Siegenthaler, Peter D.Phillips, Michael F.2009-08-262012-02-242009-05Phillips, M. F. (2009). A cinematic challenge to modernity critical theory in postwar Japanese cinema: An introduction to Fukasaku Kinji (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/3162The social critique of Post World War II society was reflected in part by an international avant-garde film movement of the 1960s. In Japan, a new generation of directors challenged past and present issues, such as militarism and capitalism, by looking unflinchingly at the contradictions inherent in a diametric change of social perspective ushered in by the phenomena of postwar democratization. At the opening of the 20th Century the emergence of the motion picture came to redefine visual representation and the narrative elements of dramatic expression. As a modern pastime, the adoption of cinema among the working class allowed for a "deepened and critical consciousness" of society. This study aims to visit a period in Japan's post-World War II history and contextualize the discourse of Fukasaku Kinji's film in the critique of Japanese society.Text48 pages1 file (.pdf)enpostwarJapanesefilmcinemacritical theoryJapanFukasaku KinjiHonors College