 2016 - 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0687-4441-01 | From Ritual to Kurosawa: Theatre and Cinema in Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 4.0
Course description
This interdisciplinary seminar will explore the similarities between the thematic patterns and aesthetics of two Japanese arts, an ancient one – theatre, and a modern one – cinema, in order to acquire an in-depth perception of both. Japanese culture, which has developed through an interweaving of the old and new, original and foreign, offers a potential platform both for the direct borrowing of elements by one art form from another, and for the creation of similar elements without any connection between the two art forms.
We will examine the Japanese classical theatre (the aristocratic Noh and Kyogen, the popular Kabuki theatre and the Bunraku puppet theatre) and its influence on the Japanese cinema, especially the films by classical directors such as Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi, and those by modern and contemporary directors, such as Morita, Itami and Kitano. The thematic patterns to be explored will include ritualistic subjects, such as the appearance of ghosts and the vanquishing of demonic creatures, and modern themes dealing with human relationships, as well as additional elements, such as eroticism, nature and humor. On the aesthetic level, we will study elements such as acting styles, movement, spatial design, colors and editing
The seminar offers a research framework in which each student can select and explore a specific theme from among the seminar’s various aspects.
We will examine the Japanese classical theatre (the aristocratic Noh and Kyogen, the popular Kabuki theatre and the Bunraku puppet theatre) and its influence on the Japanese cinema, especially the films by classical directors such as Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi, and those by modern and contemporary directors, such as Morita, Itami and Kitano. The thematic patterns to be explored will include ritualistic subjects, such as the appearance of ghosts and the vanquishing of demonic creatures, and modern themes dealing with human relationships, as well as additional elements, such as eroticism, nature and humor. On the aesthetic level, we will study elements such as acting styles, movement, spatial design, colors and editing
The seminar offers a research framework in which each student can select and explore a specific theme from among the seminar’s various aspects.