H program Japanese Masterpiece Selection 5: Science in Our Daily Lives
Scientific bombshells are also in our daily lives! Constant drama in the modern world and in our bodies! These four works will surprise us that there are still so many things we didn’t know . . .
Lubricating Oil
(“Junkatsuyu”)- JAPAN / 1960 / Japanese / Color / 35mm / 25 min
Director: Takeuchi Shinji
Script: Yoshimi Yutaka
Director of Photography: Kobayashi Yonesaku
Photography: Kato Wazo, Hasegawa Hiromi, Toyooka Sadao
Music: Ikeno Sei
Commentary: Sugiyama Shintaro
Producer: Okada Sozo
Planning: Maruzen Oil (now Cosmo Oil Company, Ltd.)
Production Company: Tokyo Cinema Co., Inc.
Source: TokyoCinema Inc., National Film Center
A scientific spectacle film which powerfully describes how lubricating oil “fights against friction” in metal rolling at steelworks and in airplane jet engines. The sight of oil covering the massive machines is almost sensual—this is a charming cult work with a clean-cut screen design and magnificent music.
Destruction
(“Kowasu”)- JAPAN / 1973 / Japanese / Color / 16mm / 27 min
Director, Script: Sadamura Takeshi
Photography: Hirano Mitsunori, Akiyama Yasuhiro
Music: Yanagisawa Tsuyoshi
Commentary: Wada Atsushi
Producers: Hara Masaji, Ishikawa Shigeki
Production Company: Gakken Co., Ltd.
Planning: Science and Technology Agency (now part of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology)
Planning, Source: Japan Science Foundation
Going on the notion that human history is a constant cycle of creation and destruction, we investigate various phenomena of destruction, from micro to macro. Characterized by its witty commentary, this is one film in a scientific series the Science and Technology Agency made annually.
Things and Their Weight
(“Mono to sono omosa”)- JAPAN / 1969 / Japanese / Color / Video (Original: 16mm) / 21 min
Scientific Educational Film Collection, Physics Library, Mechanics Series
Director: Goto Ichiro
Script, Producer: Maki Chu
Photography: Seki Haruo
Experiments: Fukada Saburo
Narrator: Yamada Sachiko
Production Company: Iwanami Productions
Source: Iwanami Audio-visual Media
Everything has a weight that never changes, even if its shape is altered. This is an audience-participation film, making its basic proposition understood through quizzes and experiments. The structure of the Scientific Educational Film Collection films, calling for the classroom operator to actually stop the projector in the middle of the film, is also of interest.
The Stomach: The Elaborate Mechanism of Digestion
(“I: Komyo na shoka no shikumi”)- JAPAN / 2006 / Japanese / Color / Video / 14 min
Director: Tamai Jun
Narrative Structure: Takeda Junichiro
Script: Kawamura Tomoko, Tamai Jun
Photography: Hayashi Masahiro, Ishii Shigehisa, Kitahara Yukio
Research: Tomita Tsutomu, Ishizaki Michiko
CG: Nagata Masami Commentary: Ito Soichi
Producers: Takeda Junichiro, Nishi Hiroshi
Planning: Asuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Production Company, Source: Icam Co., Ltd.
Since the stomach is always producing such strong enzymes and acids, why doesn’t it digest itself? Here is a unique work that will enlighten you on the mechanism of the stomach, surprisingly unknown to us even though we rely on it everyday. After you watch it, you’ll definitely be hungry.