Performers called benshi in Japan provided what service to film-goers particularly in the days of silent cinema?
"adoption of this new technology was slowed by the popularity and influence of the ""benshi"" (in addition to the high costs to the cinemas and production companies). Though the tradition has mostly faded, there are a few remaining active ""benshi"" in Japan (e.g., Midori Sawato). The underlying concept of benshi, live narration of film, continues to work its way into performance practices. The actual practice of ""benshi"" is most commonly referenced in relation to live film narration largely due to it having been and when the practice was more formalized and financed. As evidenced by the (above) listings of ""benshi"""
"Benshi During silent films, the ""benshi"" stood to the side of the screen and introduced and related the story to the audience. In theatrical style, ""benshi"" often spoke for the characters on-screen and played multiple roles. Stemming from the traditions of ""kabuki"" and ""Noh"" theaters, the benshi's narration and general commentary were an important part of the Japanese silent film experience. The ""benshi"" also provided translation for foreign (mostly American) movies. Much like in the West, Japanese silent films were often accompanied by live music (in addition to the ""benshi""). However, unlike Western films, which tended to have a theatre"
"organ as accompaniment, Japanese films had a score which supported the traditional Japanese instruments of a ""kabuki"" play. Since ""benshi"" performed without external amplification, they had to carefully coordinate with the orchestra to be heard. At that time, theaters typically seated 1000, so a trademark of successful ""benshi"" was the ability to project their voices into large spaces. Famous benshi active in the silent era include Musei Tokugawa (at the Aoikan and Musashinokan theaters), Saburō Somei (at the Denkikan), Rakuten Nishimura, Raiyū Ikoma (at the Teikokukan), Mitsugu Ōkura, and Shirō Ōtsuji. In the 1995 film ""Picture Bride,"" Toshirō Mifune portrays"
"popularity of the silent medium in Japanese cinema owed in great part to the tradition of the ""benshi"", a live narrator who performed as accompaniment to a film screening. As director Akira Kurosawa later described, the benshi ""not only recounted the plot of the films, they enhanced the emotional content by performing the voices and sound effects and providing evocative descriptions of events and images on the screen... The most popular narrators were stars in their own right, solely responsible for the patronage of a particular theatre."" Film historian Mariann Lewinsky argues, The end of silent film in the West"
"filmed operettas with singers performing behind the screen. In Japan, films had not only live music but also the ""benshi"", a live narrator who provided commentary and character voices. The ""benshi"" became a central element in Japanese film, as well as providing translation for foreign (mostly American) movies. The popularity of the ""benshi"" was one reason why silent films persisted well into the 1930s in Japan. Few film scores survive intact from the silent period, and musicologists are still confronted by questions when they attempt to precisely reconstruct those that remain. Scores used in current reissues or screenings of silent"
"male and female roles, regardless of the gender of the ""benshi"". In 1927, there were 6,818 ""benshi"", including 180 women. Many ""benshi"" were famous in their own right and garnered great acclaim. The presence of a ""benshi"" was the aspect of the film presentation that drew in the audience, more so than the actors appearing in the film, and promotional posters would frequently include a photo of the ""benshi"" announcing the movie. The silent film era lasted until the mid-1930s in Japan in part due to ""benshi"", despite the introduction of sound in full-length films in the late 1920s. The"
"Neo-Benshi Neo-Benshi is the practice of producing live alternate voice-overs for movies. The art form’s acknowledged starting point is in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and other East Asian nations during the silent film era. Benshi is a Japanese word referring to the oral ""interpreter"" who performed a live narrative accompaniment to silent movies, in lieu of showing intertitles with dialogue, etc. In Korean the practice is known as pyônsa. Currently, it is finding a resurgence among experimental poets in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles. Movietelling is a reinstatement, or retelling, of the film narrator practice(s). Long time practitioner"
"""benshi"" (narrator of silent films), which was a very important component of the film-going experience in Japan, was adopted and renamed ""piansu"" by the Taiwanese. This narrator was very different from its equivalent in the Western world. It rapidly evolved into a star system. In fact, people would go to see the very same film narrated by different benshi, to hear the other benshi's interpretation. A romance could become a comedy or a drama, depending on the narrator's style and skills. The first Taiwan-made film was a documentary produced in February 1907 by Takamatsu Toyojiro, with a group of photographers"
"and in Japan was imposed by the industry and the market, not by any inner need or natural evolution... Silent cinema was a highly pleasurable and fully mature form. It didn't lack anything, least in Japan, where there was always the human voice doing the dialogues and the commentary. Sound films were not better, just more economical. As a cinema owner you didn't have to pay the wages of musicians and benshi any more. And a good benshi was a star demanding star payment. By the same token, the viability of the benshi system facilitated a gradual transition to sound—allowing"
"in Japan hired benshi, storytellers who sat next to the screen and narrated silent movies. They were descendants of kabuki jōruri, kōdan storytellers, theater barkers and other forms of oral storytelling. Benshi could be accompanied by music like silent films from cinema of the West. With the advent of sound in the early 1930s, the benshi gradually declined. In 1908, Shōzō Makino, considered the pioneering director of Japanese film, began his influential career with ""Honnōji gassen"" (本能寺合戦), produced for Yokota Shōkai. Shōzō recruited Matsunosuke Onoe, a former kabuki actor, to star in his productions. Onoe became Japan's first film star,"
"a ""benshi"" who traveled to sugar cane plantations in Hawaii during the early 20th century. As the film industry and art form developed in Japan, the presence of a ""benshi"" came to be part of the film. Benshi read the intertitles on silent films and voiced all on-screen characters. Perhaps most significantly for filmmakers, ""benshi"" would add their own commentary, explaining what was happening in a shot or describing what had happened in confusing edits or sudden transitions. Some ""benshi"" were known to interpret and add to a script, for example reciting poetry to accompany a moving visual. In addition,"
"it was traditional for the ""benshi"" to introduce the film, even giving a brief lecture about the history of the setting. This meant that filmmakers could assume that a live narrator, accustomed to improvisation, would be present at the showing to explain scenes or even explain missing scenes or unfilmed action. Perhaps because most early Japanese films were simply ""kabuki"" plays adapted to film, the characterization style ""benshi"" performed roles strongly influenced by the narrators in ""kabuki"" or a ""noh"" chorus—a grave, dramatic, exaggerated style. Due to the influence of ""kabuki"", audiences were not distracted by a single ""benshi"" voicing"
"such as Shochiku and Taikatsu around 1920. By the mid-1920s, Japanese cinema exhibited more of the cinematic techniques pure film advocates called for, and ""onnagata"" were replaced by actresses. The movement profoundly influenced the way films would be made and thought about for decades to come, but it was not a complete success: benshi would remain an integral part of the Japanese film experience into the 1930s. Pure Film Movement The was a trend in film criticism and filmmaking in 1910s and early 1920s Japan that advocated what were considered more modern and cinematic modes of filmmaking. Critics in such"
"Shunsui Matsuda Born in 1925 in Tokyo, Shunsui Matsuda performed as child ""Benshi"" but it was only after the Pacific War, when the post-war shortages created a demand in films that Matsuda really began his vocation as a ""Benshi"". In 1947 he found himself part of a troupe of itinerant ""benshi"" travelling around Kyūshū, whose burgeoning coal mining industry had attracted a lot of workers to the region. The desperate shortage of any means of entertainment in the area meant that reruns of old silent films were still immensely popular. It was during his travels that he realized the need"
"a figure such as the benshi, the live narrator who was a major part of Japanese silent cinema, found his acting career was ending. Sound further tightened the grip of major studios in numerous countries: the vast expense of the transition overwhelmed smaller competitors, while the novelty of sound lured vastly larger audiences for those producers that remained. In the case of the U.S., some historians credit sound with saving the Hollywood studio system in the face of the Great Depression (Parkinson, 1995). Thus began what is now often called ""The Golden Age of Hollywood"", which refers roughly to the"
"subjects into the Japanese empire. Takamatsu noted that early films were produced mostly for Japanese audiences rather than for local Taiwanese. Hence, early films tended to be educational in nature, lauding Japan's modernizing presence on the island. Other films catered to Japanese audiences exotic desires for Taiwan as a place of adventure and danger such as ""Conquering Taiwan's Native Rebels"" (1910) and ""Heroes of the Taiwan Extermination Squad"" (1910). Many conventions in Japanese films were adopted by the Taiwanese filmmakers. For example, the use of a ""benshi"" (narrator of silent films), which was a very important component of the film-going"
"as the director was seldom hesitant to confront unpleasant truths in his work. Heigo was academically gifted, but soon after failing to secure a place in Tokyo's foremost high school, he began to detach himself from the rest of the family, preferring to concentrate on his interest in foreign literature. In the late 1920s, Heigo became a benshi (silent film narrator) for Tokyo theaters showing foreign films, and quickly made a name for himself. Akira, who at this point planned to become a painter, moved in with him, and the two brothers became inseparable. With Heigo's guidance, Akira devoured not"
"in full flow providing the narration for the silent film fragment in Kaizo Hayashi's homage to this golden age, To Sleep So As To Dream (""Yume Miruyoni Nemuritai"", 1986). In 1984, Matsuda received an invitation from the Frankfurt Museum of Cinema and he gave his first ""Benshi"" performance in Europe. A year later, he received the first Tokyo Metropolitan Culture Prize. Shunsui Matsuda died of cancer on 8 August 1987 leaving behind a great legacy. Shunsui Matsuda Born in 1925 in Tokyo, Shunsui Matsuda performed as child ""Benshi"" but it was only after the Pacific War, when the post-war shortages"
"Biwa hōshi , also known as ""lute priests"", were travelling performers in the era of Japanese history preceding the Meiji period. They earned their income by reciting vocal literature to the accompaniment of biwa music. Often blind, they adopted the shaved heads and robes common to Buddhist monks. This occupation likely had its origin in China and India, where blind Buddhist lay-priest performers were once common. Their musical style is referred to as , which literally means """"heike"" music"". Although these performers existed well before the events of the Genpei War, they eventually became famous for narrating. Before ""biwa hōshi"""
"output. In addition to films based on kabuki, he and Makino pioneered the ""jidai-geki"" (""historical film"") genre. Onoe also popularized the subgenre of ninja films. Onoe's films were well-received, earning him the affectionate nickname ""Medama no Matchan"" (""""Eyeballs"" Matsu""), after his large eyes. He was especially popular among children, who took to imitating his ninja performances in their games. Many film historians consider him the first superstar of Japanese cinema because of his prolific output and his constant popularity. His films were silent, voiced-over by a live narrator (""benshi"") in the theaters. They largely followed the conventions of kabuki theater;"
"accurate model of the theater is currently on display at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo. It is also cited in Kaizo Hayashi's film ""To Sleep so as to Dream"". Denkikan The was the first dedicated movie theater in Japan. Originally a hall built in Asakusa's Rokku theater district to present spectacles featuring electricity (""denki"" in Japanese), it was converted into a movie theater in October 1903 by Yoshizawa Shōten, the most successful of the film companies at the time. Featuring benshi such as Saburo Somei, it quickly became the symbol of the new phenomenon of the motion pictures and many"
"of the period even undergoing surgical alterations to achieve the illusion. Much of the brothel was sponsored by MGM courting out of town clientele and foreign distributors and exhibitors from around the world. Billie Bennett Billie Bennett (October 23, 1874 – May 19, 1951) was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 52 films between 1913 and 1930. She was born in Evansville, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California. Author E. J. Fleming writing in his 2004 book, ""The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine"", states that when she ceased making"
"Midori Sawato Originally from Tokyo, Midori Sawato graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Hosei University. She first decided she wanted to become a ""benshi"" in 1972, when she saw the silent film ""The Water Magician"". She was particularly impressed with the performance as ""benshi"" of the man who would become her teacher, Shunsui Matsuda. After studying under Matsuda, Sawato made her debut in 1973. She is an active ""benshi"" who has garnered high praise through her wide variety of activities and performances in Japan and overseas. Her repertoire of over 500 films includes genres as varied as contemporary cinema, historical"
"that promoted Japanese culture and customs as well as the benefits of modernization under the Japanese. Coming as they did during the mid- to late-1930s, sound films in Korea faced much harsher censorship from the Japanese government-General than did the silent films before them. Also, the loss of the ""byeonsa"" narrators with the coming of sound film meant that anti-authority messages could no longer be sneaked around the censors in this way. On such example occurred with the importation of the American silent film ""Ben Hur"" (1927) into Korea. While Japanese colonial censors failed to find anything possibly inflammatory about"
"Yamaji Fumiko Culture Institute. Films with her narration are regularly aired on CS and NHK. Midori Sawato Originally from Tokyo, Midori Sawato graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Hosei University. She first decided she wanted to become a ""benshi"" in 1972, when she saw the silent film ""The Water Magician"". She was particularly impressed with the performance as ""benshi"" of the man who would become her teacher, Shunsui Matsuda. After studying under Matsuda, Sawato made her debut in 1973. She is an active ""benshi"" who has garnered high praise through her wide variety of activities and performances in Japan and"
"Denkikan The was the first dedicated movie theater in Japan. Originally a hall built in Asakusa's Rokku theater district to present spectacles featuring electricity (""denki"" in Japanese), it was converted into a movie theater in October 1903 by Yoshizawa Shōten, the most successful of the film companies at the time. Featuring benshi such as Saburo Somei, it quickly became the symbol of the new phenomenon of the motion pictures and many cinemas around Japan were later created that borrowed the name ""Denkikan."" It later became a Nikkatsu theater and then a Shochiku theater before finally closing in 1976. A historically"
"Happiness (Taiwan, 1999, dir: Lin Sheng-shing). Benshi masters frequently were intellectuals: many spoke Japanese, often traveled to Japan and/or China, and some were poets who wrote their own librettos for each film. From 1910, films started to be distributed with a script, but the benshi often preferred to continue with their own interpretations. Notable films during this period include ""Song of Sadness"" (, 1919), ""The Eyes of Buddha"" (, 1922), and ""Whose Mistake?"" (, 1925). Unlike Japanese-occupied Manchuria, Taiwan never became an important production market for Japan but rather was a vital exhibition market. Japanese-produced newsreels, shorts, educational, and feature"
"""Nongjungjo"" (), the young actor Na Woon-gyu got the chance to write, direct and star in his own film. The release of Na's film, ""Arirang"" () (1926) is the start of the era of silent film in Korea. Like the folksong ""Arirang"", on which its title was based, Na Woon-gyu's ""Arirang"" did not have an overtly political theme. However hidden or subtle messages could be magnified through the common use of a live narrator at the theater. A newspaper article of 1908 shows that this tradition of ""byeonsa"" (, or ""benshi"" in Japanese) appeared in Korea almost from the beginning"
"Pure Film Movement The was a trend in film criticism and filmmaking in 1910s and early 1920s Japan that advocated what were considered more modern and cinematic modes of filmmaking. Critics in such magazines as ""Kinema Record"" and ""Kinema Junpo"" complained that existing Japanese cinema was overly theatrical. They said it presented scenes from kabuki and shinpa theater as is, with little cinematic manipulation and without a screenplay written with cinema in mind. Women were even played by onnagata. Filmmakers were charged with shooting films with long takes and leaving the storytelling to the benshi in the theater instead of"
"experience in Japan, was adopted and renamed ""piān-sū"" by the Taiwanese. This narrator was very different from its equivalent in the Western world. It rapidly evolved into a star system but one based on the Japanese system. In fact, people would go to see the very same film narrated by different benshi, to hear the other benshi's interpretation. A romance could become a comedy or a drama, depending on the narrator's style and skills. Lu, a famous actor and benshi in Taiwan wrote the best reference book on Taiwanese cinema. The first Taiwanese benshi master was a musician and composer"
"Shinjuku Musashinokan The is a long-standing movie theater located on the east side of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. Originally started as the Musashinokan in May 1920, it quickly became Tokyo's premiere independent high-class theater showing foreign films. The theater program featured top-level film criticism and a committee of the managers and of film critics such as Akira Iwasaki helped program the films shown there. It was also famous in the silent era for the erudite benshi narration of Musei Tokugawa. On occasion, it also showed Japanese films such as Teinosuke Kinugasa's ""A Page of Madness"". When it was rebuilt"
"Billie Bennett Billie Bennett (October 23, 1874 – May 19, 1951) was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 52 films between 1913 and 1930. She was born in Evansville, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California. Author E. J. Fleming writing in his 2004 book, ""The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine"", states that when she ceased making films at the end of the silent era, she ran a high class bordello in an exclusive part of the Los Angeles area. Bennett's girls were made up to look like movie stars"
"of the showing of film in the country. As in Japan, this became an integral part to the showing of silent films, especially for imported films, where the ""byeonsa"" provided an economical and entertaining alternative to translating intertitles. In an interesting aspect of the ""byeonsa"" tradition in Korea, when Japanese authorities were not present the narrators could inject satire and criticism of the occupation into the film narrative, giving the film a political subtext invisible to Japanese government censors. Some of the more popular ""byeonsa"" were better-paid than the film actors. The success of ""Arirang"" inspired a burst of activity"