Japanese cinema before the French film "Zigomar contre Nick Carter" arrived in March 1912 was a mixture of tame, romantic movies or reenactments of popular kabuki plays. Film production in Japan was still in its infancy then. But the frequently violent "Zigomar" movie, a new phenomenon playing in that country's movie houses, both excited and revolted viewers not used to witnessing such actions in real life or on the stage.
Younger viewers were enthralled by an upper-class thief who could thwart police and its top detective, Nick Carter (based on a fictional American detective created by John Coryell for magazines in 1886). French director/writer Victorin Jasset had produced a widely-successful series of Nick Carter films in 1908. He was familiar with a fictional master-criminal Zigomar, written by Leon Sazie, and incorporated the thief as the lead character in his 1911 film "Zigomar." This was sequeled by Detective Carter trying to thwart Zigomar and his "Z" gang in "Zigomar contre Nick Carter." The 1912 film was loaded with fist fights, torture, kidnapping, elusive disappearances by Zigomar and a variety of other criminal activity.
All this was new to Japanese audiences. Older viewers demanded censorship for such violence and criminal glorification. Those in the film business, though, saw the popularity of Zigomar and began to pump out imitations based on both characters. The French film proved to be the transformative impetus changing the dynamics and aesthetics of Japanese filmmaking, elements that continue to be seen in today's Japan movie releases.
"Zigomar contre Nick Carter" is the only existing movie of director Jasset's portrayal of the detective from the earlier 1908 series as well as his three Zigomar movies (the 1912 film was followed by "Zigomar peau d'anguille" in 1913).
