Digital Meme (Japanese Classics on DVD)

[lady wakasa]

#6 seems to have gone astray in the mail (almost a month, now), and they're trying to track it down for me now.

I'm feeling kinda deprived, I have to admit.

But will still put in an order for #7.

[htdm]

New announcements for vols. 8, 9, 10:

To be released at the end of November 2008
•Talking Silents 8 Directed by Torajiro Saito 斎藤寅次郎
子宝騒動 Kodakara Sodo (1935)
明け行く空 Akeyuku Sora (1929)

To be released at the end of January 2009
•Talking Silents 9 Directed by Masahiro Makino マキノ正博
浪人街第一話 Roningai Daiichiwa (1928)
浪人街第二話 Roningai Dainiwa (1928)
崇禅寺馬場 Sozenjibaba (1928)

To be released at the end of March 2009
•Talking Silents 10 Directed by Shozo Makino 牧野省三
実録忠臣蔵 Jitsuroku Chushingura (1928)
雷電 Raiden (1928)

[foggy eyes]

Do you know the internet shops where I can tu buy the Digital meme DVDs?.

Here.

[htdm]

Talking Silents 8 is up for preorder at Amazon.co.jp.
Preorder price has risen to 3974.

[lady wakasa]

Talking Silents 9 has been announced; it features director Masahiro Makino.

[Tutut]

Talking Silents 9 has been announced; it features director Masahiro Makino.

[htdm]

Vol. 10 is up for preorder at Amazon.co.jp.

[Wombatz]

I'd come across this thread when researching the series, but there's not much said about the films themselves here. Since I luckily got Talking Silents 4 by more or less controlled accident:

Migratory Snowbird, the benshi narration's hard to take, though I guess it'd work perfectly at a public showing of the time, think of it as a peasant play, it wasn't aimed at movie buffs. Storyline meandering between there and noplace special, some of the night fights are great, even if shots of individual fighters tend to be of clueless actors standing in front of an animated screen, the mass scenes do give a rush. But in all, rather pedestrian.

Kosuzume Pass is more interesting, but maybe that's just because the copy doesn't seem quite complete, and so a surrealist shadow hangs over the film. Everybody seems to act at a remove, much talk about honesty from a guy named Santa, then someone becomes a good man because being alone shook him deeply.

Still underwhelmed really. I know Tokyo March in the Cinemateque version; it's got nice shots of contemporary cityscape, but the struggle between contemporary society and traditional morals plays out so heavily that Broken Blossoms seems an unflinching study in contemporary mores by comparison.

So please, folks having seen all of these films, what's the most "sophisticated" effort in the series, it needn't be something to ponder at length, maybe just a period piece following strict aesthetics. You know, something I can watch today without having to pretend I wasn't there ...

[ptmd]

The Mizoguchis, the Downfall of Osen and especially The Water Magician (Taki no Shiraito), are really tremendous and several aesthetic orders above the films you're talking about. The transfers on those are about as good as they're going to get, so I would say those are the top priority releases among the ones put out so far.

[Michael Kerpan]

In addition to Mizuguchi's Water Magician (my favorite early Mizo film), Osen and Oyuki the Virgin...

I find the Torajiro Saito films fascinating -- and would rate them as must-haves (if you are interested in non-chambara fare).

I thought Sentaro Sentai's Dokuro was absolutely stunning visually (a rather odd but interesting tale of a Christian warlord and the woman he leaves behind). The companion film in this set (also starring Utaemon Ichikawa) was entertaining -- but not of the same artistic weight.

The recent Makino disc is interesting so far -- one sees some of the foundation for Yamanaka's work here (though Yamanaka would be far more sophisticated). The upcoming Makino version of Chushingura is supposed to be quite good -- by reputation).

I've not run across the Ito set yet -- and haven't worked my way through all the other chambara stuff on the other early discs.

[htdm]

After the Mizoguchi's you might try Orochi which I find to be fascinating.
The characterizations may strike you as broad at first but don't let that put you off - the pay off comes at the end.
If you can find it, you might also watch What Made Her Do It? (Nani ga kanojo wo so saseta ka) distributed by Kinokuniya which has a similarly socially conscious theme.

[Wombatz]

Thank you kindly! Hey, this reads very clear-cut, so if noone else chimes in to confuse me (which I nevertheless hope they'll do) my next spending spree looks definite. Unfortunately not before July

[Tutut]

I was interested in Talking Silents 2, but noticed there's a french release of The Downfall of Osen from Carlotta in a boxset with Oyuki, the Virgin and Poppies,
do you know which one has the best picture quality ?

Review in french at Filmsactu with screencaps.

[lubitsch]

The following statement on their homepage doesn't bode well for more releases ...

With the release of Talking Silents 10, which features the work of director Shozo Makino, the complete Talking Silents DVD series is now available.

[Michael Kerpan]

The following statement on their homepage doesn't bode well for more releases ...

With the release of Talking Silents 10, which features the work of director Shozo Makino, the complete Talking Silents DVD series is now available.

How sad. I was looking forward to more great old Japanese non-silent "silents".

[htdm]

I wouldn't write them off just yet.
Their opening page states that this only completes their "first series" (第一弾).

[Sanjuro]

Ah, but that might be it for the silents. The text seems to indicate that "Talking Silents 1-10" completes part 1 of their "Classic Films Series". Ah, well, talkie classic Japanese cinema with English subs is just as welcome, I suppose!

[Matango]

I just found all the DM Talking Silents for sale here in Hong Kong at a reputable retailer for about US$10 each. They seem to be licensed by a Taiwan company but the content and coevrs are exactly the same as the original Japanese discs. There's a label on the front that says http://www.imagic.com.tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but that address seems to be down.

[manicsounds]

With no new releases and no updates to their website, I was afraid that Digital Meme went silently bankrupt or something. Sent an email over and they answered that there will be no new releases for 2015 but there are plans for new releases in 2016, whether theatrical or DVD or Blu-ray or streaming, they haven't said but they are looking into expanding their social media presence, which at this stage is none.

[domino harvey]

Amazon rather unexpectedly has many of the Talking Silents titles in stock direct from them, including the first Mizoguchi disc, which even has a coupon bringing it down some (they also had the second disc but I bought the last copy)

[domino harvey]

Obviously both the Water Magician and the Downfall of Osen live in the same narrative space later perfected in the Story of Last Chrysanthemums. I found Magician significantly stronger of the two Silents, with a logical sacrifice (or more logical than in Osen at any rate) and some terrific melodramatic flourishes (it also pathologizes the protagonist’s compulsion to self-sacrifice separate from the male recipient of her generosity, which I found an interesting touch) . The last minute or so is odd and rushed and feels tacked on (very “Poochie died on his way back to his home planet,” though perhaps this tag is just an invention of the narrator imposed on the film?), and I found the incessant Benshi narration a total chore— even with the sound off it just keeps rattling on. So Osen’s more spare subtitles were welcome, but despite some terrific visual flourishes, I found it unpleasant and uncommonly broad in its depiction of the gang of crude swindlers, who are given far too much screen time. This is the most frustrating Mizoguchi I’ve seen because it has so many terrific individual moments of cinematic beauty-- the rainy train station, the magical crane, the feverish jaunts up the steps-- but the telling of the story is muddled and frankly annoying, and of the three films I bought into the victimized self-sacrificer’s actions the least here

Hard to judge the two excerpts of the otherwise lost films, though Tokyo March still at least makes sense and is wildly unlikely in its plot, but I kinda enjoyed it crazed plot machinations. No way to possibly assess Tojin Okichi from what we get here, though

[Michael Kerpan]

While I respect the craft and dedication of the benshi I generally prefer the films without the constant narration. I find it rather amusing/interesting that people revere Pages of Madness because of its lack of title cards (and consequent) mysteriousness -- yet in its original form it had non-stop narration that pretty much over-explained everything that was going on.

I would say that I sort of disregarded the plot of Osen and simply admired its visual beauty -- which was far easier to do here than with Lady from Musashino.

[domino harvey]

I muted the narration immediately and just read the subs. And yes, the only reason I rate Osen higher than Musashino is because of the visual flair. I also can’t help but notice that Mizoguchi’s films, or at least the ones I’ve been watching lately, are deeply informed by Murnau, especially Sunrise. IMDB tells me Sunrise played in Japan in 1928, so I have to imagine he was in the audience for it at some point early on in his career

[pistolwink]

While I respect the craft and dedication of the benshi I generally prefer the films without the constant narration. I find it rather amusing/interesting that people revere Pages of Madness because of its lack of title cards (and consequent) mysteriousness -- yet in its original form it had non-stop narration that pretty much over-explained everything that was going on.

I would say that I sort of disregarded the plot of Osen and simply admired its visual beauty -- which was far easier to do here than with Lady from Musashino.

Wasn't the story re. Page of Madness that Kinugasa altered the film—when he recovered it well after the war—to make it more in line with people's contemporary conceptions of "avant-garde cinema" ... and that the original 1920s version would have had more conventional (and conventionally comprehensible) passages? At least, I recall reading this in a few places.