Renegades and Radicals: The Japanese New Wave

3 units

In 1960, the major studio Shochiku promoted a new crop of directors as the Japanese New Wave in response to declining theater attendance, a booming youth culture, and the international success of the French Nouvelle Vague. This course provides an introduction to those iconoclastic filmmakers, who went on to break with major studios and revolutionize oppositional filmmaking in Japan. We will analyze the challenging politics and aesthetics of these confrontational films for what they tell us about Japan's modern history and cinema. The films provoke as well as entertain, providing trenchant (sometimes absurd) commentaries on postwar Japanese society and its transformations. Themes include: the legacy of WWII and Japanese imperialism; the student movement; juvenile delinquency; sexual liberation; and Tokyo subcultures. Directors include: Oshima Nagisa, Shinoda Masahiro, Terayama Shuji, Masumura Yasuzo, Suzuki Seijun, Matsumoto Toshio, and others. No knowledge of Japanese necessary. Credit 3 units. Mandatory weekly screening: