Week 3 Auteur Theory Masters One: MIZOGUCHI Monday 21, MLK DAY NO SCREENING Tuesday January 22 IN CLASS Sisters of the Gion (1936) Richie, Mizoguchi and the Period Film McDonald,. "Synergy of Theme, Style, and Dialogue" Thursday January 24 Bordwell, Film Art Glossary. Kracauer, Basic Concepts Week 4 Genre NARUSE Monday 28, 4-7pm Optional Screening. Naruse s Repast (1951), Tuesday January 29 IN CLASS Ozu Shorts Richie, New Gendaigeki, Ozu and Naruse Isolde, Cinema and the state Thursday January 31 Dern, Cinematography: Creative Use of Reality James Naremore, Authorship Week 5 History Masters 2: OZU Monday February 4, 4-7pm Optional Screening DOUBLE FEATURE: Floating Weeds OZU (1934, 1959) Tuesday February 5 Guest Lecture McDonald, Floating Weeds High, Ozu s War Movie Thursday February 7 Yoshida, Ozu s Anti-Cinema Chapterrs 1&2 Brakhage, Metaphors on Vision excerpts. Week 6 Formalism Masters 3: KUROSAWA Monday 11, 4-7pm Optional Screening Heaven and Hell (1963) KUROSAWA Tuesday February 12 IN CLASSThey Who Step on the Tiger's Tail (1945) Thursday February 14 An overview in clips from gendaigeki Kurosawa. Allen, Psychoanalytic Film Theory Standish, Cinema and Humanism Week 7 Toward New Representations Monday 18, 4-7pm Optional Screening Pornographers (1966) Tuesday February 19 IMAMURA/HARA/HANI Debord, Society of Spectacle (Selections) Thursday February 21 Pribram, Spectatorship and Subjectivity Deleuze, Preface to Cinema 1 Week 8 Rethinking the Period Drama Monday 25, 4-7pm Optional Screening Seppuku (1962) Tuesday February 26 Mellen, Harakiri Wood, Ideology, Genre, Auteur Thursday February 28 Slavoj Zizek: The Reality of the Virtual Clips James, Is There A Class in this Text? Prince, True Lies: Perceptual Realism Week 9 SPRING BREAK Auteur as Nation Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Kurosawa are continually upheld as the big three of Japanese film, but who makes this claim, why, and when? Is the camera a silent recorder or a weapon of mass destruction? [2]

3 Course Schedule...after the fall? Week 10 Monday 10, 4-7pm Optional Screening Face of Another (1966) Tuesday March 11 TESHIGAHARA Marie-Laure Ryan, Voices and Worlds Thursday March 12 Cazdyn, Historiography PAPER : TOPIC AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE Week 11 Monday 17, 4-7pm Optional Screening Death by Hanging (1968) Tuesday March 18 OSHIMA/YOSHIDA Standish, Cinema and Transgression Yoshida, Ozu s Anti-cinema selections Thursday March 20 Cazdyn, Origin, Nation, Aesthetic Week 12 Monday 24, 4-7pm Optional Screening DOUBLE FEATURE: Funeral Parade of Roses (1969), Blind Beast (1969) Tuesday March 25 MATSUMOTO/ MASUMURA Documentarists of Japan # 9, Matsumoto Toshio Thursday March 27 Mulvey, Visual Pleasure & Narrative Cinema: Thomas Sheridan, "Musings on Telepresence and Virtual Presence." PAPER THESIS AND OUTLINE Week 13 Monday 31, 4-7pm Optional Screening Trash the Books, Take to the Streets (1971) Tuesday April 1 TERAYAMA Thursday April 3 Domenig, On ATG Selections from ATG Retrospective. Week 14 Monday 7, 4-7pm Optional Screening DOUBLE FEATURE Kantō Wanderer 1963, Graveyard of Honor 1975 Tuesday April 8 SUZUKI/FUKASAKU Yakuza (selections) Toppa mono (selections) Thursday April 10 Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation selections Week 15 Monday 14, 4-7pm Optional Screening DOUBLE FEATURE Burst City (1982), Tetsuo (1992) Tuesday April 15 ITAMI/SOGO ISHII/ TSUKAMOTO Thursday April 17 Tatsumi, Full Metal Apache Selection Week 16 Monday 21, 4-7pm Optional Screening Picnic (1996), Dolls (2002) Tuesday April 22 IWAI/KITANO/MIIKE/ KORE-EDA Standish, Reflections Yoshimoto, The University, Disciplines, National Identity: Why Is There No Film Studies in Japan? Thursday April 25 Visitor Q (2002) Clips Week 17 EXAM WEEK PAPERS DUE Monday Friday May 2 1:15-3:15 --PRESENTATION OF PAPERS-- CORPORATE CAPITAL What happens when the camera is wrenched from the hands of masters by their students? Formal Powers of the Studio For half a century, the studios dominated Japanese filmmaking, canonizing directors and toppling them. In this context, what is more relevant to how we read a film the company or the people that produce it? What did TV do to the system? How is the net changing things? [3]

4 Codes of Honor: ASSIGNMENTS There is zero tolerance for plagiarizing or cheating in this class. DO NOT DO IT!!! When you are caught you will receive a zero for that portion of your work. And you risk disciplinary action by the university... and mild forms of decapitation by your professor. Students are expected to screen films prior to Tuesday s class. All readings not in the following list of required texts are available in pdf format or by link via the website. Students should consult the books on reserve for their papers and presentations. READINGS Books are available from the University Bookstore. Required: Students are required first and foremost to screen all of the films for a given week prior to the Tuesday meeting. Isolde Standish, A New History of Japanese Cinema: A Century Of Narrative Film (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006) ISBN-10: Scott Nygren, Time Frames: Japanese Cinema and the Unfolding of History (Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2007) ISBN-10: Yoshida Kiju, Ozu's Anti-Cinema (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, 2003) ISBN-10: Students who cannot attend the optional screenings at the Gish are required to view the films on reserve at the language lab. Useful References: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) A Short Guide to Writing about Film Bordwell, Film Art: An Introduction Monaco, How to Read a Film Suggested: Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Duke University Press, 2000) ISBN-10: Eric Cazdyn, The Flash of Capital: Film and Geopolitics in Japan (Duke University Press, 2002) ISBN-10: Donald Richie, One Hundred Years of Japanese Film (Kodansha International, 2005) ISBN Tom Mes, Jasper Sharp, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (Stone Bridge Press, 2005) ISBN Also please see the lengthy list of materials on reserve at the library. The list is also posted on the course website. THE FINE PRINT: ATTENDANCE LATE POLICY POLITENESS FOOD & FRIENDS Be sure to mark the attendance sheet at each class meeting or Gish screening. Also make sure you sign in at the Language Center if you are watching a FILM. Every day an assignment is late will result in the lowering grade for that assignment by one rank (if the paper was to receive an A, it will receive an A- if turned in late within 24 hours of the deadline or a B+ if within 48 hours, etc.) Everyone taking the course will have to present at some point. As presenters and as discussion participants respect your peers and their thoughts. Neither food of any kind nor friends who are not enrolled in the course are allowed to come to the screenings. [4]

5 COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Individual Work 50% Film Journal 25% 10 short (one- or two- pages) reports on films viewed in class will be due within one week of their screening at the beginning of following week s film. Entries must note the following: 1) Film name and year of release 2) Director s name 3) Production company name 4) Setting 5) Main characters names and brief descriptions (actors names if important) 6) Plot summary 7) Themes, motifs, recurring images 8) Notable scenes 9) Most importantly, thoughts on the film (between five and fifteen sentences.) These can be comments, criticisms, or questions. They should relate the film to class discussion and/or the readings. Journals are not to be summaries. See Film Journal Guidelines on Course website for more details Term Paper 25% A term paper worth one quarter of the entire grade for the course will be due during exam week. Papers are individual labors. These research paper will include a close analysis and interpretation (not mere summary) of at least one FILM shown for the class. The paper will discuss how the FILM relates to several of the course readings. The paper will include of print sources not used in class. Web sources are permitted but not in lieu outside print sources. The finished products should be between seven and ten pages (excluding bibliography, appendices, photos, and diagrams). All papers should be in the MLA (Modern Language Association) style format. Students are encouraged to use the Bibliography of Asian Studies, JSTOR and Project MUSE databases to find relevant books and articles. 5% of your paper grades are determined by paper-related assignments. (Meeting with me during office hours to approve your paper topic, handing in thesis statements, and handing in outlines.) For more details on papers please refer to Guidelines for Writing Critical Papers. Participation 50% Attendance & Preparation 20% Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Students are expected to complete all of the reading and screenings for the week in time for Tuesday class. If a student has extenuating circumstances regarding either of these requirements, that student should contact me immediately. In order to receive credit for attendance, you must not only be present in class, but also bring marked copies of the readings to class and be prepared to give your opinions and questions on the reading. You must also bring any written material assigned for that class meeting. FILMS: Students are expected to view all course films prior to the Tuesday of week they are assigned. Students unable to attend the screenings can find the DVDs on reserve at the LLC. Some films are also available at the library. At all locations students must sign-in to receive attendance credit. PARTICIPATION: In order to receive credit for in-class discussion, you must me a self-assessment report. On the last Friday, of When is the eye of the beholder slashed? every month students must me a a self-evaluation report assessing their own in-class performance. The selfassessment should include the words selfassessment in the subject header and a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F. In-Class Group Presentation 30% The group presentation will consist of a research project and in-class oral/visual presentation. The purpose of the presentations is to educate the class on some contexts to a given week s film which may be confusing or which may have been touched on only tangentially in class lectures or readings. Students will also make interpretive readings of particular scenes from films during their presentations. WIKIs (consisting of visual aids, timelines, definitions of terms, and/or annotated bibliographies) are required. All groups must plan a meeting with the instructor to discuss their plan and work at least two week prior to their presentation. All students must sign up for a week to give a presentation by the third week of class. For more detail, see presentation guidelines. Important Notes!!! This syllabus is in flux. Any changes to the schedule will be announced in class or via (so make sure your is up-to-date with blackboard and make sure you check it). Any printed version of this syllabus is likely already out of date. Be sure to download the latest electronic version from the blackboard site. Check the date here: LAST UPDATED: 12/13/09 See Assignment Guidelines on BlackBoard Site for info on: Film Jounals Term Papers Presentations WIKIs Raise Your Participation Grade This winter we have the unprecedented opportunity of having five Japanese films come to campus as part of the International Film festival. Attend as many as you can and get bonus participation points. Make sure you sign in with Professor Abel at the screenings. [5]

6 SPRING 2008 Gish Film Theater Screenings Monday 4-7pm All students are strongly advised to come to every screening! Though DVDs will be available through the library or LLC and the Gish screenings are optional, all of these films were produced to be screened in large public OPENING TO THE SCREEN format not in private or on a screen the size of a piece of paper. Whether you choose to watch the films at the Gish screenings or the LLC, be sure to sign in. Some words about the Gish Film Theater... We are fortunate to have the opportunity to screen the films in the historic Gish Film Theater. With this privilege comes some responsibility: We must not bring food or drinks into the theater. We must keep our feet off the back of seats. Friends Though there will be plenty of room for friends in the theater, the screenings are only open to students taking the course. Please resist the temptation to invite your friends, family, acquaintances, or other random strangers you happen to meet on the way to the screenings. Course screenings are NOT open to the public!!! Do invite your friends to the open screenings at the International Film Festival and impress them with your knowledge of Japanese film history, technique, and trivia. This course begins with the presumption that all filmic images are created equal. Their value may not always be apparent at first glance. Films in this course have been chosen on the basis of their historical, innovative, and aesthetic importance, not on the basis of approval by the MPAA. As such, some of the films contain scenes of violence and/or sexual content represented in ways unfamiliar to Hollywood cinema. Students are expected to respect their peers and the inherent value of the films regardless of the emotional reactions evoked by the images. [6]