was a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

. Born in Arasaka,

Tokyo Prefecture Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Gosha graduated from high school and served in the Imperial Navy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After earning a business degree at Meiji University, he joined Nippon television as a reporter in 1953. In 1957 he moved on to the newly founded

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network ...

and rose through the ranks as a producer and director. One of his television shows, the chambara '' Three Outlaw Samurai'', so impressed the heads of the Shochiku film studio that he was offered the chance to adapt it as a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

in 1964. Following this film's financial success, he directed a string of equally successful chambara productions through the end of the 1960s. His two most critical and popular successes of the period are ''

Goyokin is a 1969 Japanese '' jidaigeki'' film directed by Hideo Gosha. Set during the late Tokugawa period, the story follows a reclusive ''rōnin'' who is trying to atone for past transgressions. Plot Magobei Wakizaka is a samurai for the Sabai clan ...

'' and '' Hitokiri'' (also known as ''Tenchu''), both released in 1969 and both considered to be two of the finest examples of the chambara genre. In ''The Samurai Film'', the first book-length study of the genre in English, film historian Alain Silver devoted an entire chapter to Gosha's work and noted that "''Tenchu/Hitokiri'' may, with some justice, be cited as one of the most accomplished examples of the samurai genre since World War II." During the 1970s Gosha abandoned pure chambara and turned his productive energies toward films in the yakuza genre but he still produced period sword films such as '' The Wolves'' (1971), '' Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron'' (1978), and '' Hunter in the Dark'' (1979). His films ''Three Outlaw Samurai'' and '' Sword of the Beast'' (1965) have been released by Criterion. By the early 1980s, Gosha began making period films that featured prostitutes as protagonists that were renowned for their realism, violence, and overt sexuality. They were critically panned for those very reasons, but they were also all box office successes. In 1984 he was awarded the

Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year The of the Japan Academy Film Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association. List of winners External links Japan Academy Film Prize official website- {{Japan Academy Film Prize for Director of the Yea ...

for ''

The Geisha ''The Geisha, a story of a tea house'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James P ...

''. Gosha’s films have influenced directors including Chang Cheh,

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

,Janus FIlms and Criterion Present Samurai Classics at the Ritz : Fantastic Fest
/ref> and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.Sutajio yū (2008). Plus Madhouse 02 - Yoshiaki Kawajiri (PLUS MADHOUSE 2 川尻善昭?). Inc./Hatsubai Kinemajunpōsha. . OCLC 233684835. Japanese edition

Filmography

* 1964 '' Three Outlaw Samurai'' * 1965 '' Sword of the Beast'' * 1966 '' Cash Calls Hell'' * 1966 ''The Secret of the Urn'' * 1966 ''Samurai Wolf'' * 1967 ''Samurai Wolf II'' * 1969 ''

'' * 1969 '' Hitokiri'' (a.k.a. ''Tenchu'') * 1971 '' The Wolves'' * 1974 ''Violent Streets'' * 1978 '' Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron'' * 1979 '' Hunter in the Dark'' * 1982 '' Onimasa'' * 1983 ''

'' * 1984 '' Fireflies in the North'' * 1985 ''Oar''/''Kai'' * 1985 ''Tracked''/''Usugesho'' * 1986 ''Death Shadows'' * 1986 ''The Yakuza Wives'' * 1987 ''Tokyo Bordello'' * 1988 ''Carmen 1945'' * 1989 ''226''/''Four Days of Snow and Blood'' * 1991 ''Kagero'' * 1992 '' The Oil-Hell Murder''

References

External links

A Director's Cuts: The Samurai Savvy Of Hideo Gosha
at washingtonpost.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gosha, Hideo 1929 births 1992 deaths People from Tokyo Japanese film directors Samurai film directors Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year winners