was a Japanese filmmaker and actor.
His best-known films include the
silent avant-garde films ''
A Page of Madness'' and ''
Crossroads'' and the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning historical drama ''
Gate of Hell''.
Biography
Kinugasa was born in
Kameyama,
Mie Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
. He began his career as an
onnagata
, also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of ''onnagata'' ...
(actor specializing in female roles) at the
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures".
Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...
studio. When Japanese cinema began using actresses in the early 1920s, he switched to directing and worked for producers such as
Shozo Makino, before becoming independent to make his best-known film, ''
A Page of Madness'' (1926). It was considered lost for 45 years until the director rediscovered it in his shed in 1971. A silent film, Kinugasa released it with a new print and score to world acclaim. He also directed the film ''
Crossroads'' in 1928. He directed
jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...
at the
Shochiku
is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...
studios, where he helped establish the career of Chōjirō Hayashi (later known as
Kazuo Hasegawa
, formerly known by his stage names and , was a Japanese film and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 films from 1927 to 1963.
Career
Born to a sake brewing family in Kyoto, he first appeared on stage at age five in a theater run by his famil ...
). After the war, he helmed big-budget costume productions for
Daiei
, based in Kobe, Hyōgo, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni ...
studios.
''
Gate of Hell'' received the
Palme d'or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the
1954 Cannes Film Festival and the
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
On 26 February 1982, Kinugasa died in
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
at the age of 86.
Selected filmography
* 1925: ''Tsukigata Hanpeita''
* 1926: ''
A Page of Madness''
* 1927: ''Oni Azami''
* 1928: ''
Crossroads''
* 1935: ''An Actor's Revenge'' a.k.a. ''The Revenge of Yukinojo''
* 1946: ''
Aru yo no Tonosama''
* 1952: ''
Dedication of the Great Buddha''
* 1953: ''
Gate of Hell''
* 1955: ''
The Romance of Yushima'' a.k.a. ''The White Sea of Yushima''
* 1956: ''Shin Heike Monogatari''
* 1956: ''
Tsukigata Hanpeita: Hana no maki; Arashi no maki''
* 1957: ''
A Fantastic Tale of Naruto''
* 1957: ''
A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love''
* 1957: ''
Floating Vessel''
* 1958: ''
The Snowy Heron''
* 1958: ''Symphony of Love''
* 1963: ''Bronze Magician'
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinugasa, Teinosuke
1896 births
1982 deaths
Japanese film directors
Samurai film directors
People from Mie Prefecture
Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Directors of Palme d'Or winners
Actors from Mie Prefecture