A dream of resistance: the cinema of Kobayashi Masaki

339 Pages·10.077 MB·English

by  Kobayashi, Masaki, Prince, Stephen

Advance Praise for A Dream of Resistance
Though director Kobayashi Masaki did not leave behind a large number of
works, he conveyed through his films the stupidity, misery, and emptiness of
war, which he experienced firsthand when he was forced to go to war. We see
the origins of this in the diary, screenplays, and shishōsetsu that he kept on
writing so as to leave behind proof of being alive during the days of his youth
when death was a constant neighbor.
He was regarded as a “filmmaker of steel.” But throughout his films—from
his first family drama to his final film, The Empty Table (Shokutaku no nai
ie)—you can see the figure of the director himself, drawn to beauty, friendly,
easily moved to tears, prone to feeling lonely, straightforward, and possess-
ing the heart of a youth. The reason that foreign audiences have praised and
loved his work is surely that they identify with the love of humanity that they
see in this figure.
It has been one hundred years since Kobayashi Masaki’s birth and twenty
since his death. I sincerely hope that through Professor Prince’s book, the
thoughts that director Kobayashi entrusted to his films will cross national
borders and reach a new generation.
—Kajiyama Koko, Managing Director,
Geiyukai, Kobayashi Masaki archive
All people possess dignity and should live in a manner befitting human beings.
Through his films, director Kobayashi Masaki insists that this is how human
existence ought to be. In The Human Condition, Harakiri, and Kaseki, this dig-
nity is conveyed through the tragic dimensions of characters’ lives. In Tokyo
saiban, it is communicated by holding all parties, including both accusers and
accused, responsible for moving towards peace and a wish for the repose of
countless souls. Kobayashi’s insistence on human dignity, situated in his sense
of aesthetics and ethics, has struck a chord with many people not only in Japan
but in each of the countries in which his works have been shown.
2016 marks one hundred years since director Kobayashi’s birth and twenty
years since his death. In commemoration, Professor Prince delves broadly
and deeply into the world of Kobayashi’s films, providing an introduction to
the international community. This will be a great boon to a new generation
of audiences.
—Ogasawara Kiyoshi, coauthor of
the screenplay for Tokyo saiban

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A DreAm of resistAnce
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The Cinema of Kobayashi Masaki
Stephen Prince
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark,
New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Prince, Stephen, 1955– author.
Title: A dream of resistance : the cinema of Kobayashi Masaki / Stephen Prince.
Description: New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017011903 (print) | LCCN 2017027501 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813592374
(E-pub) | ISBN 9780813592381 (Web PDF) | ISBN 9780813592350 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Kobayashi, Masaki, 1916–1996—Criticism and interpretation. | BISAC:
PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism. | BIOGRAPHY &
AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts.
Classification: LCC PN1998.3.M338885 (ebook) | LCC PN1998.3.M338885 P75 2017
(print) | DDC 791.4302/33092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017011903
A British Cataloging- in- Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2018 by Stephen Prince
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permis-
sion from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New
Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S.
copyright law.
c The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48–1992.
www .rutgersuniversitypress .org
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Susan

contents
Introduction 1
1 Conjoining Spirit and World 12
2 A Sharp and Piercing Thorn 70
3 The Logic of Negation 123
4 Guardians of the Gate 178
5 A Pilgrim on the Silk Road 240
Acknowledgments 297
Films by Kobayashi Masaki 299
Notes 301
Index 315
vii