The Search for “Subjective” Expression in Documentary Films: An Examination of Nihon Eigasha’s Filmmaking Practices During the Asia-Pacific War

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which, called on to produce propaganda as a matter of national wartime policy, filmmakers hitherto engaged in the production of nonfiction documents as examples of left-leaning expression went about exploring “subjective” modes of expression in their practices on the battlefield. Specifically, it focuses on the activities of two individuals: cinematographer Sakasai Koichirō and director Kuwano Shigeru, both of whom worked for Nihon Eigasha, the largest producer of national policy films at the time.

I begin by highlighting the robust nature of the critical discourse and practices surrounding the documentary form prior to the Asia-Pacific War. Having done so, I discuss how the onset of conflict led to a new hunger in the industry for “war record films,” told from the subjectivity of the nation itself. Finally, I demonstrate how, through their work on Battle Records of the Air Force (1943) and Construction of a Base (1943) respectively, Sakasai and Kuwano responded to the situation by experimenting with subjective expression each according to his own conception of the “auteur,” achieving markedly different results.