Читать книгу A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors - Alexander Jacoby - Страница 9

(February 2, 1895–January 3, 1977)

阿部豊

A director from the mid-twenties, Abe had trained in Hollywood, where he played bit parts in films starring his compatriot, Sessue Hayakawa. After returning home, he became known as the Lubitsch of Japan, a reputation founded on his witty and polished social satires. A Mermaid on Land (Riku no ningyo, 1926) traced the romantic rivalry between two young women, one spoilt and rich, the other poor but sincere. Five Women around Him (Kare o meguru gonin no onna, 1927) focused on a bachelor and his several girlfriends. Most famous was The Woman Who Touched the Legs (Ashi ni sawatta onna, 1926), a twice-remade ironic comedy about a writer’s encounter with a female thief. These films, along with most of Abe’s prewar work, are now lost, but among his prewar sound films, Children of the Sun (Taiyō no ko, 1938) remains extant. This interesting story about a home for delinquent children in Hokkaido revealed his eye for landscape and confirmed his capability in a more serious vein.

The vague liberalism of that film was soon abandoned as Abe, with blockbusters such as Flaming Sky (Moyuru ōzora, 1940) and Fire on That Flag (Ano hata o ute, 1944), became one of the leading producers of nationalistic propaganda before and during the Pacific War. Even in the fifties, Battleship Yamato (Senkan Yamato, 1953) and I Was a Siberian POW (Watashi wa Shiberiya no horyo datta, 1952) exposed his continuing admiration for Japanese militarism. Much of Abe’s postwar work consisted of undistinguished genre films such as Desert in Ginza (Ginza no sabaku, 1958), a brutal and silly crime thriller set against the backdrop of Tokyo’s fashionable yet seedy Ginza district. However, he achieved a commercial success with the first film adaptation of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s novel about life among Osaka’s prewar upper middle class, The Makioka Sisters (Sasameyuki, 1950). Later, the freewheeling comedy Season of Affairs (Uwaki no kisetsu, 1959) carried some of his old satirical feeling in its amused take on contemporary social mores. It is unfortunate that the films which earned Abe his fame as a satirist in the silent era are not preserved today.

1925 Bokō no tameni / For the Alma Mater

Hasha no kokoro / Heart of a Champion

Shōhin eigashū / Collection of Short Stories on Film (co-director)

1926 Shinsei no aikō / New Life through the Light of Love

Nyōbō kawaiya / Loving Wife

Setsujoku no hi / Day of Vindication

Kyōko to Shizuko / Kyoko and Shizuko

Sekai no chiemono / The World’s Wisest Man

Riku no ningyo / A Mermaid on Land

Ashi ni sawatta onna / The Woman Who Touched the Legs

Shin Nihontō / New Japanese Island

1927 Kare o meguru gonin no onna / Five Women around Him

Tabi geinin / Traveling Players

Ningyō no ie / A Doll’s House

Shikabane wa katarazu / The Dead Don’t Talk

1928 Hanayome hanamuko saikonki / Record of the Bride and Groom’s Remarriage

Chikyū wa mawaru: Dainibu: Gendai hen / The World Turns: Part 2: Modern Chapter

Haha izuko / Where Is Mother?

1929 Kyōen onna samazama / Women in Competition

Karatachi no hana / Trifoliate Orange Blossom

Aojiroki bara / Pale Blue Rose

Hijō keikai / Caution: Emergency

1930 Josei homare / Woman’s Reputation

Nihonbare / Fair Weather

Haha sannin / Three Mothers

Nikkatsu onparēdo / Nikkatsu on Parade

1931 Nikkatsu aramōdo / Nikkatsu à la Mode

Gōruin / Success

1932 Tengoku no hatoba / Heaven’s Pier

Modan seisho: Tosei risshi tokuhon kan’ichi / Modern Bible: Model for Success in Modern Times, Volume One

1933 Hikari: Tsumi to tomo ni / Light: With a Sin

Suma no adanami / Ebb and Flow at Suma

Atarashiki ten (Zenpen; Kōhen) / The New Heaven (Parts 1 and 2)

1934 Kokoro no hatoba / The Heart’s Pier

Tetsu no machi / Town of Iron

Wakafūfu shiken bekkyo / Trial Separation of a Young Couple

Tajō busshin / Fickle but Not Unfeeling

1935 Nichizō getsuzō / Keepers of the Sun and Moon

Kaikoku Dainippon / Greater Japan, Maritime Nation

Midori no chiheisen (Zenpen; Kōhen) / The Green Horizon (Parts 1 and 2)

1936 Hakui no kajin / Beautiful Women in White

Ren’ai to kekkon no sho: Ren’ai hen / Book of Love and Marriage: Love Volume

Ren’ai to kekkon no sho: Kekkon hen / Book of Love and Marriage: Marriage Volume

1937 Jūji hōka / Crossfire

1938 Taiyō no ko / Children of the

Sun

1939 Waremokō: Zenpen / The Great Burnet: Part 1

Waremokō: Kōhen: Sen’ya ni saku / The Great Burnet: Part 2: Blooming on the Battlefield

Roppa no Hōjiro-sensei / Roppa as Mr. Hojiro the Teacher

Onna no kyōshitsu: Gakkō no maki: Nanatsu no omogake / Women’s Classroom: School Reel: Memories of Seven

Kodomo to heitai / Children and Soldiers

Onna no kyōshitsu: Kōhen / Women’s Classroom: Part 2

1940 Moyuru ōzora / Flaming Sky / Burning Sky

1942 Nankai no hanataba / Bouquet of the South Seas

1944 Ano hata o ute / Fire on That Flag / Dawn of Freedom

1945 Uta e! Taiyō / Sing! The Sun!

1946 Boku no ojisan / My Uncle

1947 Ai yo hoshi to tomo ni / Love, Live with the Stars!

1948 Ten no yūgao / Heaven’s Evening Glory

1949 Ryūsei / Shooting Star

Daitokai no kao / Face of the Big City

1950 Sasameyuki / The Makioka Sisters (lit. A Light Snowfall)

Aizenka / Scent of Enlightenment

1951 Nozokareta ashi / The Leg That Was Peeped At

Tsuki yori no haha / Mother from the Moon

1952 Ōzora no chikai / Oath of Heaven

Watashi wa Shiberiya no horyo datta / I Was a Siberian POW

Otome no honnō: Bōto hachinin musume / Young Woman’s Instinct: 8 Girls and a Boat

1953 Onna to iu shiro: Mari no maki / A Castle Called Woman: Mari’s Reel

Onna to iu shiro: Yūko no maki / A Castle Called Woman: Yuko’s Reel

Koibito no iru machi / Town of Lovers

Senkan Yamato / Battleship Yamato

1954 Shunshuku Oden no kata: Edo-jō enjō / The Desirable Lady Oden: Great Fire of Edo Castle

Nihon yaburezu / Japan Undefeated / Immortal Japan

1955 Seishun kaidan / Ghost Story of Youth

Hana shinju / Flower Pearl

Hanran / Rebellion

1956 Daihachi kanbō / Cell No. 8

Iro zange / Penitence for Lust

Nikutai no mitsuyu / People Smuggling

1957 Saigo no totsugeki / The Last Charge

Madamu / Madame

Suashi no musume / The Barefoot Girl

Mebana / The Awakening (lit. Female Flower)

1958 Shundeini / The Story of a Nun

Unga / The Flow / The Canal (lit.)

Ginza no sabaku / Desert in Ginza / Wasteland of a Metropolis

Ōsaka no kaze / Wind of Osaka

1959 Kamen no onna / Masked Woman

Nirenjū no Tetsu / “Double-Barreled” Tetsu

Uwaki no kisetsu / Season of Affairs

1960 Kizudarake no okite / Tarnished Rule

Shizukana datsugokusha / The Quiet Fugitive

1961 Daishusse monogatari / Story of Great Success

Inochi no asa / Morning of Life / Dawn of a Canvas