Talking the Pictures

Silent film! It doesn’t sound like the start of the best sales pitch for the premiere of the 11th edition of the Japan-Square Film Festival. But it is indeed the subject of Talking The Pictures. Although we are talking about the early days of cinema when films did not yet have a soundtrack. Silent film, that is.

In Talking The Pictures we turn the clock back about 100 years. In addition to live music, silent films in Japan were accompanied by a benshi, a narrator who stood next to the screen and provided the introduction and voice acting. Talking The Pictures follows the young Shuntaro who dreams of a career as a benshi, but gradually ends up on a slightly less glorious path.

This film that is somewhere between drama and comedy is a unique tribute to a glorious and lost chapter in Japanese film history. You know director Masayuki Suo from his two award-winning films Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t (1992) and Shall We Dance? (1996).

Also watch the short video introduction!

All images: © 2019 “Talking the Pictures”