Page of Madness, A
Page of Madness, A
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Synopsis

Made in 1926 and rediscovered in 1971, this rare Japanese silent film is a hallucinatory study of a janitor of an asylum who attempts to release his wife, who is an inmate there, having been committed after trying to kill herself and her baby. This amazing film by the great Japanese film pioneer Kinugasa relies entirely on visual effects to tell its story. Superimpositions, extreme camera angles and jarring close-ups tell the tale Teinosuke Kinugasa---Japan---1926---75 mins.

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  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
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   | Gerry#1

This is a visually stunning film from Japan with rapid (even chaotic) editing and several "Expressionistic" elements. We cannot enjoy the film as it was originally intended to be seen - with a "benshi" (narrator) to explain what is happening and speak the dialogue. But we certainly understand the emotions of the characters living and working in this asylum. It's a strange, oddly compelling and sadly poetic film. I didn't enjoy the symphonic soundtrack that's attached to this film, but I recommend seeing it for the visual imagery.

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  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
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   | jrderr#1

This is an incredibly moving and completely original film which I highly recommend to people who are not afraid to be challenged by their movies. Having said that there are some serious problems with the form in which the film has come down to us. The current version is missing about a third of its orignal footage. In addition, since most silent films in Japan were shown with a traditional storyteller who would narrate the film, there are no intertitles to explain what is going on and the soundtrack is selections from Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastique". I looked for a summary online and I found that even most scholars of Japapnese silent films also had a very sketchy understanding of the plot. As far as I can tell, the film is about a retired sailor who gets a job in a mental hospital to look after his wife after she has been confined for attempting to drown one of their children. Their daughter arrives and announces that she is getting married. In response to this news the janitor tries to (or imagines triyng to) help his wife escape from the hospital which causes a riot which he is able to stop by distributing noh masks to all of the patients. The film ends with everything back to normal (which is why I believe the break out is imaginary) with the patients in their cells and the janotor washing down the floor. So if you watch this be prepared to be amazed and confused.

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