A Page of Madness (1926) a/k/a 狂った一頁, Kurutta Ichipeiji

The film takes place in an asylum in the countryside. Amid a torrential rainstorm, a janitor (Masuo Inoue) wanders through the halls revealing the various patients with mental illnesses. The next day, a young woman (Ayako Iijima) arrives and is surprised to see her father, the janitor, working there. Her mother (Yoshie Nakagawa) is an inmate in the asylum and had gone insane due to the cruelty of her husband, the janitor, when he was a sailor. The husband, feeling guilty, took a job at the asylum to care for her.

The daughter announces that she is soon to marry a fine young man (Hiroshi Nemoto), but the janitor begins to worry due to the then-common belief that mental illness was inherited. If the young man's family were to learn of the mother's illness, the marriage might be called off.

At work the janitor's relationship with his wife, unknown to the asylum, interferes with his job. He gets into a fight with some male inmates (Minoru Takase & Kyôsuke Takamatsu) when his wife is hit, and he is sternly scolded by the head doctor (Misao Seki).

These events cause the janitor to experience a number of fantasies, as he slowly loses control of the border between dreams and reality. He first has a daydream about winning a chest of drawers in a lottery that he could give to his daughter as part of her dowry. When his daughter comes to tell him that her marriage is in trouble, he thinks about taking his wife away from the asylum to hide her existence. He also fantasizes about killing the head doctor, but the vision gets out of hand as a bearded inmate (Tetsu Tsuboi) is seen marrying his daughter.

The janitor finally dreams of distributing masks to the inmates, providing them with happy faces. He returns to work mopping the floors, no longer able to visit his wife's ward because he lost the keys. He sees the bearded inmate pass by, who bows to him for the first time, as if bowing to his father-in-law.

A 1926 Japanese Black & White silent film produced & directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa, written by Yasunari Kawabata, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Minoru Inuzuka and Banko Sawada, cinematography by Kōhei Sugiyama and Eiji Tsuburaya, starring Masao Inoue, Yoshie Nakagawa, Ayako Iijima, Hiroshi Nemoto, Misao Seki, Minoru Takase, Eiko Minami, Kyosuke Takamatsu, Tetsu Tsuboi, and Shintarō Takiguchi.

Lost for forty-five years until being rediscovered by its director in rice cans, in his storehouse in 1971, The film is the creation of a group of Japanese avant-garde artists, known as Shinkankakuha (lit. "School of new perceptions" (or sensations)) and is considered the first film of a stillborn "neo-sensationist" current, but shows influences of German expressionist cinema. It abounds with flashbacks, quick cuts, fast camera movements, optical inventions and symbolism. It is one of the early films directed by Kinugasa as well as one of Eiji Tsuburaya's early film works, the latter credited as assistant cinematographer.

Yasunari Kawabata, who would win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, was credited on the film with the original story. He is often cited as the film's screenwriter, and a version of the scenario is printed in his complete works, but the scenario is now considered a collaboration between him, Kinugasa, Banko Sawada, and Minoru Inuzuka.

The film was shot in one month, and so underfunded, that the stars (some big names), had to assist in painting the sets, as well as making the props and pushing them. Lacking money for accommodations for actors, they slept on the set or in the front office. The director had only eight small lights to work with, so he had the walls of his small studio painted in a silver color, to make them reflect additional illumination.

When this film was made, most Japanese cinemas would show only domestic films, while others would show only foreign films. But this was shown in cinemas specializing in foreign films. It was a big hit with the critics who proclaimed it a masterpiece, but not so much with the audience. The film "disappeared" from theaters after its short "preview screening" release.

Reception of the film since its rediscovery has been mostly positive, calling it "a vibrant and unsettling work of great emotional power", praises of the film include, "A Page of Madness remains one of the most radical and challenging Japanese movies ever seen", "a masterpiece", praising the film's "eerie, painted sets", calling it "a striking exploration of the nature of madness", "a balletic musing on our subconscious nightmares, examining dream states in a way that is both beautiful and highly disturbing", "both startling and mesmerizing".

It was later included at number 50 in Slant Magazine's "100 Best Horror Movies of All Time", citing the film's visuals and atmosphere as, "lingering long after the film ends.”

A grade A masterpiece. The film's expressionist style, imagery, and depictions of madness are both startling and mesmerizing. A vibrant and unsettling work of great emotional power.