On the making process of the film "Children of Korea (Chōsen no ko)" (1955)

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Other Title
  • 映画「朝鮮の子」(1955)の製作プロセスをめぐって
  • エイガ チョウセン ノ コ 1955 ノ セイサク プロセス オ メグッテ
  • 映画朝鮮の子1955の製作プロセスをめぐって

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The documentary film "Children of Korea (Chōsen no ko)", released in March 1955, was produced in the midst of the counter movements against the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education's decision in October 1954 to close the Tokyo Metropolitan Korean Schools (Tōkyōtoritsu Chōsenjin Gakkō). This article analyzes the making process of "Children of Korea" in order to historicize the political and social relationships which were reflected both explicitly and implicitly in the film. The documentary was produced by the Korean education movement organizations and was scripted and directed by the Zainichi Korean Cineaste Group (Zainichi Chōsen Eigajin Shūdan) with the professional assistance of Japanese members of the Documentary and Educational Film Production Council (Kiroku Kyōiku Eiga Seisaku Kyōgikai) which was led by the Japanese Communist Party. Based on the ‹first draft› of the scenario written by Arai Hideo, they started shooting from late December 1954. Facing with objections within the production staffs, however, they ceased shooting for a time and asked Kyōgoku Takahide to rewrite the scenario, what I call the ‹revised version›. One of the most radical revisions was that Korean schoolchildren had come to narrate in most of the scenes as if they read their own compositions. As a result, the representation of the independent identity of Zainichi Koreans had been emphasized in the film. Educational activities in Korean schools and relationships among educational movements at the time were vividly recorded in "Children of Korea". Toshiko/Minja's scene of reading her composition well-reflected such relationships and changes in the film. However, due to the scenario revision and financial difficulty, the completion of the film had delayed more than a month. During the delay, the strategy of the counter movement had shifted from the anti-closure of the Metropolitan Korean Schools to negotiation on conditions in privatizing the schools, ending up with the inactive screening of the film.

Journal

  • 評論・社会科学

    評論・社会科学 (128), 39-65, 2019-03-20

    The Association of Social Studies, Doshisha University

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