The Japanese New Wave: Research Paper

The Japanese New Wave
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The Japanese New Wave
As the world was regaining normalcy after the Second World War, many countries underwent some changes. Countries experienced unrest and uncertainties as the period of war cooled off, and people started pushing for change. In Japan, the same was experienced, and people were trying to free themselves from the palms of the conservative reality that had engulfed the nation. Conservativism was the basis of everything that was happening in Japan. Additionally, there was a high presence of Americans, which was against the will of the people. However, these complaints and outcries were falling on deaf ears. The old principles of Old Japan had influenced life in the country, including the film industry. The works of Ozu Yasujiro, Naruse Mikio, and Mizoguchi Kenji were dominating the aesthetic world. These filmmakers were delivering content that was in line with conservative Japan. Therefore, their work was widely accepted, especially by the powers that be. However, the new crop of creatives wanted to express themselves differently. They wanted to steer clear of the conservative path and deliver content that intrigued, protested, and was not monotonous. These new filmmakers wanted to challenge commonly accepted norms and principles while also working to eliminate the oppressive forces in Japan at the time. Their work was not to pander to the powers that be at the time. They wanted to challenge the status quo, and this led to the advent of the Japanese New Wave.[Barros, David. (2015). Light and Colour in the Nuberu Bagu Japanese Cinema. BJPS, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 127-176.]
The Japanese New Wave started towards the end of the 1950s and gained momentum in the 1960s. This wave was like none other that had been witnessed in Japan because it came with such bravado that put to shame the old works. The wave, also known as Nuberu Bagu, brought all that was considered unworthy for the cinema screens. First, it did away with the old narratives that mainly focused on traditional characters, a formal structure or framing of stories, and historical tales. Second, it introduced certain storylines that were not in line with tradition or that were not considered ‘suitable for the cinemas.’ For example, a movie like Floating Weeds had gang violence as one of the major themes that enhanced the storyline. Gang violence was not a conventional topic that was easily allowed in the Japanese aesthetic world. Further, the movie also brought about the theme of sexuality, with many scenes showing erect penises. Well, this was as liberal as the film industry could get, especially in a conservative country like Japan, at the time. The filmmakers of this new era wanted to bring content that was unconventional, and content involving delinquents seemed to take precedence.[Semilyen, Phil., Freer, Ian., & Wybrew, Ally. (2016). Movie Movements that Defined Cinema: Japanese New Wave. Empire. Accessed April 26, 2021, from ...