A Page of Madness (1926)

Rapid montage, superimposition, and distorted imagery immerse the viewer in the troubled inner world of its characters. Set in a psychiatric hospital, the film follows a woman who has lost her mental bearings. Her guilt-ridden husband, now unknown to her, works at the hospital as a janitor. Long believed lost, the film resurfaced in Kinugasa’s warehouse in 1971. Although roughly a third of the original version remains missing, its beauty and disturbing psychological force are undiminished.

A 2018 BBC preview of the film described it as “a balletic musing on our subconscious nightmares.” The CSFF screening features an original score by James Praznik performed by a quintet drawn from No Exit New Music Ensemble.