Lukas Z. retweetledi
Kon Ichikawa explains why the Japanese filmmakers made more historical/Samurai pictures than modern films:
"Interviewer: Why have Japanese filmmakers been so interested in historical themes and period films?
Ichikawa: I don’t think Japanese films lean particularly toward the jidai-geki, or costume drama. Some people are interested in episodes of a certain era, but I would not want to make the distinction between jidai-geki and gendai-geki [contemporary drama or story].
To me they are the same. If I may add my opinion, films which have modern themes and modern implications should not be simply classified as jidai-geki, even if they are set before the Meiji era. They are indeed modern films although they may take the form of costume plays.
Interviewer: You don’t think there are more historical films made in Japan than in the United States, although we do have the ‘‘Western,’’ which may be thought of as similar to the jidai-geki?
Ichikawa: We probably have a few more and it may have some significance, in my case for one. It is true of course that there are more jidai-geki made here than gendai-geki. You see, film is an art which involves the direct projection of the time in which we live. It is a difficult point to state clearly, but my general feeling is that Japanese filmmakers are somewhat unable to grasp contemporary society.
In your country there seem to be many more dramatic current themes to portray. To render something into film art we really need to understand thoroughly what we want to describe. Unable to do this, many of us go back to history and try to elucidate certain themes which have implications for modern society.
Interviewer: Is it because Japanese society is undergoing great political and social change at the present time?
Ichikawa: Yes, that is correct."
("Voices From the Japanese Cinema", Joan Mellen, 1975)
Clip from:
An Actor's Revenge (1963)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
English
