Second part and continuation of the vocabulary course on cinema. This time, I offer you to discover the cinematographic genres. Not necessarily cinematographic genres specific to Japan but I wanted to stay on something simple.
Even though this site is not intended to deal in depth with Japanese cinema, I hope that this vocabulary lesson will encourage you to take an even greater interest in Japanese cinematographic works. Japanese cinema is not just anime series and films, it’s not just Ghibli, Madhouse, Tohei, etc. So yes, there are a lot of animated series and films that are masterpieces. I do not disagree! But there are also a lot of series and films from great Japanese directors that are worth checking out. I am thinking in particular of Masaaki Yuasa, Makoto Shinkai, Ryuusuke Hamaguchi, Mari Okada, Keiichi Hara, Mamoru Hosoda, Satoshi Kon, Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Shin'ya Tsukamoto. Even some black and white films like those of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Tadashi Imai, Minoru Shibuya, Masaki Kobayashi and Kenji Mizoguchi are worth watching. These are films that have obviously aged well but don’t stop there. Make the effort to get out of your comfort zone.
It is impossible for me to give you a list of all the cinematographic works that you could watch. There are so many, so it’s up to you to discover Japanese cinema. Many masterpieces have never left the borders of Japan and sometimes have never been translated, so if learning the Japanese language can help you discover them, that would be really great.
I now let you enjoy this new list of vocabulary words.
白黒映画 .
しろくろエイガ
. the cinema in black and white
モノクロ映画 .
モノクロエイガ
. the cinema in black and white
カラー映画 .
カラーエイガ
. the color film, the color cinema
無声映画 .
ムセイエイガ
. the silent film, the silent cinema
アニメ映画 .
アニメエイガ
. the animated film
アクション映画 .
アクションエイガ
. the action movie, the action cinema
パストラル映画 .
パストラルエイガ
. the pastoral film, the pastoral cinema
ドラマ映画 .
ドラマエイガ
. the drama movie
SF映画 .
SFエイガ
. the science fiction movie
ホラー映画 .
ホラーエイガ
. the horror movie, the horror cinema
探偵映画 .
カイジュウエイガ
. the crime movie, the thriller movie
ヤクザ映画 .
ヤクザエイ
. the yakuza movie
怪獣映画 .
カイジュウエイガ
. the kaiju movie, the monster movie
ちゃんばら映画 .
ちゃんばらエイガ
. the samurai movie
剣戟映画 .
ケンゲキエイガ
. the swashbuckling movie, the cloak and dagger movie
歴史映画 .
レキシエイガ
. the historical film, the historical cinema
冒険映画 .
ボウケンエイガ
. the adventure film, the adventure cinema
ドキュメンタリー映画 .
ドキュメンタリーエイガ
. the documentary film
子供向けの映画 .
こどもむけのエイガ
. the children’s movie
家族向けの映画 .
カゾクむけのエイガ
. the family movie
映画チケット .
エイガチケット
. the cinema ticket
シネマチケット
. the cinema ticket (from English)
映画キャリア .
エイガキャリア
. the film career, the cinematic career
フィルモグラフィー
. the filmography (from English)
国内興収 .
コクナイコウシュウ
. the domestic box office, the national box office
First of all, in the word モノクロ映画, "モノクロ" obviously comes from "monochrome". Note that the katakanized word has been shortened by one syllable.
Then in the word 探偵映画 . タンテイエイガ which translates to "the crime movie", we have the word 探偵 . タンテイ which means "the detective". So be careful, the word 探偵 . タンテイ DOES NOT mean "the policeman", it translates as "the detective", even though the word 探偵映画 . タンテイエイガ translates to "the crime movie".
The word 国内興収 . コクナイコウシュウ denotes "the domestic box office, the national box office". Depending on the country concerned, you can translate by the corresponding nationality.
Now, I can’t resist the urge to quickly describe some typically Japanese film genres: the ヤクザ映画 and the samurai film, also called in Japanese ちゃんばら映画.
The ヤクザ映画, sometimes simply called "yakuza film" in English, is a very popular film genre in Japanese cinema that focuses on the lives and relationships of yakuza, also called the Japanese mafia. The golden age of the genre was in the 1960s. These films deal with contemporary subjects, such as the influence of the West, usually in the form of an honorable outlaw torn between the conflicting values of duty and personal feelings. The genre eventually declined due to its rapid wear and the rise of Hollywood cinema at the Japanese box office. However, some American directors like Sydney Pollack and Quentin Tarantino have taken an interest in this genre and have themselves made films that can be described as "yakuza films", sometimes in cooperation with Japanese film production companies.
Then comes the ちゃんばら映画. The word ちゃんばら is an abbreviation of the adverbial phrase ちゃん-ちゃん-バラバラ derived from the sound of sharp swords and onomatopoeia that expresses the situation, and refers to Japanese theater, movies, TV series, etc. which have a sword fight scene as their highlight. This Japanese cinematographic and theatrical genre of sword battle is often presented as an equivalent of the European swashbuckling film.
The genre of ちゃんばら映画 obeys very precise codes as to the definition of the characters, the visual form and the structure of the plot. The hero is most of the time a solitary fighter, samurai or rōnin, who must follow the bushido (literally "the way of the warrior"), a code of honor whose disrespect led to seppuku. The fights are often characterized by a particular rhythm: a long wait followed by exchanges of rapid and violent saber blows. Very bloody, the films generally end in apotheosis, with a great battle or a great duel.
Once again, a new opportunity arises to teach you new words by drawing a rather interesting parallel between the construction of certain words in English compared to Japanese. If you have followed the program so far, you know that this is not the first time that I want to get you to pay attention to how words are constructed.
We have now seen the most common vocabulary of the cinema lexicon and in particular the cinematographic genres. If you pay attention to the construction of the words, it's very easy to understand:
アクション + 映画 . エイガ = アクション映画 . アクションエイガ . the action movie, the action cinema
パストラル + 映画 . エイガ = パストラル映画 . パストラルエイガ . the pastoral film, the pastoral cinema
ドラマ + 映画 . エイガ = ドラマ映画 . ドラマエイガ . the drama movie
SF + 映画 . エイガ = SF映画 . SFエイガ . the science fiction movie
ホラー + 映画 . エイガ = ホラー映画 . ホラーエイガ . the horror movie, the horror cinema
探偵 . タンテイ + 映画 . エイガ = 探偵映画 . タンテイエイガ . the crime movie, the thriller movie
ヤクザ + 映画 . エイガ = ヤクザ映画 . ヤクザエイガ . the yakuza movie
怪獣 . カイジュウ + 映画 . エイガ = 怪獣映画 . カイジュウエイガ . the kaiju movie, the monster movie
And so on. Now, if we want to talk about novels and literary genres, it’s just as simple. You already know how to say "the novel" in Japanese: 小説 . ショウセツ.
Now, how do you say "the detective novel"? You already know, we saw this word during this season:
探偵 . タンテイ + 小説 . エイガ = 探偵小説 . タンテイエイガ . the detective novel
So, in your opinion, how do you say "the pastoral novel", "the science fiction novel", "the horror novel"? It is very simple:
パストラル + 小説 . ショウセツ = パストラル小説 . パストラルエイガ . the pastoral novel
SF + 小説 . ショウセツ = SF小説 . SFエイガ . the science fiction novel
ホラー + 小説 . ショウセツ = ホラー小説 . ホラーエイガ . the horror novel
Now, how do you say "the short novel" or "the short story"? See the example below:
短編 . タンペン + 小説 . ショウセツ = 短編小説 . タンペンショウセツ . the short novel, the short story
Finally, know that the word "novel" can also be written 長編小説 . チョウヘンショウセツ just like "the film" can also be said "the feature film", in Japanese 長編映画 . チョウヘンエイガ. Again, it’s super simple.
The lexicon of cinema is still wide and yet I will not return to it. We’ve seen all the vocabulary you’re most likely to use. If you want to learn more, I invite you to look for yourself in the dictionary.
This course is now complete. You know what you have left to do. Good luck.
Introduction