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, ...

known for

social realist Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

filmmaking informed by a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

perspective. His most noted films include ''

An Inlet of Muddy Water ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' ( ja, にごりえ, Nigorie) is a 1953 Japanese drama film based on short stories by Ichiyō Higuchi and directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and awarded numerous national film p ...

'' (1953) and '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963).

Life

Although leaning towards left-wing politics already at

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, where he joined a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

student group, Imai's directing career, after serving as continuity writer at J.O. studios (later

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 produc ...

), started in 1939 with a series of films promoting the war efforts of the militarist regime. Later calling these films "the biggest mistake of my life", he soon turned to socially conscious themes after the war. '' Aoi sanmyaku'' (1949), although a light comedy, observed the educational system, and was successful both with moviegoers and critics. While his 1950 drama '' Until We Meet Again'' portrayed a young couple's doomed love against the backdrop of the Pacific War, the 1953 anti-war film ''Tower of Lilies'' was a stark account of untrained female students forced into aiding military troops during the final stage of the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Other films addressed the present-day struggles of day labourers (''And Yet We Live''), troubled youths (''

Jun'ai monogatari is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival where Imai won the Silver Bear for Best Director. Cast * Shinjirō Ehara as Hayakawa Kantaro * Hitomi Nakahara * Eiji Okada ...

''), poor farmers (''

The Rice People is a 1957 Japanese drama film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 10th Cannes Film Festival. Plot Two young men, Tsuguo and Senkichi, return to their small home town during the rice planting festival, and try to make a living ...

'') and children of interracial relationships ('' Kiku to Isamu''). Yet the films regarded his most important of this era had a historical instead of a contemporary setting: ''

'' (1953), based on stories by Ichiyō Higuchi, took a look at the fate of a group of women during the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, '' Night Drum'' (1958), scripted by Kaneto Shindo, denounced the Samurai honour codex in a tale about adultery and revenge during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. Imai returned to the latter subject in the critically acclaimed '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963) and in ''Revenge'' (1964).

Legacy

Japanese critics tended to define Imai's way of storytelling as "''nakanai'' realism", a "realism without tears", a fact questioned by film historian Joan Mellen who saw his work repeatedly "close to the sentimental". In an interview, Imai himself summed up his films as "centered on human tragedies", which locates them close to the works of

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and ...

who addressed similar topics (though in a less political manner) and whom Imai admired. While film historians acknowledge Imai's solid directorial skills, the lack of a consistent style, and tendency to focus more on consequences than analysis of his themes, have been recurring subjects of criticism.

Selected filmography

* 1946: '' Minshū no Teki'' * 1949: '' Aoi sanmyaku'' * 1950: '' Until We Meet Again'' (''Mata au hi made'') * 1951: ''And Yet We Live'' (''Dokkoi ikiteru'') * 1953: ''Tower of Lilies'' (''Himeyuri no tō'') * 1953: ''

'' (''Nigorie'') * 1956: ''

Mahiru no ankoku is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Tadashi Imai. It is based on an actual court case, described in the non-fiction book "Saibankan–Hito no inochi wa kenryoku de ubaeru mono ka" by attorney Hiroshi Masaki. Cast * Kōjirō Kusanagi * Sach ...

'' * 1957: ''

'' (''Kome'') * 1958: '' Night Drum'' (''Yoru no tsuzumi'') * 1959: '' Kiku to Isamu'' * 1963: '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (''Bushidō zankoku monogatari'') * 1964: ''Revenge'' (''Adauchi'') * 1967: ''Satōgashi ga kowareru toki'' * 1976: '' Brother and Sister'' (''Ani imōto'') * 1981: ''Yuki''

Awards

;Berlin Film Festival Imai won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 1958

8th Berlin International Film Festival The 8th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 27 June to 8 July 1958 with the Zoo Palast as the main venue. The festival was opened by then West Berlin's newly elected mayor Willy Brandt. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Sw ...

for his work on ''

''. At the 1963

13th Berlin International Film Festival The 13th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1963. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the Italian film '' Il diavolo'' directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro and Japanese film '' Bushidô zankoku monoga ...

his film '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' won the Golden Bear. ;Blue Ribbon Awards Imai won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director four times: 1950 for '' Until We Meet Again'', 1953 for ''Tower of Lilies'' and ''

'', 1956 for ''

'' and 1957 for ''Jun'ai monogatari'' and ''

''. ''Until We Meet Again'', ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'', ''Mahiru no ankoku'', ''The Rice People'' and '' Kiku to Isamu'' were winners in the Best Film category. ;Kinema Junpo Awards Imai received the

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ...

Award for Best Director for ''Mahiru no ankoku'', ''The Rice People'' and ''Kiku to Isamu''. All three films plus ''Until We Meet Again'' and ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' were also awarded Best Film. ;Mainichi Fim Awards Imai was awarded Best Director for ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' at the 1953 8th Mainichi Film Awards, where ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' was also awarded Best Film.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Tadashi Japanese film directors Samurai film directors 1912 births 1991 deaths People from Tokyo Silver Bear for Best Director recipients Directors of Golden Bear winners