is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He is best known for his two Japan Academy Prize-winning films, '' Sumo Do, Sumo Don't'' (1992) and '' Shall We Dance?'' (1996).

Life and career

In 1982, along with filmmakers Yoshiho Fukuoka, Itsumichi Isomura, Toshiyuki Mizutani and Akira Yoneda, Suo founded a production company called Unit 5. Suo worked as an assistant director and appeared in the cast of

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic, author, actor, and a former professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2005-2023). Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' i ...

's directorial debut, the

pink film refers in Japan to movies produced by independent studios that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. Many pink films would be a ...

'' Kandagawa Pervert Wars'' (1983). At this early stage in his career, Suo also wrote scripts for the pink film genre, such as ''Scanty Panty Doll: Pungent Aroma'' (1983).Weisser, p. 308-309. Suo first film as director was also in the pink film genre: '' Abnormal Family: Older Brother's Bride'' (1984), a film designed as a tribute and satire of

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese filmmaker. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s. The most pr ...

's ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...

''.Midnight Eye review: Abnormal Family (Hentai Kazoku: Aniki No Yomesan, 1983, director: Masayuki SUO)
/ref> In his book on the pink film, ''Behind the Pink Curtain'' (2008), Jasper Sharp calls ''Abnormal Family: Older Brother's Bride'' an early masterpiece, and one of the wittiest films ever made in the genre. Suo not only pokes gentle fun at Ozu's story, but also mimics many of his stylistic techniques, such as shooting his actors from a low, ''

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

''-mat angle, stiff and static characters speaking to each other with mis-matched eye-angles, and a simple, sentimental melody which accompanies the film. In the years since its release, the film has amused film students with the activity of locating and identifying Suo's many nods to Ozu and his ''oeuvre''. ''Abnormal Family'' was Suo's only directorial work in the pink film genre. He next worked for

Juzo Itami , born , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films (one short and ten features), all of which he wrote himself. He is the namesake of the Juzo Itami Award, founded in 2009 to honor his legacy. Early life ...

, to film "making of" pieces for that director's '' A Taxing Woman'' (1987) and '' A Taxing Woman 2'' (1988). He made his regular feature film debut with ''

Fancy Dance Fancy dance, Pan-Indian dancing, Fancy Feather or Fancy War Dance is a style of dance some believe was originally created by members of the Ponca tribe in the 1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to preserve their culture and religion. It is loosely ba ...

'' in 1989, and won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his next feature, '' Sumo Do, Sumo Don't'', in 1991. Suo's 1996 '' Shall We Dance?'' won fourteen awards at the

Japanese Academy Awards The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Film and performed strongly in U.S. theaters. In 2006, Suo directed '' I Just Didn't Do It'', a legal film starring Ryo Kase. It was followed by the 2012 medical-themed film '' A Terminal Trust''. His musical film, ''

Lady Maiko is a 2014 Japanese musical comedy film written and directed by Masayuki Suo, starring Mone Kamishiraishi, Hiroki Hasegawa, and Sumiko Fuji. It screened in competition at the 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival on June 16, 2014. It was releas ...

'', screened at the 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival.

Style and influences

In a 1997 interview with IndieWire, Suo talked about his filmmaking style:

"The most important thing for me in movie making is to love the characters of the movie, so even though you only have a few seconds with a character, that person has to have his own life. Therefore, I want to respect it, I want to make movies where each character has his own individuality."

Filmography

Fiction

* '' Abnormal Family: Older Brother's Bride'' (1984) also known as ''Spring Bride'', ''Daughter-in-Law'', or ''My Brother's Wife'' * ''

'' (1989) also known as ''Manic Zen'' * '' Sumo Do, Sumo Don't'' (1992) * '' Shall We Dance?'' (1996) * '' I Just Didn't Do It'' (2006) * '' A Terminal Trust'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014), also known as ''Maiko a Lady'' or ''My Fairy Lady.'' It is considered as the first Geisha musical movie. * ''Talking the Pictures'' (2019)

Documentary

* ''Making of A Taxing Woman'' (1987) * ''Making of A Taxing Woman 2'' (1988) * ''Dancing Chaplin'' (2010)

Writings

"Naze Ozu Dattanoka" in ''Ozu Yasujiro Taizen'' (''The Complete Book of Ozu Yasujiro'') by Matsuura Kanji and Miyamoto Akiko (Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. 2019)

Awards and honors

* 1993 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year – '' Sumo Do, Sumo Don't'' * 1997 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year – '' Shall We Dance?'' * 2016 Medal with Purple Ribbon

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suo, Masayuki Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year winners Japanese film directors Japanese comedy film directors Japanese screenwriters 1956 births Living people Film people from Tokyo Rikkyo University alumni Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon