The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume], July 29, 1918, Image 2

About The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current

Image provided by: Oklahoma Historical Society

                
2.
Tachibana Tujiro, in
Hl3 Native Dress, and
as He Looks When
Made up as a
Heroine of
One of the
Japanese Dramas.
The Female Im
personator Seen with
a Japanese
Child in "The
Sea in
Springtime."
Why He Has to Be
Oriental Movies Are
a Man, and How the
Placed Before
" r
Fascinated Audiences in
the Land
of Flowing
Robes.
By Fairmount Snyder
MOVIES In Japan? Of course native mov
ies. The Japanese, who are so iulc:k to
. recognize and borrow progressive innova
tions from tne occliq'-.tr.: ouM scarcely over
look tlio value of Hie movies as a noma product,
but in appropriating the cinema to their own
uses they have kept it distinctly oriental.
Being as yet in their own empire, a race of
squatters, who live on the floor and huddle nrmmd
charcoal Jardinieres, or hllmchl, to keep warm,
naturally their customs, fccenea and costumes, all
eo unlike our own, have a special and novel
charm for the alien visitor, who thereby sees
much of the home and general life of the natives,
which might otherwise not be revealed to him:
for unless one Ikib somehow contrived to meet a
few of the more modern Japanese ho will not ho
Bsked to their homrs. Thus tlio average tourist sees
enly the nurfaee of things ns-tliey-are In the land of
"Dal Nippon," or Ureat Nippon, as the natives
Tc.2 Famous Tachibana Dressed as ft G'r1
in "The Silver Key."
These Two
Figures Are
from the
Famous
Japanese Drama,
"Spring Rain
Umbrella."
Both Are
Men.
f
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!- . V j
1- I ' '
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3
1'
4 -
t
ft
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themselves are accustomed to refer to their nation.
The producers In Japan UBe two classes of
scenarios the old style and the new that Is.
stories dealing with the ancient historical life of
their country before the fall of the Shogunate,
or else with the more modern aspect since the
Restoration In 18C8 marking the entrance of west
ern influence. These stories are purely traditional
in tone, allowing for no intrusion of Caucasian
characters. The Japanese resent all such themes
as our favorite "Madame Butterfly," "The Japan
ese Nightingale" and "The Willow Tree," for na
tive production, because In their estimation the
woman is belittled by the fact of her mesalliance
with an occidental, as presented in these stories.
Directors say the natives will not accept such
a film, and no scenario writer has ever been able
to sell a Japan producer any story built around
this theme. On these occidental touches the cen
sor Is ever alert; kissing scenes are deleted as .
vulgarities; racial Idea3 are adhered to and, de
spite the Influx of foreign films, the pictures re
main characteristic. The feeble outreachlng of
woman for the captaincy of her own soul finds
expression through that most common of all de
Mres self-choice marriage for love and the foil
ing of this natural desire by the parents furnishes
tho complication for many scenarios. Just what
tho incidental pathos of such situations may. In
An Exciting Moment in a Popular Motion
Picture Melodrama.
sr
i of m
X
wrOT FnIih trlc UK.
time, accomplish for the emancipation of woman
remains to be seen In the light of later days.
The ever-prevailing tradition against actresses
provides a source of interest but st 111 a handicap
in the making of Japanese films. They prefer to
screen their women from public life rather than
screen them in public. Occasionally one less
timid than the others will brave the winding cam
era and the ostracism of her family, but as the
producers are not In favor of the idea the oppor
tunity for the movie actress Is limited. She may '
"pass in a crowd'' to help make up the mob
effect, but not much more. Hence the presence
of the onna-gata, or female impersonator, in all
oriental films. As the masculine costume con
sists of the hakama, or plaited, bifurcated skirt,
and a short, kimono-shaped coat, the actor does
not find It difficult to adopt women's garb if his
stature, facial expression aud grace can complete
the Illusion. The most famous of these onna-gata
is Tachibana Tujiro, to whom Is Intrusted all the
leading heroine roles In the films produced by
the leading company at their Tokyo studio.
It It the Story That Count.
In Japan It Is the story that counts most. The
personalities of the performers are not exploited,
and our tales of fabulous salaries paid to stars
and other effects of the press agent's spreader
are unknown to the Japanese glamour ' lovers.
There are no "close-ups" used, and this omission
seems to keep the actor's personality aloof from
the public, and no doubt the presence of the
female impersonators deprives the movie star
worshipper of the thrill of wasting any surplus
affection upon a masculine heroine. The art of
Tachibana la known to all movie goers, yet there
is no element of curiosity about his personal or
private life.
In every movie theatre the occidental feels
the barrier of language, because In Japan the
"wordless drama," or photoplay, becomes a very
wordy thing. Indeed. An Interpreter or reciter I
employed to stand upon the stage, and he gives
not only an introductory talk about the film to be
projected, but he accompanies the scenes with
constant narration, varying this with what pur
ports to be bits of the dialogue and startling ex
clamations of the characters In action upon the
screen which is precisely the way the "picture
play" began in the United States 24 years ago.
He thus explains many minor phases of the story
which our own audiences are accustomed to work
out in the imagination by the assistance of sub
titles and inserts flashed on between plctu,-es.
The story-teller then becomes an Important fac
tor in the movie, for, according to his vivifying
powers, he may make a poor story (tood or be
may spoil a good story by his Inability to grip
the attention.
In "Theatre Street"
To see how these Alms are presented we shall
go, let us say. through Asakusa Park in Tokyo, or
the Isezaki-cho in Yokohama, or Shlnkyogoku in
Kyoto, where the puMIo amusements are largely
concentrated. Foreigners generally call these all
Theatre street" and let It go at that. On per
pendicular flying banners, large, bold Ideographs
announce the names of the films at each movie
bouse. Painted billboards, the size of our usual
lithographs, adorn the front of the building around
the entrance. These pictures are generally either
of the slap-tlck grotesque variety, or they are
"blood curdlera,1 the thriller of the ultra-sensational
melodrama, guaranteed to lure inside the
theatre any human with an unsatisfied love of
violence, adventure and misadventure. At on
side of the small lobby are racks and pegs, and
the natives who go in ahead of us remove their
geta, or wooden clogs, and, receiving a check for
them, enter in their unsoilea tarn, or cioiu ioui- j
n- I .l.J IU hntf at. . I
tendant, who puts cloth coverings over our shoes 1
that we many not soil the honorable floor of their
Illustrious, but dingy, cinema theatra. Inside we
find tho first floor audience occupying real seats,
but upstairs, around the low balcony rail, the
Japanese sit on tho floor-cushions men, women
and babies making themselves quite at home,
en famtlle. Both tho men and women smoke
at Intervals, and the queer little long-stemmed,
tiny-bowled pipes of th women, which afford
only two or three whiffs for one filling, make their
smoking seem a very nervous, futile pastime.
A Typical Japanese Drama
The main feature or the bill on this occasion
at the Kyoto cinema was a Japanese picture, and
it was one of the best I have- seen anywhere.
The 111m was called "Tsumlnoka," or "Retribu
tion," and in many instances the silhouette was
used very effectively in twilight scenes. The
voice of the Interpreter was modulated and
changed to speak the words of the various char
acters in important lines, and we all sat in breath
less attention. When the profligate father stole
his own daughter to sell her to geisha school,
aided and abetted by his mother-in-law, there waa
a low murmur of disaproval in the audience, and
when his daughter once broke away and her true
lover started a chase down street to rescue her.
there was a slight flutter of'appiause. Other pe
destrians, rlcklshas and dogs, all joined In pursuit.
Chase scenes are always funny, but did you ever
see a Japanese woman try to run in a narrow
kimono and wooden clogs? You Just feel certain
that she will never make the grade and this one
didn't! The villain grabbed her as she turned
the corner. This restriction of movement caused
by the native dress precludes '.he attempts at all
dare-devil stunts and hair-breadth escapes such
as are acted by the various Helen Holmeses of the
American movies, and the Japan producers have
not as yet essayed to stage the Incredibly stupen
dous effects of our own film magnates, to whom
the word "impossible" seems to be but a challenge.
Just as the scenarios are made up of two klada
(the old and the new), so are the film acton's
trained and divided Into two distinct classes ti
old school, or KabukI, actors, who Impersonate the
characters of the historical tales or legendary
plays of Old Japan; and the Shtmpa. or modern,
actors, who portray figure; from modern life In '
all phases of society.
The board, of censorship established In the
last year or two is noted for its free policy as '
regards public moral, yet there are sacred spots
in the national fabric which the photo-playwright
must not touch upon without due reverence and
figurative obeisance. I have on hand an excerpt
from a translation Into English, mode by a Japan
ese student. This perhaps expresses the objections
of the censor better thsn I csn, la Its taboo of:
Films about the prestige of the Imperial er
royal family.
Films to tesch the most clever criminal action.
Films against state authority.
Films which Induce children to various sorts
of minchlef.
Films that show the least success of bad aea
or bad means.