Basic Research on the Development of Industrial and Critical Discourses in Film Magazine Kinema Junpo on Aging

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K12898
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01070:Theory of art practice-related
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Kubo Yutaka 金沢大学, 歴史言語文化学系, 准教授 (30822514)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 映画学 / キネマ旬報 / エイジング / 若さと老い / セクシュアリティ / 映画産業史 / 映画批評 / ジェンダー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

During the two-year period of my project, I examined the film magazine Kinema Junpo, 504 issues in total published from 1995 to 2015. The aim of this examination was to conduct comprehensive research on how Kinema Junpo functioned as a platform for both the film industry and film criticism to respond to changes in social conditions and discourses around youth and old age. It turned out that, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s after Japan became an aged society, both the film industry and film criticism showed high interest in whether cinema could accurately portray the real-life experiences of aging. However, it became clear that, from the late 2000s to the 2010s, while the film industry heavily invested in the production of youth films as one of the most profitable genres, male-centered film criticism in Kinema Junpo harshly criticized the representation of youth and immaturity on the screen.

Free Research Field

映画学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は、『キネマ旬報』の検証で得た知見を戦後から現代までの日本映画の分析を通じて、映画学とエイジング研究を接合し、視覚文化にみる若さや老いを批評する方法論を発展させた点に見出せる。本研究は、異性愛規範的かつ男性中心主義的な超高齢社会・日本における若さと老いに対する表象と言説の分析を通じて、性的マイノリティや女性の老いが男性の老いよりも「未熟」で「劣る」とされるだけでなく、男性の老いをめぐる弱さを見えづらくする傾向を明らかにした。老いの複雑さ、弱さ、繊細さが映画や批評で不可視となり、それは実社会で老いを語りにくくしている傾向と共鳴すると明らかにした点が本研究の社会的意義である。