Documentary - 25 minutes

Synopsis - How has a silent Japanese film, “A Page of Madness” from 1926 captured the attention of musicians and academics nearly 70 years later? At the time of its release, the film was critically acclaimed as a modern avant-garde work. In this film, an old man visits his wife at an insane asylum, on the eve of his daughter’s wedding. His wife is a patient because she attempted to drown their child years ago. The old man wants to save his daughter from his wife’s fate of insanity. This film directed by Kinugasa was thought by the director to be lost in a studio fire until he discovered a print in his barn in 1971. Since that time, numerous musicians have created scores for this silent film. The Aono Jikken Ensemble based in Seattle WA composed a score in 1997 and have performed it several times since then. The ensemble plays Asian instruments such as taiko drums, the erhu and the xylimba with western musical influences. A Brazilian samba and Celtic music have found their way into recent scores. Their musical interpretation along with that of noted film scholars, Dr. Aaron Gerow and Dr. William Gardner will attempt to explain their fascination with the film.

 

Crew:
Writer/Director: Doug Ing
Producers: Doug Ing. Heath Allen, Seunghan Sung
DP: Heath Allen
Additional Camera: Doug Ing, Irene Kuniyuki, Leslie Thyagarajan
Editors: Doug Ing, Heath Allen
Additional Sound Recordist: Monica Yu

Featuring:
The Aono Jikken Ensemble, Dr. William O. Gardner, Dr. Aaron Gero