SOULS ON A ROAD: A Japanese Landmark in Early Filmmaking
Once again, scholars, Context reigns as King! It is imperative to note that at the time this film was made in Japan, live musicians played traditional instruments to one side of the screen, while a narrator or troupe of narrators called "Benshi"
While this film may certainly be appreciated by all for its historical significance alone as Japan's oldest feature-length film, and for the ethereal "ball of light" style influenced by early film master DW Griffith, it's merely a fragment now in overall impact as we view it outside of its original geographical and historical-cultural context. Serious students and producers of films must always remember to consider and evaluate early works like this one within their original contexts, as well as their technical boundaries.
Read the blog article from A Cinema History and view the film by going to the link here: http://www.acinemahistory.com/2015/05/rojo-no-reikon-1921-souls-on-road.html. Then, comment on three film elements you noticed while viewing the film. How did they impact you, the viewer? How do you think Murata contributed to the world of Film? Finally, comment on aspects of the film's cultural context you saw evidenced in this film.
I look forward to reading your insights and discussions!
Since the movie had no dialogue the music was there to help the story along. All of the characters had a separate story that all came together. The symbolism of the different tragedies and events conveyed a lot of emotion. The characters were all vastly different. I liked the way it showed the perspective of the character with the small concentrated spot. I think the Director helped create new techniques that are still used and did many different things to break the mold.
ReplyDeleteThe music did a lot of the talking since there was no dialogue, which gave more insight into the characters, like the guy who was a violinist, he has a lot of violin music, the rich girl had a more playful type of music playing. The scenes are come of as dramatized a little bit since there is no dialogue for the actors to use they had to step up the acting, the music helps with the dramatization. In my opinion, since the film is in black and white, all of the actions and music seem to be a bit darker or more serious by it being solely in black and white. I, personally think that Murata, contributed to the world of film by showing how to make a complex story, the film, if you look at the overarching plot, isn't very interesting. It would just be a few people traveling and meeting each other, but when you look at the story for each character, and how their stories intersect with each other, it's now a much more complex and tragic story.
ReplyDeleteIn this film I noticed three powerful elements that fully portrayed what I believe the director was going for with this film, Score, Visuals, and Acting. The use of Score is used very seriously in this film to portray it's tone and atmosphere. The reason this needed to be perfect was because there was no dialogue to contribute to the story, so the score was used to establish the setting of each scene as well as to give each character unique and special attributes that stand out in place of actual dialogue. The Visuals are bleak and desolate, but in a good way that contributes to the serious tone of the film, because it is in black and white, it works perfectly, being juxtaposed with the score and atmosphere. The Acting is what sets this film aside from most, because no dialogue was used, the acting needed to portray a message that cannot be done with words and this film does that incredibly well. These three elements impact the viewer by giving an extremely well thought out visual of the journey these characters embark on once their individual stories collide, without the use of dialogue as a major film element. I believe Murata contributed to the world of film much like how an auteur would, by creating his own unique vision that would then inspire many others to strive to think outside the box to create original and impressive works of art much like how Murata did with this film. The cultural context of the film is quite interesting, you can really see the transition from Japanese music created with traditional instruments that are then re-imagined and implemented into the score.
ReplyDeleteThe first film element I noticed was the score. The score excellently moved the film along, and filled in a the hole where dialogue was supposed to be. The score also was very helpful in revealing and differentiating the characters from one another. Another film element I noticed was editing. While the movie was, albeit, jarring in the way that a lot of it was edited, there were some techniques used that I found very impressive for the time-period. I was honestly shocked when I saw the girl appear and disappear like a ghost! I think one of the goals of the editing in this film was to ensure whatever was important in the scene was focused on. This would be helpful to the audience. The cinematography of the film also met this goal.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading about the film in context it adds so much more to the viewing. In watching it, I found it quite boring to be honest, but if I imagined that I was in the audience watching a live band and a group of people narrating the movie like ancient Morgan Freeman's, I would be much more entertained. Murata contributed much to the world of film in regards to narration and score.
The film's cultural context is heavily evidenced in many of the characters' clothes, as well as in much of the score.
The music of the movie differentiates the different stories and viewpoints that come together in the movie, such as violin pieces being played alongside the story of the failed violinist. The characters are also a large blend of separate personalities, touching upon a much broader scale of the types of people that we encounter within everyday life. With a major lack of dialogue within the movie, it attempts to remedy this with much more thought put into the acting and movements, witch must do much more to explain the characters personalities and motives over what little dialogue that appears throughout the movie. Murata's impact on film history with the use of this film encourages others to create more in depth stories with multiple perspectives to create that depth and add on to already existing practices and ideas. The cultural aspect of this film also provides a type of juxtaposition, with many clips using settings that take inspiration from the more modern ideas of European culture, as well as the more traditional styles of Japanese storytelling and dress.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the most critical elements of this film was clearly the score. While this type of movie isn't my personal style, I really enjoyed the music that accompanied the story. It gave the audience a closer look at who the character represented when they appeared on screen, giving the plot more depth. I also found it incredibly impressive that a live orchestra performed next to the screen. The timing and practice that must have gone into that! Another element that really stood out to me was the cultural context that director, Minoru Murata imbeded into the film. Since the film is about the end of the Meiji period, it really highlights the modern Westernization process of Japan. This makes the film more relatable to viewers, because at the time the film came out, Japan was experiencing new alliances with Britain and soon to be trade deals with America. So, viewers were able to understand the film better because they could relate to the experiences of the characters/plot. Lastly, the editing was a huge part of the film. Like Hanna said when that girl appear/disappear on screen, I was very surprised at how the editors were able to pull that off.
ReplyDeleteCostume design was the first part of the film that really stuck out to me. To be honest I haven't a clue what was happening in the story but, the costumes helped me differentiate the characters. Some characters wore more traditional clothing, whilst others wore more western clothing. Perhaps this is a clue to what their morals or ideals are. Because there is no dialogue, I was confused to what the story was about. Most silent movies might make up for this through exaggerated movements, but this one did not. The movements were still exaggerated by todays standards, but in comparison to other movies from the time period the movements were downplayed a lot. Another aspect of the film that really stuck out to me was the combination of the editing and score. Early in the movie around the 10 minute mark, a woman serves a meal to what looks like an elderly man. It is juxtaposed with another scene of a group of people who are huddled together, and a number of other scenes. Overall I was captivated with the segment. Also the focus on the violin in that scene is quite interesting. Once again I am not sure what everything means, but I was very much drawn in by the visuals.
ReplyDeleteSouls on a Road honestly impressed me greatly. Although the actual story of the film I wasn't understanding, there were many things added to this film that made it complete. Something I noticed right away was the score that was implemented into the film. Once one song ended, immediately, another song played. The songs that were heard throughout the film all attached different emotions. I also noticed the cinematography and how it helped interpret the film's intentions. The different camera angles and lighting all played a huge role in this film. Another aspect that stood out to me was the character's clothing. Even though there was no dialogue, the clothes did the talking.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Murata contributed to the world of Film by taking a look outside of the box and seeing things from a whole new perspective. This film was a reflection of what was going on at the time which helps the audience seeing this now understand the situation they were in. She opens the eye of many people, whether the audience is from a whole new generation or not.
The film's cultural context was the overall storytelling that was told from what the character's were wearing.
My thoughts of the film: Although this film was hard to watch purely from no dialogue, it was fun trying to interpret what was going on in the film. Even though there was text shown on the screen, I am not able to understand what it says. The beauty in that was still trying to interpret what the characters were saying from observing score and the emotions they were showing. From the era of this film, I was impressed from how much editing they were able to do. There is so much meaning behind this film and because of that, it makes the movie that much more powerful to the audience.
The most obvious thing that a viewer would notice is the use of music. Different songs were used throughout the film to convey different emotions. It almost felt as though different characters had their own different type of music that is significant to them. The next thing that stood out the most are the different costumes. The story was extremely hard to understand but besides the music, the costumes helped me understand the characters slightly better. Some wore very victorian clothing, others wore traditional Japanese clothing, and some wore very Western clothes. The editing also impressed me greatly. Specifically, when the woman appeared and disappeared. It's shocking to me that they were able to accomplish that in the very early twenties.
ReplyDeleteThe cultural context helped put much of the film into perspective. Understanding that this came at a time when much of Japan was being westernized helped me see why the costuming is the way it is. Though, much of the film still seems like nonsense to me, I can begin to see the meaning of it all. Murata contributed to the film world by creating a unique vision and inspiring others to be creative with their story telling. He creatively and effectively used music and narration to tell his story.
This is Brody. I don't know why it's showing me as unknown.
DeleteThe first element of film that stood out was the score in the movie, the lack of dialogue was filled nicely by the score that was used in the film. Despite the black and white that is shown throughout the movie it does not take away but rather fuzes well with the score that is being used in the film and well as the visuals shown on screen. The way the music worked with the movement on screen portrayed what was going on as well as what character had certain personality traits and characteristics. Reading about the film helped because the movie was not one to hold my attention however it gave more context to the film and helped me better understand it. Murada's contributed to the film world by helping to create more appealing visuals on screen when there is a lack of color and sound while still keeping the viewer engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe three most noticeable elements in this film were the score, the costuming, and the editing. The score is obviously the most important element in the film because it is the only sound that can be heard. The music changes whenever the we see a different story. There is violin music when we are watching the violinist and there is more traditional music when we view the rich woman. The costuming is also very noticeable. It helps us understand who the characters are. There is a mix of traditional and more modern clothing (for the time). There is multiple instances of fast-paced shot changes. Given the technology of the time, it would have been difficult to edit those sequences. Murata is considered to have made one of the first of original Japanese cinema. Just this would have made him a very impactful filmmaker. Finally, there seems to be a mix of different cultural contexts within the film. The film combines aspects of traditional Japanese culture with more modern Japanese culture to create a meaningful effect.
ReplyDeleteWhen watching this film the score stood out to me the most as it told the story in a way that is usually carried by dialogue. Although this is a film I typically would not gravitate toward I still found myself appreciating the deeper meaning that music played in this film and the different tones that came across as a result. Additionally, I thought the usage of flashbacks was also helpful in conveying the story as it gave the viewer more context into what was going on. In my opinion a movie in black and white and without dialogue is a very hard sell to get me to watch, however after reading the article I feel I have a deeper understanding and an appreciation for this film as for the social point of view brought about. I think Murada's contribution to the film world is that she highlighted the Meiji era without needing words which allowed the viewers to focus on the score and the emotions each song evoked.
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