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!
Part 1
ReplyDeleteThe film, Souls on a Road, was unlike any other film I have seen. Minoru Murata’s use of careful camera angles and exquisite cinematography allowed me to be further drawn into the story. The film was my first silent movie, so I was challenged as a viewer to read the captions to understand the story Murata wanted to present to his audience. This introduces the first film element of narration and dialogue. With the silent dialogue of the characters, music and quickly written narration guided the story. The composition set in the film seemed to be a loop of several Japanese odes, which were relaxing, and often time followed the tension of the film. The narration was provided on what appeared to be Japanese scrolls, only covering critical dialogue and allowing the narrator to silently convey important moments in the film for the audience’s understanding. A particular shot technique Murata used, grasped my attention. This shot zoomed in and focused on one particular area of a scene, with a black shadow surrounding the outside of the lens. Almost as if the audience was viewing the film through a narrow camera lens or telescope. In further research, I found this shot to be known as a ‘shadow shot’. The usage of this skilled shot, allowed me to be able to follow the story easier and reduced the chances of feeling lost since important moments or props were focused on. A final film technique took careful viewing of, which was the use of a prop. The particular prop was a violin that the main male, named Kaichiro, played, and failed to make a living off of, causing him and his family to go broke and struggle for survival. In the film, Kaichiro broke the violin after realizing he was not appreciated in the arts. Particularly for me, the broken violin symbolizes the severed relationship between father and son, after the man’s father disowns him for failing in life. A final film element seen is in regards to the editing of the film and how shots were placed together. In viewing the film, I kept on noticing how the movement of characters and background almost felt sped up in a way. Looking into this editing technique further, I realized in early films utilized fewer frames per second, creating the illusion that the film’s speed was increased. This was particularly fascinating since ever since I have watched movies made in the early 1900s, I have noticed the speed they move at.
Murata certainly set new expectations and standards for filmmakers in the early 1920s. Specifically challenging American filmmakers to keep in-demand with favored foreign filmmakers. A distinct footprint Murata set was creating the first feature-length film in Japan. Before Souls on a Road, films were classified as short films, and the idea of expanding the running length of a film had yet to be explored in Japan. That was until Murata directed his movies, and converted to a new form of filmmaking. He also gave way for women to play a major role in the film world, rather than men dressed as women. This would be identified as an aspect of expanding women’s rights, meaning Murata was ahead of his time since the women’s rights movement did not take place for another forty years. Another instance of Murata exceeding the possibility of the filmmaking world in the 1920s was his creative usage of cinematography. He made it possible for characters to disappear from the screen right in front of the audience's eyes and used shadows as a background of the story. Many ideas in which filmmakers not too long ago began to use, or rely on technology to produce these editing effects, which Murata did not have access to in the early 1900s.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteThe cultural context created in Souls on a Road was greatly influenced by the values and customs of Japanese culture. The clothing worn by the characters varied from kimonos on women to the wearing of beige fabrics. This set up the idea of class division throughout the film, and how the life of the rich and poor compare from each other. Another cultural aspect seen is the importance of ‘honor’ to the Japanese. Kaichiro must earn the honor to gain acceptance from his father, or men held the authority over their family and wives as they were seen as the support of the family and family members with the most honor. Beliefs played a large role in the telling of the story since the film was based around the events of Japanese Christmas and certain beliefs influenced the actions characters took. It was intriguing to see how Japan’s Christmas differed from America’s. Doll ornaments and lanterns were used to decorate the trees, followed by a celebration of the Yagibushi dancers and the ringing of the bell. In the film, the young woman, named Yoko, is shown ringing a bell, which is rung 108 times to symbolize the 108 earthly desires, and how each new year, the sins are removed, giving people a fresh start. A particular wine, by the name of Sake, was also shown numerous times. The father’s maid collected him a drink, which the people at the Christmas party drank in celebration, which represented the importance of the drink to the culture of Japan. A final and most intriguing cultural aspect took place when the father threatened to release his dog towards his own son. On the Japanese calendar, the dog is placed and identified to represent security and protection. This can prove that the father felt threatened by his son, and used a common belief to protect himself.
This response and analysis is WONDERFUL, and reads like a university level film student. AMAZING insights and evaluation of this truly groundbreaking (yet often overlooked) film! :)
DeleteSouls on a Road, I'll admit, was something I couldn't have possibly imagined from the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteThe use of how they film was incredible, way ahead of their time. It was one of the greatest silent films mankind has ever created.
The music always fit with every movement, every action, and every twist. The soundtrack of the music would be something I would highly recommend listening to whenever you were to be stressed out or stressed. It has an amazing orchestra.
Every shot of a scene made everything more intense, more exciting, and more intriguing. Sometimes it could be a bit unpredictable on how it was going to end. Sometimes it either scares, or get's me more hyped for the film. It's hard to tell what type of ending this movie would have at the beginning. Either way, it feels so warming and calm to watch, most of the time.
The way they caught the shot, they way they do close ups, anytime they would frame perfectly, it was phenomenal. 10/10
I am SO glad you appreciated the film and the art that went into it- despite limitations of the time. Can you please let me know who you are? It came up unknown. Thank you for sharing your insights!
DeleteI'm Zoey.
DeleteAndrew Martinez
ReplyDeleteSouls on the Road -
I noticed while viewing this film was that the plot had 3 different stories which was very interesting to follow along especially when all 3 of the stories characters came at the end for the final scene. Another element I noticed was the sound. The score of the film heavily impacted scenes for example, scenes with the father, mother, and daughter struggling to get to town was met with a very depressing and unsettling score that made me sympathize for their situation. Lastly, the films theme to be merciful to people stuck through the whole film and I could see aspects in the 2 convicts story of the servant choosing to spare mercy on them as well as the father and son from the father not sparing mercy on the son causing him to die in the snowstorm. These elements impacted me as a viewer to see the film in a differently because I really wanted the father to forgive the son because I sympathized for them seeing them be so tired from traveling accompanied by depressing score emphasizing their situation. It also struck me to see that the convicts could be forgiven but not the son which created the contrast between those two stories and making the sons death even more tragic for me. Murata contributed to the world of Film by showing Japanese audiences that there was more to movie making than documentaries with commentary. Murata was inspired by Western culture and used it in his films to make Japan's first significant and creative film from what was the norm of documentaries. The films cultural context I saw evidenced in the film was the common problem of the characters like the father and his family as well as the convicts being very hungry. So I believe that the impoverished people as well as convicts struggled with finding shelter during that era and the fortunate ones like the father and Yoko were spending their Christmas well treated. To add further, I also believe that honor had to do a lot with the film' s cultural context because the son left his father to become a violist when he needed him the most left the father the disregard his son to not be able to forgive him again. The father stuck to his word making him have honor while contradicting when the son left the father, the father thought he had no honor and didn't think of him as his son anymore.
Andrew Martinez
ReplyDeleteThe General -
I noticed while watching this film was its camera angles because they were able to pull of lots of difficult shots like shots of the moving train which made me wonder how they were able to keep filming while the train was going fast. It also included them having a lot of wide shots to see the chase between the trains, the huge scale of the battle on the bridge between the North and South, and introduce us into the enemies territory getting the scope of what the main character was getting himself into. I also noticed the characterization of the main character at the beginning of the film to be rejected by everyone because they thought he was too scared to join the army to then at the end of the movie to being a hero for the South showing all the attributes of risk taker and bravery to be a soldier in the army now. Lastly, the element of the characters acting was significant to me because I noticed the main characters expressions to every action that occurred around him like when he tried to be sneaky and get his paper for the army his face showed that he did not want to get caught. Furthermore for the action scenes the viewer can see the panic and worry on his face when trying to run back to the train when it was driving away from him and the expressions when the enemies were getting closer to catch up to his train. They impacted me as the viewer to understand how much effort they put into this movie and the scale especially with how many people were at the end fight at the bridge as well as the director actually crashing the train into the water. It made me appreciate the movie more for the lengths it took and the humor that was perfectly conveyed through the actor’s expressions. I believe the director contributed to the world of film that movies could have a large scale and have huge action scenes like speeding trains and fighting on a battlefield with big stunts which had not to be done to this degree. These actions for the film and its sequences definitely broke the boundaries for other movies to try to set the bar higher in stunts and camera angles used in the film. I saw that the film's cultural context was based on the Civil War. This is evidenced by the main character’s hometown and the main character wanting to be a soldier for the South after they got the news that war was coming and the enemies were the North that was planning strategies to attack the South. Furthermore, the film mentioned how the state of Kentucky was neutral explaining more how this was set during the Civil War with states being allied with either the Union or the Confederacy.
Landon Cozad
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I didn't expect for this film to be as good technically as it is. The first time it made me go "wait they could do that back then" was with the cross fade roughly four minutes in. The fact that they were able to make that girl just fade out is insane to me, and it looks rather good too. It made me wonder how they did it, so I actually did a little research. As it turns out, it's rather complicated.
If I were to do a cross-dissolve nowadays, all I would do is load up the effects menu in premiere or even just set the opacity on some keyframes. Back then, however, they had a whole device for it. This device is called an Optical Printer.
An Optical Printer is both film playback and recording in one machine. It can play two films at once and then project that onto a negative (blank roll of film) for recording.
If you want to do a standard dissolve, you would first need to collect the two shots to be dissolved. One is the outgoing scene (the one you are coming from) and the other is the incoming scene (the one we are cutting to). You would then need to create a sheet with details of where the start and end frames of the effect should be, and then send them to the lab for the optical print.
The dissolve is made by double printing a fade-in of the incoming scene with a fade-out of the outgoing scene (the incoming scene becomes more opaque and the outgoing scene becomes more transparent).
The lab would first load the master positive of the outgoing shot into the printer. As it is copied onto the negative, the camera's shutter is gradually closed (until it is fully closed). Afterwards, they would rewind the negative to the dissolve shot mark. Then, with the shutter fully closed, they begin to do the opposite of the original process; gradually opening the shutter as they go.
There were obviously many issues with this workflow; such as the editors being unable to see the transition until it came back from the lab, the cost of new film for each pass in the printer, the cost of sending it to the lab, and the time wasted on a bad dissolve; but this just makes it all the more impressive that Souls manages to do it so well and so cleanly.
The movie itself displays many editing techniques I would not have thought to be possible back then, and I'm very glad to have learned this little tidbit about editing history.
10/10, at least from the editing perspective I looked at it from.
(Still Landon)
DeleteSidenote, I can't imagine how annoying and stressful this process must have been. Makes me realize just how good we editors have it now, lol. Being able to just drop the effect onto a timeline is so much easier than waiting forever just to get a fade that you don't like.
Tatum Aguilar
ReplyDeleteThis film, Souls on a Road, is the first silent film I am seeing in my life. With this sidenote, I initially believed I would be bored and uninterested in what was taking place in the story. However, as I paid attention to it, I found myself enjoying certain aspects of the way the story was told: the sound, the production, and the narrative. First, the sound. It is important to note that the director, Minoru Murata, uses no diegetic sound used in any section of this film. Instead, non-diegetic sound is used for the entire movie through the use of score. The score fluctuates with the events that take place within the film to accommodate for any emotion missed from the lack of dialogue. Since there is no audible dialogue, Japanese scrolls are used to display only the most important information. This is a remarkable technique used by the director, since much of the events are left to the imagination of the audience, allowing the viewers to become a piece of the story. The method of displaying the dialogue also contributed to the culture from which the film is based. Next, the production. The production includes the camera techniques used by Muruta and how they impacted the way the story was told and received. One camera angle that stood out to me was the shots where the camera would focus all the light on one character and slowly fade out on them. This was used to display an emotional scene where a certain character was being affected. Another camera technique was the wide shots used many times throughout the film. The wide shots were used to give the audience context as to where the story was taking place and with who. This connects to the lack of dialogue, as the audience would use these wide shots and the score to imagine how to feel in a specific situation. The wide shot would also pull the viewer into the story and make them feel like they are observing the story as it happens. Finally, the narrative. The way the story is split up into three separate, yet connected, storylines was unlike anything that was happening at this point in the film industry. The modern audience is able to see how the world of film was influenced by the actions taken by Murata in his film. Overall, this was an extraordinary film in comparison with my prior expectations and with consideration to the time period it was made in.
As someone who admittedly sometimes struggles with following along with regular storylines, the lack of diegetic sound and split storylines confused me very much at the beginning of the film. As the film progressed, it got easier to follow and understand due to the score and the ways in which it chose to tell the stories, involving camera angles, shot lengths, and editing.
ReplyDeleteThe score was continuous, as it played throughout the entirety of the film, and a key part in truly understanding and getting lost in the film. It followed the story very well, as it quickened and slowed, got intense and calmed appropriately. In moments where the characters feel helpless and overwhelmed, the viewer is likely to feel similar due to the music quickening to a somewhat nerve-wracking pace. Similarly, at moments where the characters were calmer and felt more hopeful, the music slowed to reassure the viewer that the characters are safe and in a good position for the time being.
The use of camera angles helped the viewer experience more emotions, as the angles portrayed feelings of gloom and despair at some points, and contentedness and hope at others. There are multiple points at which the film used wide shots to make characters appear small compared to their surroundings, which dramatized the feelings of helplessness. One particular moment where this is evident is around 16:30, where Koichiro is leading his wife and daughter to his hometown to return to his father. The struggles they are facing, portrayed earlier as they were seen snuggling by a small and dying fire, are emphasized as they stumble through bushes and plants and become increasingly smaller in the frame.
The narrative, though it took more effort to follow than typical, was structured nicely and did well in showing the struggles of each individual group of characters, while still showing their connections throughout the film. The groups are seen interacting with each other at multiple points in the film, and their actions and words towards one another display their morals and who they are. This is seen when Koichiro and the convicts interact, as the convicts realize the position in which Koichiro and his family find themselves, and offer them bread out of mercy. Koichiro’s fathers’ morals and character show through his interactions with his son, as he denied his son care and refuge in his home due to a strong belief in his word, which was acknowledged earlier in a letter to Koichiro where he stated that if an apology was not made, he would no longer recognize Koichiro as his son. Through their actions and interactions with one another, each character’s personality shines through, even despite the fact that it’s a silent film.
Murata’s contributions include editing techniques, such as double exposure, which combines multiple frames so they become one. This helped him create the effect of people fading into and out of the shot, representing visions of a character already in the shot. He also utilized flashbacks, which weren’t very common at this time, to show the decisions that Koichiro made which lead to his current predicament.
Finally, the film includes Christmas, a holiday based on Christianity, which was not as common in the early 1900s as it was in the West. Despite involving a Western holiday, the film shows an Eastern way of celebration that included lanterns, Yagibushi dancers, and the ringing of the bell, all things which are not usually seen at Western Christmas celebrations.
Throughout the film, I was able to catch on, for the most part, the story of a failed husband and his wife and daughter forced into shunning trying to get accepted back to his father, as well as 2 convicts on the way trying to find any sort of help. The story was laid out in a nice way, showing a bit of backstory as to why the husband is in the situation and occasionally slipping between the convicts and the violinist and his family to complete both sides of the story and the moment the two sides met, and showing the connection between rich and poor with the relationship of Yoko and Taro. It brought me to see the conflict and pain between all those connections and relations and appreciate the storyline given the time, especially since I wasn’t expecting to like the movie that much. The way that the film showed illusions or people that weren’t there was nice, the person would fade in with a ghostly aura and fade away in that same fashion, which one was pretty impressive for the time but also gave me a sense that another force might’ve controlled some of their actions and a sense of suspense from being able to see that, when only the one experiencing it could see. The score fit as well, having some nice piano and violin and as the story developed or became more tense the music would fasten and sometimes the movements as well. It gave me a sense of desperation or urgency between the faster parts of the music in the story and the slower music released that tension.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Murata’s film, I noticed that Murata used pretty neat transitions for the time and while perhaps not the most smooth at times, I believe it was pretty daring at the time since they didn’t have the technology we do now, it was quite a step in the right direction. There were some pretty smooth ones though, like towards the beginning when there were birds and swans in the lake and it blended back into the scene of the violinist and his wife I believe by the lake. These transitions I believe contributed to the world of film. The clothing of the film does represent the cultural context, which at the time was traditional and western mixed together as the film was. The women wearing kimonos in the film while the men were dressed in suits and having weapons like guns, though I’m not sure how western that is, and the film combined techniques from both traditional and more western to reflect that.
-Danae Martinez
One film element I noticed particularly throughout the film was that the transition between scenes, while it was a bit grainy, was very well done for its time. You could see one scene beginning as the other scene ended which from what I can tell, was a very advanced element of film for its time because you had to cut the film instead of editing it digitally. Additionally, I noticed that even though the film was indeed very old, I noticed that it followed many of the traditional rules of film. I noticed several scenes that were either directly following the two third rule or used symmetry. It was very impactful because as I was watching the film I noticed the rule of 3rds and the more I noticed it the more I was drawn to the characters. Lastly though, I noticed the lighting in the movie was, to be honest, not very good. The light was unnaturally bright which made it so that the shadows were almost nowhere to be seen. Murata’s contributions to film specifically in japan were quite significant. He did a lot to bring western ideas to Japanese film because before him and his films there were very few films in Japan that were used for storytelling. Most films in Japan at the time were documentaries and he introduced a new way of looking at film. One reference to culture that I saw in the movie was the makeup that they used on the actors. Many of the actors’ faces were very white which was a reference to the cultural context of the film.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Souls on a Road, was an innovative Japanese film. The use of various camera angles in the film, was considered messy at the time because of the various transitions, and different scenes in the movie. Minoru Murata also used insert shots, and zoomed in on different elements of the insert shots. In between scenes, the director would use a tunnel shot to focus on different objects. The film director also used brief shots of dialogue to specify specific moments and describe who each character shown was. I honestly, did not undertsand the different story lines and did not comprehend through the movie, but I believe that was one of the most notable aspects of Souls on a Road. The souls of the tiitle seem to be the different characters and their lives that they are living. Character portrayals in the novel were made by the director as more frivolous and emphasized each of their emotions. Since it was a silent film, the emotions had to be more dramatic due to the lack of sound. The story of the violin player, was also the first close up shot that the director included, the violin. Murata included various aspects of Japanese culture, such as the Yagibushi Dancers. Most noticably, I saw the use of different shots. The cinematographer of the film generally used full body shots and one or two shots. They also included wide shots and establishing shots. I believe the lighting was very bright and had minimum use of shadows.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to silent films, I have never watched one but Souls on a Road was a great starter. When I first went into it I thought I wouldn't enjoy it because of the whole having no sound thing but the movie was so plot-heavy it was still an enjoyable experience. The fact that this film came out in the 1920s is still mind-blowing to me, and how much they were able to accomplish with the lack of technology. The way the movie was filmed was also fantastic because the director used many different camera angles to portray emotions and have emphasized things. Since the film is so old its ways of editing were so limited and difficult but in this movie, they did a good job. Each of the characters had their own personality still even though there were no voices to attach the characters. The way the director edited the movie in such a unique way at the time, therefore having some effects. The lighting in the movie was sometimes very light and sometimes very dark. This film was a landmark for films in Japan because prior to this film there were not really any other films like it, the director had inspiration from films in the west.
ReplyDelete-Jason Kane
DeleteJacob Tynan
ReplyDeleteThe film came to me as a big surprise, when i watched it i didn't know it was a silent film. I don't usually like silent films, however this didn't disappoint, the score that synchronizes with the audio is amazing and the camera shots and transitions were way ahead of its time.
I think it has given me a new open perspective on films that i think i wouldn't like. I had the feeling that the movie wouldn't be to my taste but the sore and story behind forgiveness and betrayal really shined through to me.
Note: I had to write this twice. I wrote two paragraphs worth of material and accidentally refreshed the page.
ReplyDeleteThe Souls on the Road is mechanical masterpiece for its time and was created by the ambitious Minoru Murata. It features multiple camera shots for each scene, skillful transitions, captions which seem vital to the plot, and a masterful score. While the plot of the movie is confusing and dull, the elements of film that create the movie are what truly sets it apart. Souls on the Road follows the story of a family stricken in poverty, two ex-convicts who aren't any better off, and a wealthy, childish young woman. The transitions between each of these characters are what I found most interesting while viewing the film, as the quality of the film is subpar. Murata was able to create transitions such as a fade from left-to-right, or a square that seems to eat the screen are littered throughout the movie. The various camera angles and shots are further evidence that Murata was no amateur. Scenes are portrayed with at least two shots from different angles, which is impressive for an early 20th century film. In a scene where the wealthy girl is watching two men from a great distance (I believe it is her butler and another servant), a POV shot is used, where it appears we are looking through a telescope. Such scenes like are useful for keeping the movie feeling immersive, which Murata undoubtedly knew.
While Murata's use of cinematography skills was uncanny, his use of a score was less so. In a scene where the two ex-convicts are sharing a bit of bread, dramatic music is played. The two men are simply munching on some dough, and yet music that would befit a robbery is heard. Instances like this are scattered across the film and can cause a viewer such as myself to feel a bit confused. However, it is important to note that this is a Japanese film. Perhaps the music would have felt appropriate if I had grown up in Japan. Similarly, I could not understand the captions, which seemed vital to understanding the plot. Murata used captions to explain the story and give dialogue and he used them quite frequently. His superior use of Japanese captions portrays the story in a engaging fashion, but unfortunately it also disconnects his English viewers.
Murata's implication of elements of film is excellent and cause for revere. He was a cinematic pioneer and was among the first to create such technical advanced movies. While watching this Movie, it was not only the expertise of Murata I noticed, but also that it contained celebrations for what appeared to be Christmas. Prior to this movie, I did not know that Japanese celebrated a Christian holiday. All-in-all, Souls on the Road is a great movie to study when learning about camera techniques, no matter how dry its content might be.
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