Research Catalog

Title

The samurai film / Alain Silver.

Author

Silver, Alain, 1947-

Publication

Woodstock, NY : Overlook Press, 2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

320 pages : illustrations (some color); 26 cm

Summary

"The image of a lone hero, marked by a violent past and bound by honor, has exerted an endless fascination on film audiences the world over, but nowhere more than in Japan, where Samurai films have gained legions of passionate followers." "Alain Silver deconstructs the key aspects of this vital fim genre, from its focus on violence and death as a means of understanding life and the significance of swords and weaponry to key elements and motifs such as hara-kiri, rebellion, and nostalgia for Japan's feudal past. With comprehensive filmographies of the major directors and films, a survey of the history and myths of the Samurai, a glossary of Japanese terms, and extensively illustrated with more than two hundred photos, this revised and expanded edition of The Samurai Film is the ultimate resource for one of world cinema's most influential and compelling genres."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Samurai films > History and criticism

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-309) and index.
• Filmography: p. [259]-305.

Contents

I. The Samurai in history -- II. Bushido, the way of the warrior -- III. The sword, "soul of the Samurai" -- The Samurai in fiction -- I. The Samurai in legend and art -- II. The Samurai in film -- Akira Kurosawa -- I. Pictoralism, genre typing, and social consciousness -- II. Dramatization and visual style -- Genre types -- I. The ambitious -- II. Hara-kiri and Rebellion -- The alien hero -- I. The blind swordfighters : Zato Ichi and the Crimson Bat -- II. Kyoshiro Nemuri, "son of the Black Mass" -- II. Miyamoto Musashi -- Hideo Gosha -- I. Genre typing -- II. Visual exposition : Tange Sazen and Samurai Wolf -- III. The outsiders : Three outlaw Samurai -- IV. Personal rebellion and social identity : Sword of the beast and Goyokin -- V. Social rebellion and personal identity : Tenchu -- VI. The lower depths : Kumekori Nazaemon, Hunter in the dark, and Death shadows -- The Red Slayer -- I. Kihachi Okamoto -- II. Masahiro Shinoda -- II. The Red Slayer -- Evolution of the genre -- I. Violence, East and West : the last Samurai -- II. Style and political statement -- III. The Samurai at the millennium.

ISBN

• 1585675962 (hbk.)
• 1585677809 (pbk.)
• 0585675962 (alk. paper) (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2004065662

OCLC

• OCM57373718
• SCSB-5215817

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries