was a Japanese

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 ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He often made adolescents the protagonists of his films, which addressed political themes through personal drama. His most noted works include '' Stepbrothers'' (1957) and '' Naked Sun'' (1958).

Life

After graduating from the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, Miyoji Ieki joined the Shochiku film studios in 1940, where he became an assistant of

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first successful sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shōshimin-eiga (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his ...

and Minoru Shibuya, before debuting as director with ''Torrent'' (Gekiryū) in 1944. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he directed youth films and romances like '' The Sad Whistle'' (1949), before being expelled by Shochiku together with other filmmakers as a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

sympathiser during the Red Purge. In the following years, Ieki, working for independent companies, directed his most notable films, including ''Beyond the Clouds'' (1953), a portrait of young kamikaze pilots, ''Sisters'' (1955), ''Stepbrothers'' (1957), an account of the ongoing conflicts in a military family, and ''Naked Sun'' (1958), a youth drama set among railway workers. ''Stepbrothers'' received the Grand Prix at the 1958

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

. ''Naked Sun'' also marked the beginning of Ieki's association with Toei studios, which lasted until 1965. Films of this era and later years include ''A Pebble by the Wayside'' (1964), an adaptation of the novel by

Yūzō Yamamoto was a Japanese novelist and playwright. His real name was written as "山本勇造" but pronounced the same as his pen name. Biography Yamamoto was born to a family of kimono makers in Tochigi (city), Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture. After fi ...

, and ''The Only Child'' (1969).

Selected filmography

* 1944: ''Torrent'' (Gekiryū) * 1949: ''The Sad Whistle'' (Kanashiki kuchibue) * 1953: ''Beyond the Clouds'' (Kumo nagaruru hate ni) * 1955: ''Sisters'' (Shimai) * 1957: ''Stepbrothers'' (Ibo kyōdai) * 1958: ''Naked Sun'' (Hadaka no taiyō) * 1964: ''A Pebble by the Wayside'' ''Wayside Pebble'' (Robō no ishi) * 1969: ''The Only Child'' aka ''Only Child'' (Hitorikko)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ieki, Miyoji Japanese film directors 1911 births 1976 deaths University of Tokyo alumni