GERMAN FILMS / JAPANESE FILMS

About the Meal Prepared by the Cultural Elites and its Nutritional Merits

While UNTERNEHMEN MICHAEL (1938) was released after Japanese censorship had butchered it, another Karl Ritter’s film, URLAUB AUF EHRENWORT (1938) was banned in its entirety. According to Akira Iwasaki, the official reason given was that film depicted the officer’s insubordination to the orders. However, by the time its ban was announced, this film had already been screened to directors, producers, writers and critics in film industries, and some magazines published their reviews and discussions on their pages even. These insiders praised URLAUB AUF EHRENWORT unanimously, some calling it a masterpiece. Around the same time, Marlene Dietrich’s DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) …

 
GERMAN FILMS

‘Mis’-interpretting UNTERNEHMEN MICHAEL

Karl Ritter’s direction is skillful, but it is the soul of filmmaking that shine through more brilliantly than skill. The soul to make something complete is within him. A great filmmaker. Kenji Mizoguchi on Karl Ritter (1940)   I think Karl Ritter is overrated tremendously. When he handles a patriotic subject, he uses an extremely vulgar approach. Joseph Goebbels on Karl Ritter (1939) In 1940, a German UFA production, UNTERNEHMEN MICHAEL was imported to Japanese market, only to be censored by the Japanese officials before its release in theaters. One of the leading movie magazines at the time, STAR, printed …

GERMAN FILMS

Two Totalitarian Regimes, Two films

As I mentioned before, foreign film market in 1930’s Japan was very lively and energetic, even in the eve of Pearl Harbor attack. Especially German and Austrian cinema were quite popular, not just because Japan had a political alliance with the Nazi regime, but also because people simply loved sweet scent of Hapsburg Empire and of German clinical efficiency. As I read through several literatures and contemporary periodicals, I find many of their observations on certain films, aesthetics, film techniques or directors were radically different from our views today. One of such examples is the case for Karl Ritter. Karl …