Across the Equator and more

Across the Equator

1936. Japan. Directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. "Eiji Tsuburaya served both as director and cinematographer of this feature-length national policy documentary, supported by the naval ministry, which creates a sketch of life among cadets aboard a naval training vessel on a voyage around Indochina, Malaya, Hawaii, Australia, and the South Pacific islands. The film clearly outlines the economic motives behind Japan’s southward expansion, but also presents the music and dance traditions of various regions, in what has been termed 'folklore through sound.' It is fascinating today for its considerable historical interest, as a document of increasingly bellicose times, for the way in which it reflects prewar Japanese attitudes to different countries and cultures, and for the directorial presence of Tsuburaya, an artist who had collaborated on Teinosuke Kinugasa’s famous silent, A Page of Madness (Kurutta ippeji, 1926), but who was to become famous, nearly two decades later, as the special effects master responsible for Godzilla." In Japanese; English subtitles. 86 min.

Movie Making in Japan: A Screen Snap-shot

1934. Japan. "A fascinating supplement to our programme, this fragmentary documentary was prepared at the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by Yoshio Osawa of the J.O. Studios in Kyoto, Japan, to illustrate current progress in Japanese sound picture technique." 8 min.