A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to DVDs and Videos [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Widely considered the leading Western authority on Japan, Richie has a particular affinity for the nation's films, as is evident on every page of this authoritative survey. He emphasizes the collaborative nature of film, which is particularly appropriate since in Japanese culture the collective usually trumps the individual, and shows how Japanese cinema largely eschewed realism and narrative until it fell under Western influence. The section on the silent era, when live narrators, benshi, described films' stories to audiences, is particularly revelatory, since 90 percent of pre-1945 Japanese films haven't survived. Richie comments insightfully on the acknowledged masters-- Mizoguchi, Ozu, and Kurosawa--and also on other notable directors who are virtually unknown to even the most avid American cineasts. He finds less to praise about contemporary filmmakers, whose flashier, Westernized approach seems less to his liking. The impressive amount of information on films renowned and obscure and Richie's enthusiasm and critical acumen make this essential for film studies collections. Brief reviews of about 200 films, with notations on video availability, top things off nicely. Gordon Flagg
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"What Boswell was to Johnson, what Gibbon was to ancient Rome, Donald Richie is to the Japanese cinema." -Premiere Magazine

"[An] essential study."-The New York Times, "Arts and Leisure"

"The guide to DVDs and videos includes the names of the principals and capsule-summaries of the films and it alone worth the price of the book. A Hundred Years of Japanese Film is both illuminating and thought-provoking." -The Bloomsbury Review

"Richie's sense of both future and past remains as sharp as ever." -Film Comment

"Donald Richie is the leading U.S. authority on Japanese film." -American Cinematographer

"Donald Richie, whom we may call the 'Emperor' of Japanese film history, has done it again! This is probably the best, extensive 'digest' on all aspects of Japanese cinema to be available today in English." -Cinemaya

"Superb." -In These Times

"A concise, beautifully realized guide to the expansive history of Japanese film." -A Magazine: Inside Asian

Donald Richie is one of the foremost authorities on Japanese cinema, and has produced several classic works, including books on the world-renowned directors Kurosawa and Ozu. Richie here offers a highly readable insider's look at the achievements of Japanese filmmakers. He begins in the late 1800s, when the incipient industry took its inspiration from the traditional stories of Kabuki and Noh theatre, and finishes with the latest award-winning dramas showcased at Cannes. In between, Richie explores the roots and uniqueness of Japan's contribution to world cinema, illuminates the careers of Japan's rising stars and celebrated directors, and offers a fascinating view of the strategies and politics of the movie studios themselves.

Donald Richie is one of the foremost authorities on Japanese cinema, and has produced several classic works, including books on the world-renowned directors Kurosawa and Ozu. Richie here offers a highly readable insider's look at the achievements of Japanese filmmakers. He begins in the late 1800s, when the incipient industry took its inspiration from the traditional stories of Kabuki and Noh theatre, and finishes with the latest award-winning dramas showcased at Cannes. In between, Richie explores the roots and uniqueness of Japan's contribution to world cinema, illuminates the careers of Japan's rising stars and celebrated directors, and offers a fascinating view of the strategies and politics of the movie studios themselves.

Former Curator of Film at the New York Museum of Modern Art, DONALD RICHIE has written some forty books on Japan and its people, including definitive works on the Japanese film directors Kurosawa and Ozu. The film version of his travel classic, The Inland Sea, has been shown on PBS and won several prizes at international film festivals, as well as the National Geographic Earth Award. Public People, Private People, his portraits of famous and far-from-famous Japanese, received praise from many quarters. Of Richie's two collections of essays, A Lateral View and Partial Views, Susan Sontag said: "Donald Richie writes about Japan with an unrivaled range, acuity, and wit."
His latest book is The Japan Journals: 1947-2004.

A well-known director (American Gigolo, Affliction) and screenwriter (Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ), PAUL SCHRADER also has a strong feeling for Japan and its films. Not only did he write and direct Mishima, considered by many to be his masterpiece, he also contributed to the very first appreciation of the Japanese yakuza film genre and wrote the seminal Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer.