Yuzo Kawashima
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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 ...
known for his lively comedies.


Career

Kawashima was born in Mutsu, Shimokita District,
Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...
. After graduating from
Meiji University is a Private university, private research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Originally founded as Meiji Law School () by three lawyers in 1881, it became a university in April 1920. As of May 2023, Meiji has 32,261 undergradu ...
's Department of Literature, he entered the Shōchiku studios and served as an assistant director under Minoru Shibuya, Yasujirō Shimazu, Hiroshi Shimizu and others. In 1944, he directed his first film, ''The Man Who Has Returned''. After the war, Kawashima made many comedies at Shōchiku, but it was not before his move to
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%). ...
in 1955 that his work received critical acclaim. At Nikkatsu, he directed such notable works as ''Burden of Love'' (1955), '' Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District'' (1956, Kawashima's own personal favourite of his films), and ''
Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate , also known as ''A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era'', is a 1957 Japanese comedy film directed by Yūzō Kawashima and written by Kawashima, Shōhei Imamura and Keiichi Tanaka. It was voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in a p ...
'' (1957). In his remaining years, Kawashima worked at multiple studios—
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 ...
, Tokyo Eiga, and
Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
—continuing to create satirical works like ''Temptation on Glamour Island'' (1959),'' Room for Let '' (1959), and '' The Graceful Brute'' (1962), as well as literary adaptations like ''Women Are Born Twice'' (1961) and ''The Temple of Wild Geese'' (1962). Kawashima suffered from
polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
and was known as an excessive drinker. He died in 1963 at the age of 45, having completed 50 films during a career which spanned only 19 years.


Legacy

Kawashima was a key influence on director
Shōhei Imamura was a Japanese film director. His main interest as a filmmaker lay in the depiction of the lower strata of Japanese society. A key figure in the Japanese New Wave, who continued working into the 21st century, Imamura is the only director from J ...
, who worked as his assistant director. In 1999, ''Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate'' was voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in Kinema Junpō's poll of 140 film critics and filmmakers.


Selected filmography

* 1944 ''The Man Who Has Returned'' (還って来た男) * 1948 ''The Follower'' (追跡者) * 1948 ''Oh Citizens!'' (市民諸君) * 1952 ''Tonkatsu taishō'' (とんかつ大将) * 1954 ''The Path of Sincerity'' (真実一路) * 1953 '' Ojōsan shachō'' (お嬢さん社長) * 1954 ''Between Yesterday and Tomorrow'' (昨日と明日の間) * 1955 ''Burden of Love'' (愛のお荷物) * 1955 ''Till We Meet Again'' (あした来る人) * 1955 '' Tales of Ginza'' (銀座二十四帖) * 1956 '' The Balloon'' (風船) * 1956 '' Suzaki Paradise: Red Light'' (洲崎パラダイス 赤信号) * 1956 ''Our Town'' (わが町) * 1956 ''Hungry Soul'' (飢える魂) * 1956 ''Hungry Soul, Part II'' (続 飢える魂) * 1957 ''
Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate , also known as ''A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era'', is a 1957 Japanese comedy film directed by Yūzō Kawashima and written by Kawashima, Shōhei Imamura and Keiichi Tanaka. It was voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in a p ...
'' (幕末太陽傳) * 1958 ''Woman Unveiled'' (女であること) * 1958 ''Noren'' (暖簾) * 1959 ''Temptation on Glamour Island'' (グラマ島の誘惑) * 1959 ''Room for Let'' (貸間あり) * 1960 ''The Flow of Evening'' (夜の流れ, aka ''The Lovelorn Geisha'') (with
Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...
) * 1960 ''Soft Touch of Night'' (赤坂の姉妹 夜の肌) * 1961 ''Romance Express'' (特急にっぽん) * 1961 ''Women Are Born Twice'' (女は二度生まれる, aka ''A Geisha’s Diary'') * 1962 ''The Temple of the Wild Geese'' (雁の寺) * 1962 ''The Tale of the Blue Beka Boat'' (青べか物語) * 1962 '' The Graceful Brute'' (しとやかな獣, aka ''Elegant Beast'') * 1962 ''Mount Hakone'' (箱根山)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawashima, Yuzo 1918 births 1963 deaths Japanese film directors People from Mutsu, Aomori Meiji University alumni