The accented Japanese screenplay: Transnational currents in contemporary Japanese cinema | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Screenwriting
  4. Volume 15, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 15, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1759-7137
  • E-ISSN: 1759-7145

Abstract

Japanese cinema in the early twenty-first century has seen the emergence of Japanese-language films written by non-Japanese screenwriters. The arrival of these screenwriters and screenplays complicates existing discourses on ‘nation’ and the transnational in Japanese cinema. In particular, it adds to the tensions around East–West binaries that often permeate considerations of non-Japanese contact with cinematic representations of Japan and requires industry practitioners and researchers to re-consider notions of ‘Japan’ and cultural contact in cinema from Japan. Drawing on the concept of ‘accented cinema’, this article positions Japanese screenplays by non-Japanese screenwriters as . Two such screen texts are critiqued to suggest the dialogic inevitability of polyvocal interpretations of accented Japanese screenplays with regard to issues of privilege and marginalization, as well as the national and the transnational.

© 2024 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00128_1
2023-07-27
2024-04-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Anatahan (1953), Josef von Sternberg (wr.), Josef von Sternberg (dir.), Japan: Daiwa.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Babel (2006), Guillermo Arriaga (wr.), Alejandro González Iñárritu (dir.), France, USA and Mexico: Paramount.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bad Poetry Tokyo (2018), Anshul Chauhan and Rand Colter (wrs), Anshul Chauhan (dir.), Japan: Kowatanda Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bakhtin, M. (1994), The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev and Voloshinov (ed. P. Morris), London: Edward Arnold.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Batty, C. (ed.) (2014), Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Batty, C. (2016), ‘Screenwriting studies, screenwriting practice and the screenwriting manual’, New Writing, 13:1, pp. 59–70.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Berghahn, D. and Sternberg, C. (eds) (2010a), European Cinema in Motion: Migrant and Diasporic Film in Contemporary Europe, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Berghahn, D. and Sternberg, C. (2010b), ‘Locating migrant and diasporic cinema in contemporary Europe’, in D. Berghahn and C. Sternberg (eds), European Cinema in Motion: Migrant and Diasporic Film in Contemporary Europe, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 12–49.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Best Wishes for Tomorrow (2007), Roger Pulvers and Takashi Koizumi (wrs), Takashi Koizumi (dir.), Japan: Ace Productions.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bhabha, H. K. (1994), The Location of Culture, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Bondi Tsunami (2004), Rachael Lucas (wr.), Rachael Lucas (dir.), Australia: Burlesque Productions.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Bordwell, D. (2006), The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2004), Film Art: An Introduction, 7th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Brother (2000), Takeshi Kitano (wr.), Takeshi Kitano (dir.), UK, France and Japan: Office Kitano and HanWay Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Brunow, D. (2022), ‘Towards an archival study of screenplay versions: The role of screenplay research for adaptation studies’, Interfaces: Image Texte Language, 47, https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.4494.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Café Lumiere (2003), Hsiao-Hsein Hou and T’ien-wen Chu (wrs), Hsiao-Hsein Hou (dir.), Japan: Shochiku.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Cazdyn, E. (2014), ‘Japanese film without Japan: Toward a nondisciplined film studies’, in D. Miyao (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 13–32.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Chun, J. M. (2015), ‘Learning Bushidō from abroad: Japanese reactions to The Last Samurai’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 270–82.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Daguerrotype (2016), Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Catherine Paillé and Eléonore Mahmoudian (wrs), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (dir.), France, Belgium and Japan: Film-In-Evolution and Balthazar Productions.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Death by Hanging (1968), Michinori Fukao, Mamoru Sasaki, Tsutomu Tamura and Nagisa Oshima (wrs), Nagisa Oshima (dir.), Japan: Art Theatre Guild.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. December (2022), Anshul Chauhan, Rand Colter and Mina Moteki (wrs), Anshul Chauhan (dir.), Japan: Kowatanda Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Desser, D. (2007), ‘The imagination of the transcendent: Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Maborosi (1995)’, in A. Phillips and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts, London: Routledge, pp. 273–83.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Desser, D. (2015), ‘Consuming Asia: Chinese and Japanese popular culture and the American imaginary’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 159–81.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Family Romance LLC (2019), Werner Herzog (wr.), Werner Herzog (dir.), USA: Skellig Rock.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Fear and Trembling (2003), Alain Corneau (wr.), Alain Corneau (dir.), France and Japan: Divali Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Firefly Dreams (2001), John Williams (wr.), John Williams (dir.), Japan: 100 Meter Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Fisher, A. and Roberts, I. R. (2016), ‘Transnational cinemas: A critical roundtable’, Frames Cinema Journal, 9, pp. 1–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Gerow, A. (2002), ‘Recognizing “others” in a new Japanese cinema’, The Japan Foundation Newsletter, 29:2, pp. 1–6.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Gerow, A. (2010), Visions of Japanese Modernity: Articulations of Cinema, Nation, and Spectatorship, 1895–1925, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Giddens, A. (1991), Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Oxford: Polity Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Goodare, L. (2022), ‘“I wasn’t open to notes”: S. Craig Zahler, Dragged Across Concrete (2018) and the 157-page screenplay’, Journal of Screenwriting, 13:1, pp. 5–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Hansen, J. (2015), ‘The New Earth (1936/37): A German/Japanese misalliance in film’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 3–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Hutchinson, R. (2007), ‘A fistful of Yojimbo: Appropriation and dialogue in Japanese cinema’, in P. Cooke (ed.), World Cinema’s ‘Dialogues’ with Hollywood, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 172–87.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Jenks, C. (2003), Transgression, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Jones, D. (2010), ‘Future imperfect: Some onward perspectives on migrant and diasporic cinema practice’, in D. Berghahn and C. Sternberg (eds), European Cinema in Motion: Migrant and Diasporic Film in Contemporary Europe, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 275–92.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Kamataki (2005), Claude Gagnon (wr. and dir.), Canada and Japan: NHK, Zero Pictures and Zuno Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Karakura (2012), Claude Gagnon (wr. and dir.), Canada and Japan: Kukuru Vision and Zuno Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Keiko (1979), Claude Gagnon (wr. and dir.), Japan: Yoshimura GagnonPro.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. King, J. (2012), Under Foreign Eyes: Western Cinematic Adaptations of Postwar Japan, Winchester: Zero Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Kitamura, H. (2014), ‘Outpost of hybridity: Paramount’s campaign in Japan, 1952–1962’, in D. Miyao (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 188–208.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Kitamura, H. (2015), ‘Choosing America: Eiga no tomo and the making of a new fan culture’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 230–52.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Kontora (2019), Anshul Chauhan (wr. and dir.), Japan: Kowatanda Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Lee, N. J. Y. and Stringer, J. (eds) (2015), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Irish Yamahsita and Paul Haggis (wrs), Clint Eastwood (dir.), USA: DreamWorks.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Levi-Strauss, C. (1961), Tristes Tropiques (trans. J. Russell), New York: Criterion.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Like Someone in Love (2012), Abbas Kiarostami (wr. and dir.), France and Japan: Euro Space and MK2 Productions.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Lim, D. (2009), ‘Strangers in Japan’s neon wonderland’, New York Times, 25 February, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/movies/01lim.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print. Accessed 10 August 2011.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009), Isabel Coixet (wr. and dir.), Spain: Mediapro.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. McAulay, A. (2014), ‘Based on a true story: Negotiating collaboration, compromise and authorship in the script development process’, in C. Batty (ed.), Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 189–206.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (2010), Gabrielle Zevin (wr.), Hans Canosa (dir.), Japan: Dot Dot Dot Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Mes, T. and Sharp, J. (2005), The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film, Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Millard, K. (2011), ‘The screenplay as prototype’, in J. Nelmes (ed.), Analyzing the Screenplay, New York: Routledge, pp. 142–57.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Miyao, D. (2014a), ‘Nationalizing Madame Butterfly: The formation of female stars in Japanese cinema’, in D. Miyao (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 152–71.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Miyao, D. (ed.) (2014b), The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema, New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Morley, D. and Robins, K. (2015), ‘Techno-orientalism: Japan panic’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 182–210.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Naficy, H. (2001), An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Napier, S. J. (2001), ‘The frenzy of metamorphosis: The body in Japanese pornographic animation’, in D. Washburn and C. Cavanaugh (eds), Word and Image in Japanese Cinema, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 342–65.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Nelmes, J. (2007), ‘Some thoughts on analysing the screenplay, the process of screenplay writing and the balance between craft and creativity’, Journal of Media Practice, 8:2, pp. 107–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Nelmes, J. (ed.) (2011), Analyzing the Screenplay, New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Norwegian Wood (2010), Haruki Murakami and Anh Hung Tran (wrs), Anh Hung Tran (dir.), Japan: Asmik Ace.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Oh Lucy! (2017), Boris Frumin and Atsuko Hirayanagi (wrs), Atsuko Hirayanagi (dir.), USA and Japan: Matchgirl Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021), Bernard Cendron, Arthur Harari and Vincent Poymiro (wrs), Arthur Harari (dir.), France and Japan: Bathysphere.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Perfect Days (2023), Takasaki Takuma and Wim Wenders (wrs), Wim Wenders (dir.), Japan and Germany: Master Mind.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Phillips, A. and Stringer, J. (eds) (2007), Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Prakash, G. (1995), ‘Orientalism now’, History and Theory, 34:3, pp. 199–212.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Price, S. (2010), The Screenplay: Authorship, Theory and Criticism, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Rain Fall (2009), Max Mannix (wr.), Max Mannix (dir.), Japan: Rain Production.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Raine, M. (2014), ‘Adaptation as “transcultural mimesis” in Japanese cinema’, in D. Miyao (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 101–23.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Revival Blues (2004), Claude Gagnon (wr.), Claude Gagnon (dir.), Japan: Zuno Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Richie, D. (1977), Ozu: His Life and Films, Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Rizvi, A. (2014), ‘The dislocated children of violence and memory: Ghostly apparitions of injustice in the legal, literary, cultural and social’, Birbeck Law Review, 2:1, pp. 115–27.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Roberts, M. D. (2009), ‘Rain fall’, Midnight Eye, 13 July, http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/rain-fall/. Accessed 6 March 2011.
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Sado Tempest (2012), John Williams (wr. and dir.), Japan: 100 Meter Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Samurai Marathon (2019), Bernard Rose, Hiroshi Saito and Kikumi Yamagishi (wrs), Bernard Rose (dir.), UK and Japan: Sedic International and Recorded Picture Company.
     [Google Scholar]
  75. Sharp, J. (2001), ‘Firefly Dreams’, Midnight Eye, 21 September, http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/firefly-dreams/. Accessed 16 April 2013.
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Silence of Smoke (2022), Yojiro Takita (wr. and dir.), China: Maglim Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  77. Star Sand (2017), Roger Pulvers (wr. and dir.), Japan and Australia: Hara Office.
     [Google Scholar]
  78. Starfish Hotel (2006), John Williams (wr. and dir.), Japan: 100 Meter Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  79. Sternberg, C. (1997), Written for the Screen, Tubingen: Stauffenburg Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  80. Taylor, S. and Batty, C. (2016), ‘Script development and the hidden practices of screenwriting: Perspectives from industry professionals’, New Writing, 13:2, pp. 204–17.
     [Google Scholar]
  81. Tezuka, Y. (2015), ‘Global America? American-Japanese film co-productions from Shogun (1980) to The Grudge 2 (2006) via Lost in Translation (2003)’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 113–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  82. The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979), Leonard Schrader and Kazuhiko Hasegawa (wrs), Kazuhiko Hasegawa (dir.), Japan: Kitty Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  83. The New Earth (1937), Arnold Fanck (wr. and dir.), Japan and Germany: J. O. Studios.
     [Google Scholar]
  84. The Nikaidos’ Fall (2019), Arslan Amiri and Ida Panahandeh (wrs), Ida Panahandeh (dir.), Hong Kong and Japan: Emperor Film Production and Nara International Film Festival.
     [Google Scholar]
  85. The Sun (2005), Yuriy Arabov and Jeremy Noble (wrs), Aleksandr Sokurov (dir.), Russia, Italy, Switzerland and France: Nikola Film.
     [Google Scholar]
  86. The Trial (2018), John Williams (wr. and dir.), Japan: 100 Meter Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  87. The Truth (2019), Hirokazu Koreeda (wr. and dir.), France, Switzerland and Japan: Curzon and GAGA.
     [Google Scholar]
  88. To the North (2019), Bruce J. Nachbar (wr. and dir.), Japan: Empire Entertainment.
     [Google Scholar]
  89. Tokyo! (2008), Shaking Tokyo segment, Joon-ho Bong (wr. and dir.), Merde segment, Leos Carax (wr. and dir.), Interior Design segment, Michel Gondry and Gabrielle Bell (wrs), Michel Gondry (dir.), France, Japan, South Korea and Germany: Comme des Cinemas, Kansai Telecasting and Bitters End.
     [Google Scholar]
  90. Tokyo Eyes (1998), Jean-Pierre Limosin, Santiago Amigorena, Philippe Madral and Yuji Sakamoto (wrs), Jean-Pierre Limosin (dir.), Japan and France: Euro Space and Lumen Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  91. Tokyo Fiancée (2014), Stefan Liberski (wr. and dir.), Belgium: Versus Production.
     [Google Scholar]
  92. Tokyo Sonata (2008), Max Mannix, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sachiko Tanaka (wrs), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (dir.), Japan: Django Films.
     [Google Scholar]
  93. Vampire (2011), Shunji Iwai (wr. and dir.), USA, Japan and Canada: Convergence Entertainment and Rockwell Eyes.
     [Google Scholar]
  94. Vasudevan, A. (2016), ‘Café Lumiere as Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s own and as a homage to Yasujiro Ozu’, Frames Cinema Journal, 10, pp. 1–18.
     [Google Scholar]
  95. Yau Shuk-Ting, K. (2015), ‘The golden age of Hong Kong–Japanese collaboration’, in N. J. Y. Lee and J. Stringer (eds), Japanese Cinema, London: Routledge, pp. 4–57.
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00128_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Bakhtin; case study; double-voiced; Leos Carax; national cinema; orientalism; script development

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error