83-year old director Rintaro returns after a decade with a short project but with a scope that is as great as the history of Japanese Cinema. He adapts “Nezumikozo Jirokichi,” a lost silent film by pioneering Japanese film director Sadao Yamanaka, from a script he left. The project was initiated by producer Masao Maruyama (co-founder of Madhouse and chairman of MAPPA and Studio M2) with character designs by other veterans such as “Akira” creator Katsuhiro Otomo and Yoshinori Kanemori. The short film is a tribute to Yamanaka who influenced generations of filmmakers.
Nezumikozo Jirokichi is screening at Japan Cuts 2024

In an attempt to reconstruct a lost movie, “Nezumikozo Jirokichi” is informed by the styles of his three surviving films. What is challenging about this project is that the surviving titles are all sound films and are all from the last works of the great director. To take inspiration from those titles towards reimagining an earlier silent work may not translate to the spirit of its time. What we get from this animated project may not be the spirit, but the impulse of the editing and visual composition of the surviving works can definitely be seen.
There are two parts to this short animation. The first one, where Otomo designs the characters, features an imagining of Yamanaka himself at the set of “Nezumikozo Jirokichi” starting the shoot of the first sequence. The director is depicted in this segment the way he was remembered by people through anecdotes: as a slacker who often looks sleepy on set. He is imagined as someone not far from the characters he popularized: a grounded common folk who wears flat sandals. In these sleepy moments, Yamanaka finds inspiration and humor in the images he conjures.
The second part is the adaptation of “Nezumikozo Jirokichi,” toned in black and blue with character design by Kanemori and intertitles read by veteran seiyuu Mami Koyama (“Dr. Slump,” “Saint Seiya”). The protagonist is the titular character, also known as The Rat, a Robin Hood-like character who is plaguing the rich and corrupt of a fictional village in the Edo period. The Rat is chased by two figures of authority until they reach an illegal gambling house run by the police chief. This scene intercuts with those depicting the poor and the needy, the people that The Rat cares about.
Producer Maruyama mentions in the introduction that precedes the short feature how the influence of both Yamanaka and his contemporaries such as Yasujiro Ozu, to highlight the plight of the common folk contributed to the modernization of Japanese cinema. In the surviving films such as “Humanity and Paper Balloons” (1937), the focus on the layman adds life and often informs the form. Yamanaka’s attitude towards his characters is often reflected in his editing style which is often lively and jumpy and the scenes are never dull. Such is the spirit that this short animation project aims to translate.
Check also this interview
Taking note from the later sound films, the silent movie Nezumikozo Jirokichi is reimagined by Rintaro with similar liveliness and energy. It may perhaps be the animated medium that makes it seem more kinetic than what we can imagine a silent film would be. But if we’re taking examples from another Yamanaka work, like “Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo” (1935), we can see that this isn’t the case. “Tange Sazen,” in particular, has this anime-like pacing and humor in it that may have informed the treatment of this short film, and can even be said that the great director’s style actually fits the animation medium.
With only three surviving works and volumes of screenplays, reimagining a lost silent movie like “Nezumikozo Jirokichi” is not an easy task to take on. This short project showcases the dedication of Yamanaka’s admirers to reintroduce the great director to a new audience, honoring his legacy and ensuring his influence endures.