Hiroshi Inagaki
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese filmmaker most known for the Academy Award
-winning Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
, which he directed in 1954.
as the son of a shinpa
actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu
studio as an actor in 1922. Wishing to become a director, he joined Chiezō Kataoka
's Chiezō Productions and made his directorial debut in 1928 with Tenka taiheiki. Returning to Nikkatsu, he continued making jidaigeki
and participated in the Naritaki Group of young filmmakers such as Sadao Yamanaka
and Fuji Yahiro
who collaboratively wrote screenplays under the made up name "Kinpachi Kajiwara". Like others in the group, Inagaki was known for his cheerful and intelligent samurai films. Inagaki later moved to Daiei and then Toho
, where he made big budget color spectacles as well as delicate works depicting the hearts of children. He also produced many films and wrote the scripts for dozens of others.
, won the Golden Lion
award at that year's Venice Film Festival
. His 1954 film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
won the honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese filmmaker most known for the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
is a 1954 color Japanese film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the first film of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy of historical adventures. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. The novel is loosely based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi...
, which he directed in 1954.
Career
Born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as the son of a shinpa
Shinpa
is a form of theater and cinema in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories. Its roots can be traced to a form of agitation propaganda theater in the 1880s promoted by Liberal Party members Sadanori Sudo and Otojirō Kawakami...
actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
studio as an actor in 1922. Wishing to become a director, he joined Chiezō Kataoka
Chiezo Kataoka
was a Japanese actor. Born in 1903 in Gunma Prefecture, he was raised in Tokyo. His first starring role in a film was in 1923. Specializing in jidaigeki, he played the lead in various films before and during World War II. After the war, he eventually joined Toei...
's Chiezō Productions and made his directorial debut in 1928 with Tenka taiheiki. Returning to Nikkatsu, he continued making jidaigeki
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...
and participated in the Naritaki Group of young filmmakers such as Sadao Yamanaka
Sadao Yamanaka
was a Japanese film director and writer who directed 24 films during a seven-year period in the 1930s. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the jidaigeki, or historical film. Yamanaka died of dysentary in...
and Fuji Yahiro
Fuji Yahiro
was a Japanese screenwriter, mostly of chanbara films. His real name was Minoru Yahiro. Leaving Meiji University before graduating, he began writing screenplays at Shōzō Makino's Makino Film Productions in 1927. He ended up penning hundreds of screenplays at many studios, such as Teikine, Shinkō...
who collaboratively wrote screenplays under the made up name "Kinpachi Kajiwara". Like others in the group, Inagaki was known for his cheerful and intelligent samurai films. Inagaki later moved to Daiei and then Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
, where he made big budget color spectacles as well as delicate works depicting the hearts of children. He also produced many films and wrote the scripts for dozens of others.
Recognition
His 1943 film Muhōmatsu no isshō was selected as the 8th best Japanese film of all time in a 1989 poll of Japanese critics and filmmakers. The 1958 remake, Rickshaw ManRickshaw Man
Rickshaw Man is a 1958 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Its original Japanese title is . It tells the story of a Matsugoro, a rickshaw man who becomes a surrogate father to the child of a recently widowed woman....
, won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
award at that year's Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. His 1954 film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
is a 1954 color Japanese film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the first film of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy of historical adventures. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. The novel is loosely based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi...
won the honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Director
- Tenka taiheiki (天下太平記) (1928)
- Hōrō zanmai (放浪三昧) (1928)
- Muhōmatsu no isshō (無法末の一生) (1943)
- Noroshi wa Shanghai ni agaru (狼火は上海に揚る 春江遺恨 literally: Signal Fires of Shanghai) (1944)
- Sword for HireSword for Hire, literal English title: Vagabonds in a Country at War, is a 1952 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki.- External links : http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1952/cb001070.htm...
(戦国無頼 Sengoku burai) (1952) - Samurai TrilogySamurai TrilogyThe Samurai Trilogy is a film trilogy directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshirō Mifune as Musashi Miyamoto and Koji Tsuruta as Kojirō Sasaki...
- Samurai I: Musashi MiyamotoSamurai I: Musashi Miyamotois a 1954 color Japanese film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the first film of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy of historical adventures. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. The novel is loosely based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi...
(宮本武蔵) (1954) - Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji TempleSamurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Templeis a color 1955 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the second film of the Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi...
(続宮本武蔵 一乗寺の決闘 Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijōji no kettō) (1955) - Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu IslandSamurai III: Duel at Ganryu Islandis a 1956 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the third film of the Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi...
(決闘巌流島 Kettō Ganryūjima) (1956)
- Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
- The Lone JourneyThe Lone Journey, also known as The Road, is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki.Production design was by Takeo Kita and Makoto Sono and sound recording was by Choshichiro Mikami...
aka The Road (旅路 Tabiji) (1955) - ArashiArashi (film)Arashi is a 1956 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Chishû Ryû - Shinji Mizusawa* Kinuyo Tanaka - Otoku, housekeeper* Daisuke Katô - Ishii* Akira Kubo - Saburo Mizusawa...
(嵐) (1956) - Yagyu Secret Scrolls (柳生武芸帳 Yagyū Bugeichō) (1957)
- Rickshaw ManRickshaw ManRickshaw Man is a 1958 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Its original Japanese title is . It tells the story of a Matsugoro, a rickshaw man who becomes a surrogate father to the child of a recently widowed woman....
(無法末の一生) (1957) - Yagyu Secret Scrolls part II (柳生武芸帳 双龍秘剣 Yagyū Bugeichō–Sōryū hiken) aka Ninjitsu (1958)
- The Birth of JapanThe Birth of Japan, also called The Three Treasures, is a 1959 Japanese tokusatsu fantasy epic film. Telling the story of the creation of Japan according to Japanese mythology, specifically the Shinto religion, it is considered Japan's answer to The Ten Commandments...
(日本誕生, Nippon Tanjō), also called The Three Treasures (1959) - Life of an Expert SwordsmanLife of an Expert SwordsmanLife of an Expert Swordsman is a 1959 samurai film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshirô Mifune. Its story is an adaptation of the Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac, and its basic plot faithfully follows that of the play...
(或る剣豪の生涯 Aru kengō no shōgai) (1959) - The Story of Osaka CastleThe Story of Osaka Castleis a 1961 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki based on historical events taking place in Japan during the beginning of the 17th century. It was also known as The Tale of Osaka Castle in the UK.- Plot :...
(大阪城物語 Ōsaka-jō monogatari) (1961) with Toshirō MifuneToshiro MifuneToshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo... - Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (忠臣蔵 花の巻 雪の巻) (1962) with Toshirō MifuneToshiro MifuneToshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
- Samurai BannersSamurai Bannersis a Japanese samurai drama film released in 1969. It was directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and is based on the life of the famous Sengoku-era battle strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke.- Plot :...
(風林火山 Fūrin Kazan) (1969)