is 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 ...

. Although his films are admired by critics in Japan for their intelligence, Negishi has received little international recognition for his work. He has not been credited with a distinctive style but he has been called a subtle director who often elicits strong performances from his actors. He won the award for Best Director at the 3rd

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

for ''

Enrai or ''Distant Thunder'' is a 1981 Japanese film adaptation of Wahei Tatematsu's novel of the same name, directed by Kichitaro Negishi. Synopsis ''Enrai'' is a low-key study of a farmer, Mitsuo Wada, in 1980s Japan when modernization and urbaniza ...

'' and ''

Crazy Fruit is a 1981 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Kichitaro Negishi. Both this film and the earlier (1956) version by Nikkatsu, ''Crazed Fruit'', were based on a novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara. Plot A worki ...

''.

Life and career

Early career - Nikkatsu

Negishi graduated from

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

in the Faculty of Theatre and Film Arts, and as with several other filmmakers of his generation, began his career directing ''Roman porno'' films for the

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

studio. He worked as Assistant Director on

Toshiya Fujita Toshiya is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshiya can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *敏也, "agile, to be" *敏矢, "agile, arrow" *敏哉, "agile, how (interrogative par ...

's March 1978 , based on the French novel '' Les Liaisons dangereuses'', but his debut as a director for Nikkatsu was with the June 1978 erotic thriller ''From Orion's Testimony: Formula For Murder''. The young Negishi's success with this film was a factor in Nikkatsu's decision to focus more on projects emphasizing story. After a disappointing second feature ''High School Girl'', Negishi returned to form with the box office hit ''

Wet Weekend is a 1979 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Kichitaro Negishi and starring Junko Miyashita. Synopsis Miyashita plays an office clerk who is having an affair with her married boss. Since he refuses to leave his wife, ...

'', which won the 9th Best Film award at the 1979

. Negishi's next film for Nikkatsu, ''Rape Ceremony'' was a tale of disaffected youth concerning a feud between former motorcycle gang members and the high school boys who once idolized them and now accuse them of selling out to the system. In the June 1980 ''"Never in the Morning"'' Negishi uses the office romance sex-farce plot to poke fun at contemporary morality and sexual double standards. Negishi began 1981 with ''Female Teacher: Dirty After School'', the third entry in the 8 episode "Female Teacher" series from Nikkatsu, all based loosely on

Noboru Tanaka was a Japanese film director known for his '' Roman Porno'' films, including three critically respected films known as the ''Showa trilogy'': ''A Woman Called Sada Abe'' (''aka'' ''Sada Abe: Docu-Drama'') (1975), '' Watcher in the Attic'' (1976), ...

's 1973 hit film for Nikkatsu, ''Female Teacher: Private Life''. Negishi's film is considered to be one of the best in the series and he was by this time one of Nikkatsu's top directors. His second film in 1981, ''

'', another story of alienated youth, was based on a 1956 Nikkatsu film ''

Crazed Fruit , also known as ''Juvenile Jungle'', is a 1956 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Kō Nakahira. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara, the older brother of cast member Yujiro Ishihara,Marc Moha"Crazed Fruit: ...

'', made before the studio's ''Roman porno'' period.

Into mainstream film

Negishi made his breakthrough into mainstream film with his October 1981 ''

'' or ''Distant Thunder'', produced by ATG, New Century Producers (NCP) and Nikkatsu. This film, with its detailed realism and complexity, along with his earlier ''Roman porno'' feature ''Crazy Fruit'', won him the Best Director award at the 1982

. Negishi made one more ''Roman porno'' film for Nikkatsu, the June 1982 ''Cabaret Diary'', a satirical look at hostesses and clients in a topless bar in Tokyo's

Kabukichō Kabukichō ( ja, 歌舞伎町, , ) is an entertainment district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Kabuki-chō is the location of many host and hostess clubs, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and is often called the "Sleepless Town" (, , ...

district. Negishi left Nikkatsu after this film and was one of the founding members of

Director's Company was a Japanese film production company created in 1982 to provide a venue outside the major studio system for young proven filmmakers to grow artistically. The company's president, Susumu Miyasaka, came from an advertising and public relations back ...

along with eight other young directors. Soon afterwards he made the light comedy ''My Wedding'' (''Oretchi no uedingu'') followed by the July 1983 thriller ''

Detective Story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

'', starring

Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor. In Japan, he was best known for roles in action films and a variety of television series in the 1970s as well as a switch to a wider range of roles in the 1980s. His final film appearance was as the villain Sato in Ridley ...

in a mixture of romance and mystery. Negishi received much favorable notice from his 1986 drama ''Uhohho tankentai'' (literally "Ooh! Exploration Party") written by fellow director

Yoshimitsu Morita was a Japanese film director who was born in Tokyo. Career Self-taught, first making shorts on 8 mm film during the 1970s, he made his feature film debut with ''No Yōna Mono'' (''Something Like It'', 1981).Mark Schillin"Director Yoshimitsu Mo ...

. The movie, produced by

and released by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

, won the Best Film award at the 1987

as well as the Best Film prize at the

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

, and was cited as "one of the forerunners of Japanese new age movies in the 80s." Also favorably received was his next project, the 1987 ''

Eien no 1/2 , literally ''Half of Eternity'', is a 1987 Japanese film directed by Kichitaro Negishi. Synopsis An unemployed young man who has just broken up with his girlfriend meets a woman at a bicycle race. They start dating but then strange things then b ...

'', a modern, urban love story based on the novel by Shōgo Satō, which took the 4th Best Film award at the 1988

. Despite his success in the late 1980s, Negishi worked only sparingly for the next 15 years: a 1992 film based on the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series ''

Kachō Kōsaku Shima is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenshi Hirokane. It depicts the growth and career of a fictional salaryman named Kōsaku Shima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Morning'', starting with the first series ''Kachō Shi ...

'', the short feature ''Chibusa'' about a man ( Kaoru Kobayashi) caring for his leukemia-stricken wife, and ''Kizuna'' (1998), a thriller about a former

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

with

Kōji Yakusho , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor. He is well known for his starring roles in ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996), ''Cure'' (1997), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), '' 13 Assassins'' (2010), ''The Third Murder'' (2017), '' The Blood of Wolv ...

and

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in '' The Last Samurai'', for which he was nom ...

Later career

After several years away from filmmaking, Negishi returned in 2004 with ''Tōkō no ki'' (literally "Translucent Tree"), an adult romantic drama about a documentary filmmaker and the daughter of the subject of one of his films from 25 years earlier. A year later, ''What the Snow Brings'', a low key drama about a prodigal son returning home to his family in

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, brought Negishi recognition in Japan with Best Director awards from the 2006

Hochi Film Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

, the 2007 Kinema Junpo Awards, the 2007 Mainichi Film Concours, the 2006 Nikkan Sports Film Awards, and the 2005

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

, and international exposure at the 2007

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...

. Negishi's 2009 melodrama, '' Villon's Wife'', about an author and his long-suffering wife in post-war Japan, received ten nominations at the 2010 Japan Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Director. As in previous films, Negishi was able to evoke strong performances from his leads with

Takako Matsu (born June 10, 1977) also known as is a Japanese actress and pop singer. Personal life Matsu was born to a family of buyō and kabuki actors, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, her mother and businesswoman Noriko Fujima, her uncle, ...

winning several Best Actress awards. The film also brought Negishi a Best Director award from the 2009 Montreal World Film Festival.

Filmography

* (June 1978) * (January 1979) * (September 1979) * (February 1980) * (June 1980) * (January 1981) * (April 1981) * (October 1981) * (June 1982) * (April 1983) * (July 1983) * (September 1985) * (October 1986) * (November 1987) * (October 1992) * (October 1993) * (June 1998) * (October 2004) * (October 2005) * (June 2007) * (October 2009)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Negishi, Kichitaro 1950 births Living people Japanese film directors Pink film directors People from Tokyo Waseda University alumni