Une page folle
Kinugasa’s film A Page of Madness (Une page folle in French) dives into the world of the Japanese avant-garde of the 1920s. This film remains an unidentified moving object in history, evoking Dada and surrealism, psychoanalysis, and the "neo-sensationism" of the time. The plot, of which one of the authors is the young Kawabata, takes place in an asylum; several scenes borrow from choreography and from mask theater. The mastery of editing and cinematographic techniques - fades, overprints, distortions - inspires the young Japanese composer, Mayu Hirano. She composes both the sounds of the film and electronics based on an instrumental trio while introducing the song of Noh, for the end of this mad page.
Une page folle, film by Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926 (restored version)
Film 35mm, black and white, silent (67 minutes)
Gift from the Society of Japanese Friends of Centre Pompidou, 2019
Restored in 2008 by Lobster Films, and acquired by the Musée national d’art moderne du Centre Pompidou, thanks to the support of the Society of Japanese Friends of Centre Pompidou.
Dionysios Papanikolaou IRCAM computer-music design
Clément Cerles, Arnaud Toulon sound engineering
Recorded music performed by Jean-Marie Cottet piano, Awaya Akio shite of noh, Eve Payeur percussion, Elisa Urrestarazu Capellán saxophone soprano, Séverine Ballon cello
Music by Mayu Hirano, commissioned by IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Japanese premiere