Kon Ichikawa (1915 - 2008)
It is difficult to describe the characteristics of Kon Ichikawa as a director. He directed so many movies of a broad variety of genres and subjects, which makes it almost impossible to judge Ichikawa by the genres or subjects he selected. In addition, Ichikawa usually appears to be not so emotionally involved with the characters of his movies, except for rare cases such as "The Burmese Harp" (1956), "Otôto" (1960), and "Hakai" (1962). In many cases, it seems that Ichikawa objectively observed and remotely controlled the characters in his movies, and, thus, the characters often appear to play a game rather than play a drama.
Technically, Ichikawa is characterized by his keen sense of composition and unique manner of editing, and he enjoyed, throughout his long career, devising unique or challenging techniques of composition, editing, sound-effect, delivery of dialogues, and so on.
Thus, some criticizes Ichikawa as heartless, frivolous, or artificial, arguing that Ichikawa was more interested in techniques than human. I agree such criticism in part. Indeed, Ichikawa's movies occasionally appear to be artificial. However, it is his style. So to speak, Ichikawa portrayed his movie's characters in a graphic manner using simple lines, rather than in a realistic manner using oil paints. You are free to say, "I like oil paintings better than line drawings". However, you should not say, "Oil paintings are superior to line drawings because I like oil paintings more". I like both.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status"(whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Most of Ichikawa's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted except for titles whose complete version does not exist.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
(Filmography)
1948 Hana hiraku - Machiko yori
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1948 Sambyakurokujugo ya (365 Nights)
Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 20%
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Ningen moyô (Design of a Human Being)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Hateshinaki jônetsu (Endless Passion/Passion Without End)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Ginza Sanshirô (A Ginza Veteran/Sanshiro at Ginza)
Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 20%
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Netsudeichi (Heat and Mud)
Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 40%
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Akatsuki no tsuiseki (Pursuit at Dawn)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Ieraishan (Nightshade Flower)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Koibito (The Lover/The Sweetheart)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Mukokuseki-sha (The Man Without a Nationality)
Survival Status: Lost
1951 Nusumareta koi (Stolen Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Bungawan soro (River Solo Flows)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Kekkon koshinkyoku (Wedding March)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Rakki-san (Mr. Lucky)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Wakai hito (Young Generation/Young People)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (incomplete version (73/117 min), I cannot recommend)
1952 Ashi ni sawatta onna (The Woman Who Touched the Legs)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Ano te kono te (This Way, That Way)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Pu-san (Mr. Poo/Mr. Pu)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1953 Aoiro kakumei (The Blue Revolution)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1953 Seishun Zenigata Heiji (Youth of Heiji Senigata)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Aijin (The Lovers)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Watashi no subete wo (All About Me/All of Myself)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Okuman chôja (A Billionaire)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Josei ni kansuru jûnishô (Twelve Chapters about Women)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Seishun kaidan (Ghost Story of Youth)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Kokoro (The Heart)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1956 Biruma no tategoto (The Burmese Harp)(*1)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1956 Shokei no heya (Punishment Room)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Nihonbashi (Bridge of Japan)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Manin densha (A Full-Up Train/Crammed Streetcar/The Crowded Train)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Tôhoku no zunmu-tachi (The Men of Tohoku)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1958 Ana (Hole in One/The Hole/The Pit)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1958 Enjô (Conflagration/The Temple of the Golden Pavilion)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Anata to watashi no aikotoba: Sayônara, konnichiwa (Goodbye - Good Day/Goodbye, Hello)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kagi (Odd Obsession/The Key)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Nobi (Fires on the Plain)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1960 Jokyô_"Mono o takaku uritsukeru onna"
(A Woman's Testament_segment "A Woman Who Sell Dear")
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Bonchi
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Otôto (Younger Brother)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1961 Kuroi jûnin no onna (Ten Black Women)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Hakai (The Broken Commandments)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Watashi wa nisai (I Am Two Years Old)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Yukinojô henge (An Actor's Revenge/Revenge of a Kabuki Actor)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1963 Taiheiyô hitori-botchi (Alone Across the Pacific)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1964 Dokonjo monogatari - zeni no odori (Money Talks/The Money Dance)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1965 Tôkyô orinpikku (Tokyo Olympiad)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1967 Toppo Jîjo no botan sensô (Topo Gigio and the Missile War)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1968 Seishun (Youth)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1968 Kyô (Kyoto)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (Compilation DVD: B001F055H2), USA
1970 Tsuru (A Crane)(*2)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Panpa no Bouken (The Adventure of Panpa)(*2)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1971 Ai futatabi (To Love Again)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1973 Matatabi (Errance/The Wanderers)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Toki yo tomare, kimi wa utsukusii (Visions of Eight: segment "The Fastest")(*2)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1975 Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Tsuma to onna no aida (Between Wife and Woman/Between Women and Wives)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1976 Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Akuma no temari-uta (Rhyme of Vengeance/The Devil's Ballad)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Gokumon-to (Guillotine Island/Hell's Gate Island)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1978 Joôbachi (Queen Bee)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1978 Hi no tori (Firebird/The Phoenix)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1979 Byôinzaka no kubikukuri no ie (The House of Hanging)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1980 Koto (Ancient City)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Kôfuku (Happiness/Lonely Heart)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1983 Sasame-yuki (Fine Snow/The Makioka Sisters)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1984 Ohan
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1985 Biruma no tatekoto (The Burmese Harp)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1986 Rokumeikan (High Society of Meiji/The Hall of the Crying Deer)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1987 Eiga joyû (Actress/Film Actress)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1987 Taketori monogatari (Kaguya/Princess from the Moon)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1988 Tsuru (Crane)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1991 Tenkawa densetsu satsujin jiken (Noh Mask Murders)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1993 Kaettekite Kogarashi Monjiro (The Return of Kogarashi Monjiro)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1994 Shijûshichinin no shikaku (47 Ronin)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1996 Yatsu haka-mura (The 8-Tomb Village)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2000 Shinsengumi
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
2001 Dora-heita (Alley Cat)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
2001 Kah-chan (Big Mama)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2007 Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2007 Yume jû-ya (Ten Nights of Dream) (second segment only)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (check Amazon video)
(*1) The first part (1710m) , which tells the first half of the story, was obliged to be released before completing filming in order to keep the release schedule. After completing filming, two versions were released simultaneously, one of which is the second part (2199m) which tells the last half of the story, and the other of which is the complete version (3196m) which tell the whole story.Only the first part and the complete version were edited by Ichikawa. The complete version was often referred to as "abridged version/condensed version" incorrectly.
(*3) Screened at Expo '70 (Osaka) in combination with live action.
(My recommendations)
In addition to the titles ranked in the Top_10_Movies, the movies Ichikawa directed for Daiei from 1956 to 1964 are generally worth watching. This Daiei period was Ichikawa's peak years, I think.
Probably, Ichikawa's "artificial" style was most suitable for comedies. Ichikawa directed many comedies, romantic ones,cynical ones, or black comedies. Ichikawa was most active, as a director of comedies, in the period before he entered Daiei. Among the comedies in this period, I recommend the followings:
"Nusumareta koi/Stolen Love"(1951);
"Kekkon koshinkyoku/Wedding March" (1951);
"Pu-san/Mr. Poo/Mr. Pu" (1953);
"Seishun Zenigata Heiji/Youth of Heiji Senigata" (1953); and
"Aijin/The Lovers" (1954) (My favorite).
Ichikawa's style was also suitable for documentaries, which, for ichikawa, were showcases of techniques of editing. Needless to say, "Tôkyô orimpikku/Tokyo Olympiad" is Ichikawa's best in this genre. I also recommend "Kyô/Kyoto" (a documentary short).
During the decade after "Tokyo Olympiad", Ichikawa's works were obviously inferior to his works in the previous decade. So was even "Matatabi/Errance/The Wanderers" (1973), which was Ichikawa's best in this period. Ichikawa recovered, to some extent, from his slump in mid-1970s, on and after "Inugamike no ichizoku/The Inugami Clan" (1976). Until around mid-1980s, Ichikawa's works were moderately successful, but could not reach the level of the works in the Daiei period. Among the movies in this period, I recommend "Inugami", "Kôfuku/Happiness/Lonely Heart" (1981), "Sasame-yuki/Fine Snow/The Makioka Sisters" (1983), and "Ohan" (1984).
In 1990s and 2000s, Ichikawa continued to be active. Even in this period, Ichikawa showed flashes of his talents and skills.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Japanese Movie Director (8): Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi (1898 - 1956)
Kenji Mizoguchi is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese movie directors, so well-known that rather detailed information may be acquired through IMDB, Wikipedia and so on. There is little left for me to add.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are displayed in bold font.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your palyer, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
1923 Ai ni yomigaeru hi (The Resurrection of Love)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Kokyo (Hometown/Native Country)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Seishun no yumeji (Dream of Youth/The Dream Path of Youth)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Joen no chimata (City of Desire/Harbour of Desire)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Haizan no uta wa kanashi (Failure's Song Is Sad/The Song of Failure)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 813 (The Adventures of Arsene Lupin)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Kiri no minato (Foggy Harbour/Harbour in the Fog)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Haikyo no naka (Among the Ruins/In the Ruins)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Yoru (The Night)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Chi to rei (Blood and Soul)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Toge no uta (The Song of the Mountain Pass)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kanashiki hakuchi (Song of the Sad Idiot/The Sad Idiot)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Akatsuki no shi (Death at Dawn)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Gendai no joô (The Queen of Modern Times)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Josei wa tsuyoshi (Strong Is the Female/Women Are Strong)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Jinkyo (This Dusty World)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Shichimencho no yukue (The Trace of a Turkey/Turkeys in a Row/Where Turkey Has Gone)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Samidare zoshi (A Chronicle of the May Rain)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kanraku no onna (A Woman of Pleasure)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kyokubadan no joô (Queen of the Circus)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Uchen-Puchan/Musen fusen (No Money, No Fight)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Gakuso wo idete (Out of College)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Daichi wa hohoemu (The Earth Smiles: Part 1/The Smiling Earth)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Shirayuri wa nageku (The White Lily Laments)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Akai yuhi ni terasarete (Shining in the Red Sunset/Under the Crimson Sunset)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Furusato no uta (The Song of Home)
Survival Status: Exist
1925 Gaijo no suketchi (Street Scenes/Street Sketches)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Ningen (The Human Being/The Man)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Nogi taisho to Kumasan (General Nogi and Kumasan)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Dôka-ô (The Copper Coin King)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kaminingyo haru no sasayaki (A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Shin onoga tsumi (My Fault)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kyoren no onna shishô (The Love-Mad Tutoress/The Passion of a Woman Teacher)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kaikoku danji (Children of the Sea/The Boy from the Navy/The Boy of the Sea)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kane (Money)
Survival Status: Lost
1927 Kôon (The Imperial Grace)
Survival Status: Lost
1927 Jihi shinchô (The Cuckoo)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ningen banji kane no maki (A Man's Life: Money is Almighty)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ukiyo ha tsuraine no maki (A Man's Life: The World is Full of Severeness)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: kuma to tora saikai no maki (A Man's Life : Reunion of Tora and Kuma )
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Musume kawaiya (My Lovely Daughter)
Survival Status: Lost
1929 Nihon bashi (The Nihon Bridge)
Survival Status: Lost
1929 Asahi wa kagayaku (The Morning Sun Shines)
Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/4 in length of the original version)
DVD/Blu-ray availability:
1929 Tôkyô kôshin-kyoku (Tokyo March)
Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/5 in length of the original version)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1929 Tokai kokyogaku (Metropolitan Symphony)
Survival Status: Lost
1930 Furusato (Home Town/Home Village)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version, shorter than the original by approx. 30%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability:
1930 Tôjin Okichi (Mistress of a Foreigner)
Survival Status: Lost (a fragment of few minutes survives)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (coupled with "Orizuru Osen")
1931 Shikamo karera wa yuku
(And Yet They Go/Despite All They Advance/Nevertheless, They Go On)
Survival Status: Lost
1932 Toki no ujigami (Man of the Moment)
Survival Status: Lost
1932 Manmo kenkoku no reimei (Dawn in Manchuria)
Survival Status: Lost
1933 Taki no shiraito
(Cascading White Threads/The Water Magician/White Threads of the Waterfall)
Survival Status: Exist (Incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 14%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1933 Gion matsuri (Gion Festival)
Survival Status: Lost
1934 Jinpu-ren (The Jinpu Group/The Kamikaze Group/The Shimpu Group)
Survival Status: Lost
1934 Aizô tôge (The Mountain Pass of Love and Hate/The Pass of Love and Hate)
Survival Status: Lost
1935 Orizuru Osen (The Downfall/The Downfall of Osen/The Paper Cranes of Osen)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1935 Maria no Oyuki (Oyuki, the Madonna/Oyuki, the Virgin)
Survival Status: Lost
DVD/Blu-ray availability: French
1935 Gubijinso (Poppies/Poppy)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: French
1936 Naniwa ereji (Naniwa Elegy/Osaka Elegy/Woman of Osaka)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 20%)
DVD availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1936 Gion no shimai (Sisters of the Gion)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 26%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1937 Aien kyô (The Straits of Love and Hate)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 16%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1938 Roei no uta (The Song of the Camp)
Survival Status: Lost
1938 Aa kokyô / Aa furusato (Ah, My Home Town)
Survival Status: Lost
1939 Zangiku monogatari (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1940 Naniwa onna (The Woman of Osaka)
Survival Status: Lost
1941 Geido ichidai otoko (The Life of an Actor)
Survival Status: Lost
1941+1942 Genroku chushingura (47 Samurai/Chushingura/The 47 Ronin/The Loyal 47 Ronin)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French
1944 Danjuro sandai (Three Danjuros/Three Generations of Danjuro)
Survival Status: Lost
1944 Miyamoto Musashi (The Swordsman)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1945 Meitô bijomaru
(The Famous Sword/The Famous Sword Bijomaru/The Noted Sword/The Sword)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French
1945 Hisshôka (Victory Song)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1946 Josei no shôri (The Victory of Women/Women's Victory)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1946 Utamaro wo meguru gonin no onna
(Five Women Around Utamaro/Utamaro and His Five Women)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1947 Joyu Sumako no koi (The Love of Sumako the Actress)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1948 Yoru no onnatachi (Women of the Night)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,French
1949 Waga koi wa moenu (Flame of My Love/My Love Burns/My Love Has Been Burning)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Yuki fujin ezu (A Picture of Madame Yuki/Portrait of Madame Yuki)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, Italian
1951 Oyu-sama (Lady Oyu/Miss Oyu)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French
1951 Musashino fujin (Lady Musashino/The Lady of Musashino)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,Italian
1952 Saikaku ichidai onna (Diary of Oharu/The Life of Oharu)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 9%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1953 Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Ugetsu/Ugetsu)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1953 Gion bayashi (A Geisha)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Sanshô dayû (Legend of Bailiff Sansho/Sansho the Bailiff)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Uwasa no onna (The Crucified Woman/The Woman in the Rumor/The Woman of Rumour)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1954 Chikamatsu monogatari (A Story from Chikamatsu/The Crucified Lovers)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1955 Yôkihi (Empress Yank Kwei Fei/Princess Yang Kwei-fei)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French
1955 Shin heike monogatari (Legend of the Taira Clan/New Tales of the Taira Clan)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1956 Akasen chitai (Street of Shame)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
Kenji Mizoguchi is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese movie directors, so well-known that rather detailed information may be acquired through IMDB, Wikipedia and so on. There is little left for me to add.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are displayed in bold font.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your palyer, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
1923 Ai ni yomigaeru hi (The Resurrection of Love)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Kokyo (Hometown/Native Country)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Seishun no yumeji (Dream of Youth/The Dream Path of Youth)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Joen no chimata (City of Desire/Harbour of Desire)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Haizan no uta wa kanashi (Failure's Song Is Sad/The Song of Failure)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 813 (The Adventures of Arsene Lupin)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Kiri no minato (Foggy Harbour/Harbour in the Fog)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Haikyo no naka (Among the Ruins/In the Ruins)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Yoru (The Night)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Chi to rei (Blood and Soul)
Survival Status: Lost
1923 Toge no uta (The Song of the Mountain Pass)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kanashiki hakuchi (Song of the Sad Idiot/The Sad Idiot)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Akatsuki no shi (Death at Dawn)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Gendai no joô (The Queen of Modern Times)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Josei wa tsuyoshi (Strong Is the Female/Women Are Strong)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Jinkyo (This Dusty World)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Shichimencho no yukue (The Trace of a Turkey/Turkeys in a Row/Where Turkey Has Gone)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Samidare zoshi (A Chronicle of the May Rain)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kanraku no onna (A Woman of Pleasure)
Survival Status: Lost
1924 Kyokubadan no joô (Queen of the Circus)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Uchen-Puchan/Musen fusen (No Money, No Fight)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Gakuso wo idete (Out of College)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Daichi wa hohoemu
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Shirayuri wa nageku (The White Lily Laments)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Akai yuhi ni terasarete (Shining in the Red Sunset/Under the Crimson Sunset)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Furusato no uta (The Song of Home)
Survival Status: Exist
1925 Gaijo no suketchi (Street Scenes/Street Sketches)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Ningen (The Human Being/The Man)
Survival Status: Lost
1925 Nogi taisho to Kumasan (General Nogi and Kumasan)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Dôka-ô (The Copper Coin King)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kaminingyo haru no sasayaki (A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Shin onoga tsumi (My Fault)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kyoren no onna shishô (The Love-Mad Tutoress/The Passion of a Woman Teacher)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kaikoku danji (Children of the Sea/The Boy from the Navy/The Boy of the Sea)
Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kane (Money)
Survival Status: Lost
1927 Kôon (The Imperial Grace)
Survival Status: Lost
1927 Jihi shinchô (The Cuckoo)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ningen banji kane no maki (A Man's Life: Money is Almighty)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ukiyo ha tsuraine no maki (A Man's Life: The World is Full of Severeness)
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: kuma to tora saikai no maki (A Man's Life : Reunion of Tora and Kuma )
Survival Status: Lost
1928 Musume kawaiya (My Lovely Daughter)
Survival Status: Lost
1929 Nihon bashi (The Nihon Bridge)
Survival Status: Lost
1929 Asahi wa kagayaku (The Morning Sun Shines)
Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/4 in length of the original version)
DVD/Blu-ray availability:
1929 Tôkyô kôshin-kyoku (Tokyo March)
Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/5 in length of the original version)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1929 Tokai kokyogaku (Metropolitan Symphony)
Survival Status: Lost
1930 Furusato (Home Town/Home Village)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version, shorter than the original by approx. 30%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability:
1930 Tôjin Okichi (Mistress of a Foreigner)
Survival Status: Lost (a fragment of few minutes survives)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (coupled with "Orizuru Osen")
1931 Shikamo karera wa yuku
(And Yet They Go/Despite All They Advance/Nevertheless, They Go On)
Survival Status: Lost
1932 Toki no ujigami (Man of the Moment)
Survival Status: Lost
1932 Manmo kenkoku no reimei (Dawn in Manchuria)
Survival Status: Lost
1933 Taki no shiraito
(Cascading White Threads/The Water Magician/White Threads of the Waterfall)
Survival Status: Exist (Incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 14%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1933 Gion matsuri (Gion Festival)
Survival Status: Lost
1934 Jinpu-ren (The Jinpu Group/The Kamikaze Group/The Shimpu Group)
Survival Status: Lost
1934 Aizô tôge (The Mountain Pass of Love and Hate/The Pass of Love and Hate)
Survival Status: Lost
1935 Orizuru Osen (The Downfall/The Downfall of Osen/The Paper Cranes of Osen)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1935 Maria no Oyuki (Oyuki, the Madonna/Oyuki, the Virgin)
Survival Status: Lost
DVD/Blu-ray availability: French
1935 Gubijinso (Poppies/Poppy)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: French
1936 Naniwa ereji (Naniwa Elegy/Osaka Elegy/Woman of Osaka)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 20%)
DVD availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1936 Gion no shimai (Sisters of the Gion)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 26%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1937 Aien kyô (The Straits of Love and Hate)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 16%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1938 Roei no uta (The Song of the Camp)
Survival Status: Lost
1938 Aa kokyô / Aa furusato (Ah, My Home Town)
Survival Status: Lost
1939 Zangiku monogatari (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1940 Naniwa onna (The Woman of Osaka)
Survival Status: Lost
1941 Geido ichidai otoko (The Life of an Actor)
Survival Status: Lost
1941+1942 Genroku chushingura (47 Samurai/Chushingura/The 47 Ronin/The Loyal 47 Ronin)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French
1944 Danjuro sandai (Three Danjuros/Three Generations of Danjuro)
Survival Status: Lost
1944 Miyamoto Musashi (The Swordsman)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1945 Meitô bijomaru
(The Famous Sword/The Famous Sword Bijomaru/The Noted Sword/The Sword)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French
1945 Hisshôka (Victory Song)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1946 Josei no shôri (The Victory of Women/Women's Victory)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1946 Utamaro wo meguru gonin no onna
(Five Women Around Utamaro/Utamaro and His Five Women)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1947 Joyu Sumako no koi (The Love of Sumako the Actress)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1948 Yoru no onnatachi (Women of the Night)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,French
1949 Waga koi wa moenu (Flame of My Love/My Love Burns/My Love Has Been Burning)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Yuki fujin ezu (A Picture of Madame Yuki/Portrait of Madame Yuki)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, Italian
1951 Oyu-sama (Lady Oyu/Miss Oyu)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French
1951 Musashino fujin (Lady Musashino/The Lady of Musashino)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,Italian
1952 Saikaku ichidai onna (Diary of Oharu/The Life of Oharu)
Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 9%)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1953 Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Ugetsu/Ugetsu)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1953 Gion bayashi (A Geisha)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Sanshô dayû (Legend of Bailiff Sansho/Sansho the Bailiff)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Uwasa no onna (The Crucified Woman/The Woman in the Rumor/The Woman of Rumour)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1954 Chikamatsu monogatari (A Story from Chikamatsu/The Crucified Lovers)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1955 Yôkihi (Empress Yank Kwei Fei/Princess Yang Kwei-fei)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French
1955 Shin heike monogatari (Legend of the Taira Clan/New Tales of the Taira Clan)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1956 Akasen chitai (Street of Shame)
Survival Status: Exist
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
Japanese Movie Director (7): Kaneto Shindo
Kaneto Shindô (1912 - 2012)
Kaneto Shindo was a rare director. He had a very long career of more than 60 years as a director and more than 70 years as a screenwriter. Furthermore, Shindo directed most of his wowks as an independent director. Shindo established his production company, "Kindai Eiga Kyokai" in 1950, which has survived until today. Although around 1960, Shindo and his company faced severe financial difficulties, the international success of "The Naked Island" saved them. Shindo directed more than 40 movies, and wrote more than 200 screenplays and nearly 200 teleplays. He was an extraordinarily prolific writer. It is probable that Shindo's independence as a director and the finance of his company were at least partially supported by Shindo's income as a writer.
Shindo's style was based on realism from his debut in 1951. However, in 1950s, Shido's realism was not so different from that of other directors. In 1960s, his style changed so that Shindo had become a unique director. Shindo had come to often describe actions of the characters in his movies as motivated by instinct rather than feelings. In particular, Shindo described "love" as a feeling derived from sexual desire. From 1960s to 2000s, sexuality was Shindo's subject matter in many of his movies. In such movies, Shindo intended to describe "love" in a more original/primitive form than usual, I suppose. When driven by instinct, a human acts like an animal. In this sense, heroes/heroines in Shindo's films are occasionally very brutal. which might make some audience feel unpleasant or irritated. Typical examples of such "brutal" characters are found in "Onibaba". Thus, it is quite reasonable that "Onibaba" is often referred to as Shindo's masterpiece.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Shindo's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
(Filmography)
1951 Aisai monogatari (Story of a Beloved Wife)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Nadare (Avalanche)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Genbaku no ko (Children of Hiroshima)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (check Amazon video)
1953 Shukuzu (Microcosmo)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Onna no issho (A Woma's Life)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Dobu (Ditch)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Okami (Wolf)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Shirogane sinju (Double Suicide in Silver)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Ryûri no kishi (A Shore of Exiles)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Joyu (An Actress)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1957 Umi no yarodomo (Guys of the Sea)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1958 Kanashimi wa onna dakeni (Only Women Grieve)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1959 Daigo Fukuryu-Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi (The Best Bride in the World)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1960 Hadaka no shima (The Naked Island/The Island)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1962 Ningen (Human)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Haha (Mother)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Onibaba (Devil Woman/The Demon/The Witch)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1965 Akutô (A Scoundrel)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1966 Honnô (Lost Sex)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1967 Sei no kigen (Libido)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1968 Yabu no naka no kuroneko (Kuroneko/A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1968 Tsuyomushi onna to yowamushi otoko (Strong Women, Weak Men)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1969 Kagerô (Heat Wave Island)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Shokkaku (Strange Affinity)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Hadaka no jûkyû-sai (Live Today, Die Tomorrow!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Kanawa (The Iron Crown)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Sanka (Hymn)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Kokoro (Love Betrayed)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1974 Waga michi (My Way)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1975 Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (Kenji Mizoguchi:The Life of a Film Director)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Chikuzan hitori tabi (The Life of Chikuzan)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Kosatsu (The Strangling)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Hokusai manga (Edo Porn)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1984 Chihei-sen (The Horizon)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1986 Burakkubôdo (Black Board)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1986 Rakuyôju (Tree Without Leaves)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Sakura-tai Chiru (The End of Sakura Party)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1992 Bokuto kidan (The Strange Story of Oyuki)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1995 Gogo no Yuigon-jo (A Last Note)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1999 Ikitai (Will to Live)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2000 Sanmon yakusha (By Player)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2004 Fukurô (Owl)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2008 Ishiuchi jinjô kôtô shôgakkô: Hana wa chiredomo (Teacher and Three Children)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2010 Ichimai no hagaki (Postcard)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
(My recommendations)
The three most internationally-known films:
"Hadaka no shima/The Naked Island" (1960);
"Onibaba" (1965);
"Kuroneko" (1968).
"Honnô/Lost Sex" (1966) as a good example of a movie in which "love" is described as derived from sexuality. This is an adult fable of a middle-aged-couple. The word "honnô" means "instinct".
"Chikuzan hitori tabi/The Life of Chikuzan" (1977)
In his peak years in 1960s and 1970s, Shindo had worked with the same cinematographer, Kiyomi Kuroda. This is their last collaboration and, according to Shindo, the best work of Kuroda, who died in 1978.
Kaneto Shindo was a rare director. He had a very long career of more than 60 years as a director and more than 70 years as a screenwriter. Furthermore, Shindo directed most of his wowks as an independent director. Shindo established his production company, "Kindai Eiga Kyokai" in 1950, which has survived until today. Although around 1960, Shindo and his company faced severe financial difficulties, the international success of "The Naked Island" saved them. Shindo directed more than 40 movies, and wrote more than 200 screenplays and nearly 200 teleplays. He was an extraordinarily prolific writer. It is probable that Shindo's independence as a director and the finance of his company were at least partially supported by Shindo's income as a writer.
Shindo's style was based on realism from his debut in 1951. However, in 1950s, Shido's realism was not so different from that of other directors. In 1960s, his style changed so that Shindo had become a unique director. Shindo had come to often describe actions of the characters in his movies as motivated by instinct rather than feelings. In particular, Shindo described "love" as a feeling derived from sexual desire. From 1960s to 2000s, sexuality was Shindo's subject matter in many of his movies. In such movies, Shindo intended to describe "love" in a more original/primitive form than usual, I suppose. When driven by instinct, a human acts like an animal. In this sense, heroes/heroines in Shindo's films are occasionally very brutal. which might make some audience feel unpleasant or irritated. Typical examples of such "brutal" characters are found in "Onibaba". Thus, it is quite reasonable that "Onibaba" is often referred to as Shindo's masterpiece.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Shindo's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
(Filmography)
1951 Aisai monogatari (Story of a Beloved Wife)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Nadare (Avalanche)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Genbaku no ko (Children of Hiroshima)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (check Amazon video)
1953 Shukuzu (Microcosmo)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Onna no issho (A Woma's Life)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Dobu (Ditch)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Okami (Wolf)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Shirogane sinju (Double Suicide in Silver)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Ryûri no kishi (A Shore of Exiles)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Joyu (An Actress)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1957 Umi no yarodomo (Guys of the Sea)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1958 Kanashimi wa onna dakeni (Only Women Grieve)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1959 Daigo Fukuryu-Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi (The Best Bride in the World)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1960 Hadaka no shima (The Naked Island/The Island)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1962 Ningen (Human)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Haha (Mother)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Onibaba (Devil Woman/The Demon/The Witch)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1965 Akutô (A Scoundrel)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1966 Honnô (Lost Sex)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1967 Sei no kigen (Libido)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1968 Yabu no naka no kuroneko (Kuroneko/A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1968 Tsuyomushi onna to yowamushi otoko (Strong Women, Weak Men)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1969 Kagerô (Heat Wave Island)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Shokkaku (Strange Affinity)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Hadaka no jûkyû-sai (Live Today, Die Tomorrow!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Kanawa (The Iron Crown)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Sanka (Hymn)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Kokoro (Love Betrayed)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1974 Waga michi (My Way)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1975 Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (Kenji Mizoguchi:The Life of a Film Director)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Chikuzan hitori tabi (The Life of Chikuzan)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Kosatsu (The Strangling)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Hokusai manga (Edo Porn)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1984 Chihei-sen (The Horizon)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1986 Burakkubôdo (Black Board)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1986 Rakuyôju (Tree Without Leaves)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Sakura-tai Chiru (The End of Sakura Party)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1992 Bokuto kidan (The Strange Story of Oyuki)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1995 Gogo no Yuigon-jo (A Last Note)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1999 Ikitai (Will to Live)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2000 Sanmon yakusha (By Player)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2004 Fukurô (Owl)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2008 Ishiuchi jinjô kôtô shôgakkô: Hana wa chiredomo (Teacher and Three Children)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2010 Ichimai no hagaki (Postcard)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
(My recommendations)
The three most internationally-known films:
"Hadaka no shima/The Naked Island" (1960);
"Onibaba" (1965);
"Kuroneko" (1968).
"Honnô/Lost Sex" (1966) as a good example of a movie in which "love" is described as derived from sexuality. This is an adult fable of a middle-aged-couple. The word "honnô" means "instinct".
"Chikuzan hitori tabi/The Life of Chikuzan" (1977)
In his peak years in 1960s and 1970s, Shindo had worked with the same cinematographer, Kiyomi Kuroda. This is their last collaboration and, according to Shindo, the best work of Kuroda, who died in 1978.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Japanese Movie Director (6): Keisuke Kinoshita
Keisuke Kinoshita (1912 - 1998)
Keisuke Kinoshita's career has much in common with that of Akira Kurosawa. They made their debut in the same year (i.e., 1943), were most active in 1950s, were successful both commercially and critically in most cases, and directed movies only occasionally in and after middle 1960s. However, Kinoshita's style was regarded as contrasting or opposite to that of Kurosawa. While the latter has been often described with such words as "manly", "dynamic", and so on, Kinoshita's is generally considered to be characterized by lyricism or sentimentality. In other words, in most Kurosawa's movies, heroes (and few heroines) are ones who rages and fights against difficulties, while, in many of Kinoshita's, heroes and heroines endure hardships and sometimes fight a losing battle. Kurosawa described heroes of superior ability, while Kinoshita described ordinary people.
That is, Kinoshita stood for ordinary people without privileges, or the oppressed, and shared with them their joys and sorrows. However, Kinoshita never idealized them. Kinoshita had a keen insight for human nature, and well understood the cunning, cowardice, or cruelty of the ordinary people, which derive from their weakness. In spite of this understanding, Kinoshita loved "weak" ordinary people and cried for them. In fact, it is reported that Kinoshita himself often cried, and, also, the characters of his movies often cries. However, Kinoshita's keen insight prevented his movies from becoming a tearjerker.
As for the visual style, Kinoshita was distinguished by his remarkable sense of composition. In Kinoshita's movies especially in 1950s, you can frequently find a composition full of scenery beauty and deliberately designed so that an atmosphere or emotion, which the director wanted, may be generated.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) All of Kinoshita's films are preserved, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
1943 Hana saku minato (A Blooming Port)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1943 Ikite iru Magoroku (Magoroku Is Alive)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Kanko no machi (Cheering Town)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Rikugun (The Army)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Osone-ke no ashita (Morning for the Osone Family)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Waga koi seshi otome (The Girl I Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Kekkon (Marriage)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Fushichô (Phoenix)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Onna (Woman)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Shozo (The Portrait)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Hakai (Apostasy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Ojôsan kanpai (Here's to the Lady)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yotsuya kaidan, Part I,Part II (Ghost of Yotsuya/The Yotsuya Ghost Story)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yabure-daiko (A Broken Drum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Konyaku yubiwa (An Engagement Ring)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Zemma (The Good Fairy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Karumen kokyô ni kaeru (Carmen Comes Home)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1951 Shônenki (A Record of Youth)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Umi no hanabi (Fireworks Over the Sea)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Karumen junjô su (Carmen Falls in Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1953 Nihon no higeki (A Japanese Tragedy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1954 Onna no sono (Woman's World)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1954 Nijushi no hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1955 Toi kumo (Distant Clouds)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki (My First Love Affair/She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Yûyake-gumo (Flaming Sunset)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Taiyo to bara (The Rose on His Arm)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki (The Lighthouse/Years of Joy and Sorrow)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Fûzen no tomoshibi (Hanging by a Thread)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1958 Narayama bushikô (Ballad of Narayama)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1958 Kono ten no niji (The Eternal Rainbow/The Rainbow of This Sky )
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kazabana (Snow Flurry)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Sekishun-chô (The Bird of Springs Past)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kyô mo mata kakute ari nan (Thus Another Day)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Haru no yume (Spring Dreams)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Fuefukigawa (The River Fuefuki)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1961 Eien no hito (Immortal Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1962 Kotoshi no koi (This Year's Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Futari de aruita iku shunju (The Days We Spent Together/The Years We Had Together)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Utae wakôdo-tachi (Sing, Young People!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Shitô no densetsu (Legend of a Duel to the Death)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Kôge (The Scent of Incense)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1967 Natsukashiki fue ya taiko (Eyes, the Sea and a Ball/Lovely Flute and a Drum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Sri Lanka no ai to wakare (Love and Separation in Sri Lanka)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Shodo satsujin: Musuko yo (Impulse Murder/My Son! My Son!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1980 Chichi yo haha yo! (Oh Father! Oh Mother!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1983 Kono ko wo nokoshite (Children of Nagasaki/These Children Survive Me)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR
1986 Shin yorokobimo kanashimimo ikutoshitsuki (Big Joys, Small Sorrows)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Chichi (Dad/Father)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
(Recommendations)
Kinoshita's films in 1950s are generally at a high level. In addition to the ones ranked in the "Top_10_Movies", "Shônenki" (1951), "Yûyake-gumo" (1956), and "Kazabana" (1959) are my recommendations.
In 1960s, Kinoshita gradually lost his sense of composition and keen insight. However, I recommend "Fuefukigawa" (1960) and "Eien no Hito" (1961). "Fuefukigawa" is a study on the stupidity of Japanese "ordinary people" who blindly obey to, and even die for, their "master".
Among the movies in 1940s, I recommend "Rikugun" (1944) produced during World War II. Its first 9 reels out of 10, "Rikugun" was a typical (and accordingly boring) war propaganda movie full of dialogues hypocritically praising the war and people's sacrifices for it. However, in the last reel, Kinoshita protests, "It's all a lie", in a visual manner, not by words. In this reel, there is only one dialogue. It is a name of a young soldier uttered by his mother.
In addition, "Yabure-daiko" (1949), as an example of Kinoshita's comedy movie, which is somewhat "Capra"-like.
Keisuke Kinoshita's career has much in common with that of Akira Kurosawa. They made their debut in the same year (i.e., 1943), were most active in 1950s, were successful both commercially and critically in most cases, and directed movies only occasionally in and after middle 1960s. However, Kinoshita's style was regarded as contrasting or opposite to that of Kurosawa. While the latter has been often described with such words as "manly", "dynamic", and so on, Kinoshita's is generally considered to be characterized by lyricism or sentimentality. In other words, in most Kurosawa's movies, heroes (and few heroines) are ones who rages and fights against difficulties, while, in many of Kinoshita's, heroes and heroines endure hardships and sometimes fight a losing battle. Kurosawa described heroes of superior ability, while Kinoshita described ordinary people.
That is, Kinoshita stood for ordinary people without privileges, or the oppressed, and shared with them their joys and sorrows. However, Kinoshita never idealized them. Kinoshita had a keen insight for human nature, and well understood the cunning, cowardice, or cruelty of the ordinary people, which derive from their weakness. In spite of this understanding, Kinoshita loved "weak" ordinary people and cried for them. In fact, it is reported that Kinoshita himself often cried, and, also, the characters of his movies often cries. However, Kinoshita's keen insight prevented his movies from becoming a tearjerker.
As for the visual style, Kinoshita was distinguished by his remarkable sense of composition. In Kinoshita's movies especially in 1950s, you can frequently find a composition full of scenery beauty and deliberately designed so that an atmosphere or emotion, which the director wanted, may be generated.
(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) All of Kinoshita's films are preserved, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.
1943 Hana saku minato (A Blooming Port)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1943 Ikite iru Magoroku (Magoroku Is Alive)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Kanko no machi (Cheering Town)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Rikugun (The Army)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Osone-ke no ashita (Morning for the Osone Family)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Waga koi seshi otome (The Girl I Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Kekkon (Marriage)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Fushichô (Phoenix)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Onna (Woman)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Shozo (The Portrait)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Hakai (Apostasy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Ojôsan kanpai (Here's to the Lady)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yotsuya kaidan, Part I,Part II (Ghost of Yotsuya/The Yotsuya Ghost Story)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yabure-daiko (A Broken Drum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Konyaku yubiwa (An Engagement Ring)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Zemma (The Good Fairy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Karumen kokyô ni kaeru (Carmen Comes Home)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1951 Shônenki (A Record of Youth)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Umi no hanabi (Fireworks Over the Sea)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Karumen junjô su (Carmen Falls in Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1953 Nihon no higeki (A Japanese Tragedy)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1954 Onna no sono (Woman's World)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1954 Nijushi no hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1955 Toi kumo (Distant Clouds)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki (My First Love Affair/She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Yûyake-gumo (Flaming Sunset)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Taiyo to bara (The Rose on His Arm)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki (The Lighthouse/Years of Joy and Sorrow)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Fûzen no tomoshibi (Hanging by a Thread)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1958 Narayama bushikô (Ballad of Narayama)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1958 Kono ten no niji (The Eternal Rainbow/The Rainbow of This Sky )
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kazabana (Snow Flurry)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Sekishun-chô (The Bird of Springs Past)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kyô mo mata kakute ari nan (Thus Another Day)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Haru no yume (Spring Dreams)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Fuefukigawa (The River Fuefuki)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1961 Eien no hito (Immortal Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1962 Kotoshi no koi (This Year's Love)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Futari de aruita iku shunju (The Days We Spent Together/The Years We Had Together)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Utae wakôdo-tachi (Sing, Young People!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Shitô no densetsu (Legend of a Duel to the Death)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Kôge (The Scent of Incense)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1967 Natsukashiki fue ya taiko (Eyes, the Sea and a Ball/Lovely Flute and a Drum)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Sri Lanka no ai to wakare (Love and Separation in Sri Lanka)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Shodo satsujin: Musuko yo (Impulse Murder/My Son! My Son!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1980 Chichi yo haha yo! (Oh Father! Oh Mother!)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1983 Kono ko wo nokoshite (Children of Nagasaki/These Children Survive Me)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR
1986 Shin yorokobimo kanashimimo ikutoshitsuki (Big Joys, Small Sorrows)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Chichi (Dad/Father)
DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
(Recommendations)
Kinoshita's films in 1950s are generally at a high level. In addition to the ones ranked in the "Top_10_Movies", "Shônenki" (1951), "Yûyake-gumo" (1956), and "Kazabana" (1959) are my recommendations.
In 1960s, Kinoshita gradually lost his sense of composition and keen insight. However, I recommend "Fuefukigawa" (1960) and "Eien no Hito" (1961). "Fuefukigawa" is a study on the stupidity of Japanese "ordinary people" who blindly obey to, and even die for, their "master".
Among the movies in 1940s, I recommend "Rikugun" (1944) produced during World War II. Its first 9 reels out of 10, "Rikugun" was a typical (and accordingly boring) war propaganda movie full of dialogues hypocritically praising the war and people's sacrifices for it. However, in the last reel, Kinoshita protests, "It's all a lie", in a visual manner, not by words. In this reel, there is only one dialogue. It is a name of a young soldier uttered by his mother.
In addition, "Yabure-daiko" (1949), as an example of Kinoshita's comedy movie, which is somewhat "Capra"-like.
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