A Page of Madness

1926 [JAPANESE]

Action / Drama / Horror / Thriller

27
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 75% · 4 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 75% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 5281 5.3K

japan asylum silent film mental asylum dowry partially lost film

Plot summary

A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.

Director

Teinosuke Kinugasa Photo
Teinosuke Kinugasa

Top cast

Misao Seki Photo
Misao Seki as Doctor
Yoshie Nakagawa Photo
Yoshie Nakagawa as Servant's Wife
Tetsu Tsuboi Photo
Tetsu Tsuboi as Crazy Man C
Kyosuke Takamatsu Photo
Kyosuke Takamatsu as Crazy Man B
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
609.3 MB
934*720
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
19.98 fps
1 hr 10 min
Seeds 3
1.14 GB
1392*1072
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
19.98 fps
1 hr 10 min
Seeds 26

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by crossbow0106 7 / 10

Harrowing, Disturbing, Uncompromising

If you do not think you can take graphic scenes of mentally unstable people, this film is not for you.This story is about a man who takes a job at a local mental institution so he can be near his wife, who has gone mad. Throughout this long thought lost film you see clearly harrowing images of people at the institution. The soundtrack only adds to the foreboding. There are people lying catatonic and there is a dancer who doesn't stop dancing until she drops to the floor, exhausted. The film is 59 minutes long, I think it was originally longer but this was all that was found. There are no inter titles, its a silent film. In Japan, I am certain the benshi narrated the story in theaters, but your imagination has to follow this story. So, why a 7? It is daring, unflinching, brave and both ugly and not at the same time. As a point of reference only, Guy Maddin's work approaches this. Just know going in there is no happiness here. You won't soon forget this film. Best idea: Don't watch it before bedtime, it will stay with you.
Reviewed by adamwarlock 6 / 10

fascinating but tough going

I saw the 1 hour version shown on TCM. I'll like to see the 78 minute restoration as this version has no inter titles, no translation of signs and missing a third of the film. Now, back then a benshi would live narrate so there wouldn't be titles but do they have a copy of what the benshi said during the film (if anything)? I would read a synopsis before watching as it makes things clearer. The plot is hard to follow, some of it is from the POV of crazy people or the dream of the protagonist. Well worth watching but more for admiration than enjoyment.
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