Masaki Kobayashi

Masaki Kobayashi
Born	February 14, 1916(1916-02-14) Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan
Died	October 4, 1996(1996-10-04) (aged 80) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Film director, producer, writer

Masaki Kobayashi (小林 正樹, Kobayashi Masaki^?, February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese film director.

Career

Among his films is Kwaidan (1965), a collection of four ghost stories drawn from the book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn, each of which has a surprise ending. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival^[1], and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.^[2]

Kobayashi also directed The Human Condition, a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist. The total length of the films is over nine hours. Other notable films include Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967). Harakiri won him an award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, solidifying his place in the history of cinema.

In 1969, he was a member of the jury at the 19th Berlin International Film Festival.^[3]

He was also a candidate for directing the Japanese sequences for Tora! Tora! Tora!, once Akira Kurosawa left the film. But instead Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda were chosen.

Personal life

Kobayashi, himself a pacifist, was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, but refused to fight and refused promotion to a rank higher than private.^[4]

Filmography

• 1952: My Sons' Youth (Musuko no seishun)
• 1953: The Thick-Walled Room (Kabe atsuki heya)
• 1953: Sincerity (Magokoro)
• 1954: Three Loves (Mittsu no ai)
• 1954: Somewhere Under the Broad Sky (Kono hiroi sora no dokoka ni)
• 1955: Beautiful Days (Uruwashiki saigetsu)
• 1956: The Spring (Izumi)
• 1956 I'll Buy You (Anata kaimasu)
• 1957: Black River (Kuroi kawa)
• 1959–1961: The Human Condition trilogy
• 1962: The Inheritance (Karami-ai)
• 1962: Seppuku (Harakiri)
• 1964: Kaidan (a.k.a Ghost Stories or Kwaidan)
• 1967: Samurai Rebellion (Jōi-uchi: Hairyō-tsuma shimatsu)
• 1968: Hymn to a Tired Man (Nihon no seishun)
• 1971: Inn Of Evil (Inochi bô ni furô)
• 1975: The Fossil (Kaseki)
• 1979: Glowing Autumn (Moeru aki)
• 1983: Tokyo Trial (Tokyo saiban)
• 1985: Family Without a Dinner Table (Shokutaku no nai ie)

Film availability

• The Human Condition (1959–61)
  • DVD: Region 0 NTSC: The Criterion Collection (USA)
• Seppuku, a.k.a. Harakiri (1962)
  • DVD: Region 0 NTSC: The Criterion Collection (USA)
  • Blu-ray: Region 1: The Criterion Collection (USA)
  • Blu-ray: Region 2: The Masters of Cinema Series (UK)
• Kaidan (Ghost Stories), a.k.a. Kwaidan (1964)
  • DVD: Region 2 NTSC: The Masters of Cinema Series (UK) (Complete Version)
  • DVD: Region 1 NTSC: The Criterion Collection (USA) (Incomplete Version)
• Jōi-uchi: Hairyō-tsuma shimatsu (An Order to Kill: Over a Wife Bestowed, as It Were), a.k.a. Samurai Rebellion (1967)
  • DVD: Region 0 NTSC: The Criterion Collection (USA)

References

1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Kwaidan". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2895/year/1965.html. Retrieved 2009-03-04. 
2. ^ "The 38th Academy Awards (1966) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/38th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-11-06. 
3. ^ "Berlinale 1969: Juries". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1969/04_jury_1969/04_Jury_1969.html. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
4. ^ http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/381

External links

• Masaki Kobayashi at the Internet Movie Database
• Masaki Kobayashi at the Japanese Movie Database (Japanese)

Persondata
Name	Kobayashi, Masaki
Alternative names
Short description	Film director
Date of birth	1916-2-14
Place of birth	Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan
Date of death	1996-10-4
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan