1.
documentary film; documentary
A film that records and presents real events, people, or topics rather than telling a fictional story.
戦争の記録映画を観た。
I watched a war documentary.
この記録映画は自然の美しさを見事にとらえている。
This documentary beautifully captures the beauty of nature.
被災地の復興をテーマにした記録映画が映画祭で上映された。
A documentary about the recovery of the disaster-affected area was screened at the film festival.
The traditional Japanese term for documentary film, composed of 記録 (record, documentation) and 映画 (movie, film). While ドキュメンタリー (the loanword) is also widely used in modern Japanese, 記録映画 remains the standard native term.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 記録映画を撮る — to shoot a documentary
- 記録映画を制作する — to produce a documentary
- 記録映画監督 — documentary filmmaker
- 記録映画祭 — documentary film festival
SIMILAR WORDS:
- ドキュメンタリー — documentary (loanword; more common in casual speech and TV)
- 劇映画 — feature film, narrative film (fictional; the counterpart)
- 娯楽映画 — entertainment film (focuses on commercial appeal)
USAGE:
記録映画 tends to sound more formal or traditional than ドキュメンタリー. It is preferred in academic writing, film criticism, and historical contexts.