Currents in Japanese Cinema [Paperback]

Tadao Sato (Author), Gregory Barrett (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Japanese (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Amer Inc (September 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870118153
• ISBN-13: 978-0870118159
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Japanese Perspective on Japanese Film, July 8, 2000

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"hdg" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Currents in Japanese Cinema (Paperback)

There is a great deal of discussion these days about the inadequacy of Western critics treating non-Western materials, but it is deucedly difficult to find indigenous criticism in translation. The essays of Tadao Sato, one of Japan's important film critics, are thus extremely valuable for students and teachers of the subject. Sato's work is provocative, readable, and full of insight. He gives us a sense about how Japanese cinema speaks to the extraordinary crises and transitions that have affected the nation's people and culture during the past century. He treats not only art films but also talks about currents in popular cinema. He is not as exhaustive as Richie, but his overview is, perhaps for this reason, more coherent. He analyzes technical aspects of cinema and discusses the importance of actors and actresses as well as explores thematic aspects of Japanese film. He is, as translator and editor Barrett points out, "anti-feudalistic," so he gives less attention to the period films of Kurosawa than Western critics do. To compensate, however, he provides extremely valuable insight into the more "Japanese" domestic dramas of Ozu and Naruse. An essay on the impact of Western cinema on Japanese cinema gives a concise picture of cross-cultural influences. His essays on "Developments in the 60s" and "Developments in the 70s" demonstrate connections between "art" cinema and popular cinema. He does not consider anime, sci-fi genres, or more recent cinema in this collection. The book includes a useful chronology of developments in Japanese cinema through 1981. Barrett's essay on Sato creates important context for Sato's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WORTH THE HUNT, July 4, 2008

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Cesar Diaz "madmundo" (Bogota, COLOMBIA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Currents in Japanese Cinema (Paperback)

If you want to learn about Japanese cinema, I'd suggest one of two books: Donald Richie's "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film" and Tadao Sato's "Currents In Japanese Cinema". The difference: although Richie's work is actually very complete, compared to Satos's book, Richie's is almost "for dummies". I explain: Sato's "Currents" is not just an inventory of Japanese directors, films, synopsis and opinions, but also a first hand approach to the historic and cultural context and implications of those directors and films. Both are useful maps, but Sato's resembles more the territory.

Now, it doesn't cover the last 20 or 25 years, because, strangely enough, it hasn't been reprinted since the 80s. So, I actually bought a second hand copy from a very good seller, and although he said it had some minor wear, the book is in incredible shape after more than two decades: No underlines, no marks, no missing pages. More than enough for my 10 bucks.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great critical study of Japanese cinema, December 16, 2009

By 

Daryl Chin (Bklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Currents in Japanese Cinema (Hardcover)

It's a pity that this book is now out-of-print and only available from booksellers specializing in used books, because this is one of the essential works of criticism about the Japanese cinema. Sato is one of the finest critics to come from Japan; his very incisive comments are always thought-provoking and illuminating. As with all fine critics, he has his own perspective, and this can account for some very idiosyncratic views on certain films, but he's also powerful about the social contexts from which these films come. In this translation, the book is quite easy to read; in all, an excellent book for anyone interested in Japanese film.