Princess Kaguya (1935 film)

Princess Kaguya
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanjiかぐや姫
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnKaguya Hime
Directed byYoshitsugu Tanaka
Special effects byEiji Tsuburaya
Screenplay byJ.O. Planning Department
Based onThe Tale of the Bamboo Cutter[1]
Starring
CinematographyEiji Tsuburaya[1][2]
Music byMichio Miyagi[3]
Production
company
J.O. Studios[1]
Distributed byTowa Shoji Film Club[3]
Release date
November 21, 1935 (Japan)[3]
Running time
75 minutes[3]
33 minutes (shortened version)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Princess Kaguya (Japanese: かぐや姫, Hepburn: Kaguya Hime)[a] is a 1935 Japanese musical drama film directed by Yoshitsugu Tanaka,[4] with cinematography and special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.[5] Produced by J.O. Studios[6] (later Toho), it is based on the 10th century Japanese literary tale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.[7] In the film, Princess Kaguya was raised by a couple who spread rumors that she had ascended a mountain in order to deceive suitors and ran away with her son and the princess.[7] The film was considered lost until the British Film Institute found a 35mm cut in May 2015.[b]

Plot

The plot follows the narrative of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.

Cast

  • Kazuko Kitazawa as Princess Kaguya[3][7][8]
  • Yō Shiomi as Okina[3]
  • Hideko Higashi[8][13] as Ōna, Okina's wife[7]
  • Ichirō Fujiyama[3][8] as Zomaro[7]
  • Dekao Yokoo as the Prime Minister[7]
  • Tamaki Tokuyama as Tamaro, the Prime Minister's son
  • Kinji Fujiwa as Hosomi, the Prime Minister's son
  • Hyō Kitazawa[7]

Production

Special effects

Famed special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya worked on the film's effects,[5] which are regarded as a major advancement in Japanese visual effects.[14] They are described as follows: "Tsuburaya used special effects and multiple exposures to make it appear as though the Princess Kaguya was glowing inside of a bamboo chute as the centuries-old tale states, with projections and more for the moon and sky effects. Certain parallels in the effects can be found between and the 1927 German film Metropolis, although the effects showcased in the brief public clip do showcase unique ideas not found in the earlier production."[15] Miniatures and synthetic techniques were used to recreate the town of Kyoto.[1][5][7]

Kenzō Masaoka supervised the miniature effects for the film. He would later recall in Kinema Junpo: "We tried to create our own frame-by-frame shots for the oxcarts, which I think was the first time this [technique] was attempted in Japan. We shot about ten plaster figures of oxen in various stages of movement, and then animated them by replacing these static models frame-by-frame. These plaster figures were the masterpieces of Takefu Asano, and took a period of more than one month to sculpt."[16]

Release

The Japan Association of London organized a screening in 1936 for local subsidiaries, and requested the Embassy of Japan to "prepare a film about Japanese myths and legends."[12] In addition to not having a screening record since its release, the location of the film was also unknown.[9] The British Film Institute (BFI) received information in May 2015 regarding a flammable positive film of the film. A researcher at the National Film Archive investigated the film at the BFI Preservation Center in October of the same year and determined that it was a shortened version of the film.[9] The shortened version of the film was released in Japan on September 4, 2021,[17] after negotiations with the BFI for six years.[9]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also known as Princess of the Moon.[1]
  2. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[8][9][10][2][11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ryfle 1998, p. 45.
  2. ^ a b "円谷英二監督が撮影の映画発見 ８５年ぶり、秋に一般公開｜全国のニュース". 佐賀新聞LiVE (in Japanese). July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "かぐや姫". jmdb.ne.jp. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  4. ^ "電通映画社のなりたち～終戦まで". www.kakio24.com. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  5. ^ a b c Ragone 2014, p. 193.
  6. ^ "Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute". collections-search.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h allcinema, 映画 かぐや姫 (1935)について 映画データベース - allcinema (in Japanese), retrieved 2021-07-04
  8. ^ a b c d "円谷英二撮影の幻の映画「かぐや姫」イギリスから帰還 フィルムが渡った理由、発掘の経緯は？ : 映画ニュース". 映画.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  9. ^ a b c d "円谷英二 生誕120年記念特別イベントレポート。失われた幻の映画『かぐや姫』85年ぶりの奇跡の凱旋上映決定! - SCREEN ONLINE（スクリーンオンライン）". screenonline.jp. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  10. ^ "Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute". collections-search.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  11. ^ "円谷英二による幻の映画「かぐや姫」約85年ぶりに上映、生誕120年の展示会で". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "若き日の円谷英二、幻の映画 １９３５年「かぐや姫」短縮版、英で発見 東京で９月上映：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 8 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  13. ^ "かぐや姫｜一般社団法人日本映画製作者連盟". db.eiren.org. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  14. ^ Ragone 2014, p. 27.
  15. ^ Haddick, Alicia (2021-07-12). "Edited Version of Lost 1935 Princess Kaguya Featuring Eiji Tsuburaya Special Effects Uncovered". OTAQUEST. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  16. ^ Ragone 2014, pp. 26–27.
  17. ^ "生誕120年 円谷英二展『かぐや姫』上映会 | 国立映画アーカイブ". www.nfaj.go.jp. Retrieved 2021-10-24.

Sources

  • Ragone, August (6 May 2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters (paperback ed.). Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-3539-7.
  • Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

External links

  • Princess Kaguya at IMDb
  • Princess Kaguya at the official Toho website (archived) (in Japanese)
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