Multiple Choice Flashcards
Shochiku’s “Kamata flavor” & the shomin-geki
Subcategory of gidai-geki (films of contemporary life), the shomin-geki were films about lower-class life. Shochiku’s “kamata flavor” had a mixture of tears and laughter, but mostly laughter. Aimed at urban female audience, showing work, romance, and family life in cities. Could point to social problems, but had to have an optimistic view of human nature.
Kamata Flavor: A warm, sentimental style from Shochiku’s Kamata Studio (1920s-30s), focused on everyday life with humor and melodrama. Key directors include Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse.
Shomin-geki: “Common people’s drama” portraying working-class struggles, family dynamics, and modernization in realistic, urban settings.
Legacy: These styles shaped Japanese cinema, influencing postwar directors like Ozu with their humanistic storytelling.
Wife, Be Like a Rose! (1935)
Director: Mikio Naruse
Studio: Shochiku
First Japanese sound film to be distributed in the US, in 1937
A shomin-geki classic about Kimiko, a modern Tokyo woman, trying to reconcile her estranged parents. The film explores family tensions, modernization vs. tradition, and evolving gender roles in prewar Japan.
Cadre system
(this is from a comparison of Japan and Hollywood in the 1930’s)
Directors and scriptwriters often had control over their products, with filmmakers working as a consistent group across films (Nikkatsue and Shochiku)
How did the Japanese government reorganize the film industry in 1941?.
Major state control of the film industry in 1941:
Forced consolidation of the film industry into 3 firms (Shochiku, Toho, Daiei)
Direct support for newsreels, shorts, and films celebrating Japanese culture
Patriotic films about the war effort
Pressure to tone down experimentation
Censorship: Strict controls ensured films promoted nationalism and military values.
Socialist Realism
Socialist Realism is an art style mandated in Soviet Union from 1930s, emphasizing:
Ideology: Glorification of socialism, the working class, and Communist ideals.
Themes: Heroism, progress, and unity under party leadership.
Style: Accessible, optimistic, and realistic, rejecting avant-garde or abstract forms.
It served as propaganda to inspire loyalty and depict a utopian vision of society.
Official doctrine for literature in 1934 / for cinema by 1935
Promote policies of the communist party / “party-mindedness”
Depict ordinary people in a sympathetic way / “people-centeredness”
Present Idealized image of the working class (meant as role models)
Free of “formalism” (no stylistic experimentation)
Chapayev (1934)
(Georgi and Sergei Vasilyev, 1934)
The model Socialist Realist film / extremely popular !
Civil war film / biographical film
Shift away from the masses as protagonist, to an emphasis on a “positive hero”
Romantic subplot, no experimentation
Why did the Nazis gradually nationalize the film industry, instead of doing so immediately?
The Nazis gradually nationalized the film industry to avoid backlash, maintain stability, and smoothly integrate propaganda. Full control was achieved by 1942.
Gradual nationalization through secret purchases (completed by 1942)
From text: “By contrast, the Nazi regime that came to power in Germany in 1933 supported capitalism, so it did not seize the privately owned film industry. Instead, the Nazis nationalized the industry by quietly buying companies.”
Text: “When the Nazis came to power, there was no pressing need for the government to interfere. Most shares in the largest company, Ufa, belonged to the powerful right-wing media mogul Alfred Hugenbeg, (who was briefly minister of econ in the new regime). ALthough many Uga officials opposed the Nazis, the company made some of the earliest Fascist films.”
Finally, “Nationalization was not tried immediately for another reason: Goebbels did not want to alienate other countries. The industry had to export its films. It also needed imports,, primarily from the US and France ….”
Veit Harlan & Jud Süss (1940)
Veit Harlan directed Jud Süss (1940), a Nazi propaganda film that depicted Jews as villains, reinforcing antisemitic stereotypes.
Impact: It became one of the most notorious examples of Nazi film used to justify persecution.
Legacy: Harlan faced post-war controversy for his involvement in Nazi propaganda.
Nazi Germany became more aggressive in 1938 and 1939; films attacking the Reich’s outside enemies became more frequent.
Text: “the most notorious of the “enemies films” were five anti-Semitic features. These were ordered by Goebbels in 1939… among the most insidious .. was Jud Suss (1940, Veit Harlan). A historical epic set in the eighteenth century, Jud Suss was based on the stereotype of the grasping Jewish moneylender. Suss loans money to an impoverished duke and tries to turn the duchy into a Jewish state. He commits hideous crimes, including raping the heroine and torturing her lover. Jud Suss, the one commercially successful anti-semitic film, was widely seen and incited violence against Jews”.
Cinecittà
Cinecittà is Italy’s major film studio, founded in 1937. It became the center of Italian cinema during the fascist era, producing films that promoted Mussolini’s regime. Today, it remains a key site for both Italian and international film production.
{Italian] Government-owned film studio built in 1937, “Cinema City”, on the outskirts of Rome. From 1937 to 1943, more than half of all Italian films were shot there.
“Cinema is the most powerful weapon”.
Not privatized until 1997
Know the impact that a decentralized film industry had on French filmmaking.
The decentralized film industry in France fostered creative freedom, leading to innovations like the French New Wave and a diversity of regional and experimental films.
Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol (1895–1974) was a French filmmaker known for depicting rural life in Provence. Key works include the Marseilles Trilogy (Marius, Fanny, César) and Jean de Florette. His films focused on family, love, and tradition.
Toni
Toni (1935) is a French film directed by Jean Renoir. It’s a realist drama about the struggles of Italian immigrants in southern France. The film explores themes of social class, love, and fate, featuring non-professional actors to emphasize authenticity and naturalism.
The Popular Front
The Popular Front (1936–1938) was a left-wing coalition in France focused on fighting fascism and improving workers’ rights, including a 40-hour workweek. It also supported leftist cinema and cultural reforms.
The Popular Front in cinema (1930s) was a movement that used film to promote anti-fascist and social justice messages. Key features included:
Political Focus: Films like Jean Renoir’s “La Vie est à Nous” (1936) advocated worker solidarity and anti-fascism.
Collaborative Filmmaking: Filmmakers worked together on politically engaged projects, such as “The Spanish Earth” (1937).
Social Realism: Focused on depicting everyday struggles, especially among the working class.
This movement merged cinema with political activism to resist fascist ideologies. Sources: Meade (1993), Nichols (2001).
The Vichy government’s C.O.I.C.
The C.O.I.C. (Comité d’Organisation de l’Industrie Cinématographique) was the Vichy government’s body overseeing the film industry during World War II.
Purpose: To control and regulate French cinema, ensuring films aligned with Vichy propaganda and values.
Impact: It censored films, promoted collaboration with Nazi Germany, and produced films that supported the regime’s ideologies.
Continental Films
Continental Films was a film production company established in 1940 under the Vichy regime, with German backing.
Purpose: To produce films that supported Nazi propaganda and promote pro-German narratives.
Notable Films: It made films such as Le Drapeau (1942) and La Symphonie Fantastique (1942), often featuring German actors.
Impact: It symbolized collaboration between Nazi Germany and Vichy France in the cultural sector.
