Ryuhei Kitamura
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
filmmaker.
, Japan
, Kitamura quit high school
and went to the School of Visual Arts in Australia
at age 17.
.
Kitamura went on to direct several movies, including adaptations of the manga
Azumi
and the popular Japanese TV drama
Sky High
. He had also collaborated with director Yukihiko Tsutsumi
in the Duel Project
, in which the two agreed to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, with Aragami
being Kitamura's part. He also ventured into the world of video games by directing the cut scenes and motion capturing
of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
. Kitamura also served as producer on 2003's Battlefield Baseball
, the directorial debut of Yūdai Yamaguchi
(Versus
co-writer). Kitamura's 2004 kaiju
film, Godzilla: Final Wars
had its premiere in Hollywood.
Kitamura recently marked his American filmmaking debut with Midnight Meat Train based on Clive Barker
's short horror story of the same name. The film was released on August 1, 2008 and stars Bradley Cooper
, Vinnie Jones
, and Brooke Shields
. His next directorial effort, No One Lives, is set to be released in 2012, his second American production. He is currently attached to direct the movie Gun Monkeys from a screenplay by Lee Goldberg
, based on the novel by Victor Gischler
.
Kitamura's favourite Godzilla
film is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
(1974). His favourite kaiju is King Caesar
. He is set to direct the slasher film
Black Friday 3D, which based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
filmmaker.
Early life
Born in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
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...
, Kitamura quit high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and went to the School of Visual Arts in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
at age 17.
Movie career
His first film was the short Exit, which he made as his graduation piece at age 19. After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent film production studio. While his films Down to Hell and Heat After Dark were successful in film festivals, Kitamura's rise to international fame came from VersusVersus (film)
is a 2000 Japanese action/horror film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.-Synopsis:After escaping from police custody, Prisoner KSC2-303 and a fellow escapee join with a group of mobsters in a forest that is one of the 666 portals that act as a connection between this world and the next, called "The...
.
Kitamura went on to direct several movies, including adaptations of the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Azumi
Azumi
is a Japanese manga series created by Yū Koyama in 1994. The manga was originally published by Shogakukan and serialized in Big Comic Superior, and was later adapted to two feature films starring Aya Ueto, a video game and a stage play. Azumi received an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media...
and the popular Japanese TV drama
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
Sky High
Sky High (2003 film)
Sky High is a supernatural action film from director Ryuhei Kitamura. It is based on the manga of the same title by Tsutomu Takahashi and serves as a prequel to a Japanese television drama of the same name, and starring the same actress, Yumiko Shaku...
. He had also collaborated with director Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Yukihiko Tsutsumi
is a Japanese television and film director. He began directing commercials and music promotion videos as an employee of Nihon Television. After spending time abroad, he returned and started his own production company, Crescendo, from which he works independently...
in the Duel Project
Duel Project
The Duel Project was a challenge issued to Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi by producer Shinya Kawai during a night of drinking. The challenge was for the two directors to see who could make the best feature film with two principal actors/actresses battling in one principal location in the...
, in which the two agreed to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, with Aragami
Aragami
Aragami is a 2003 Japanese action film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It was Kitamura's contribution to the Duel Project, a challenge issued by producer Shinya Kawai to him and fellow director Yukihiko Tsutsumi to film a feature length movie with only two actors, battling in one setting, in only the...
being Kitamura's part. He also ventured into the world of video games by directing the cut scenes and motion capturing
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth action video game developed by Silicon Knights and Konami that was published in for the Nintendo GameCube video game console...
. Kitamura also served as producer on 2003's Battlefield Baseball
Battlefield Baseball
is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. The film is written by Gatarō Man, based on his manga series of the same name, and stars Tak Sakaguchi, Atsushi Itō, and Hideo Sakaki...
, the directorial debut of Yūdai Yamaguchi
Yūdai Yamaguchi
is a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness".-Life and career:...
(Versus
Versus (film)
is a 2000 Japanese action/horror film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.-Synopsis:After escaping from police custody, Prisoner KSC2-303 and a fellow escapee join with a group of mobsters in a forest that is one of the 666 portals that act as a connection between this world and the next, called "The...
co-writer). Kitamura's 2004 kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
film, Godzilla: Final Wars
Godzilla: Final Wars
is a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
had its premiere in Hollywood.
Kitamura recently marked his American filmmaking debut with Midnight Meat Train based on Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
's short horror story of the same name. The film was released on August 1, 2008 and stars Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...
, and Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
. His next directorial effort, No One Lives, is set to be released in 2012, his second American production. He is currently attached to direct the movie Gun Monkeys from a screenplay by Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter and producer, known for his work on several different TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk...
, based on the novel by Victor Gischler
Victor Gischler
Victor Gischler is an American author of hard-boiled crime fiction.-Biography:Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D....
.
Kitamura's favourite Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
film is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
, originally known in the United States as Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster and subsequently Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster, is a 1974 science fiction kaiju film. This was the 14th of the Toho studio's Godzilla series , it was directed by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano and the...
(1974). His favourite kaiju is King Caesar
King Caesar
is a fictional Kaiju from the Toho produced Godzilla series. King Caesar's appearance was inspired by the Shisa, a beast that looks like a combination between a dog and a lion. It first appeared in the 1974 Showa film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla...
. He is set to direct the slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
Black Friday 3D, which based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter.
Director
- Heat After Dark (1996)
- Down to Hell (1997)
- VersusVersus (film)is a 2000 Japanese action/horror film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.-Synopsis:After escaping from police custody, Prisoner KSC2-303 and a fellow escapee join with a group of mobsters in a forest that is one of the 666 portals that act as a connection between this world and the next, called "The...
(2000) - AliveAlive (2002 film)Alive is a 2002 Japanese action film and the fourth film by director Ryuhei Kitamura. It is based on the manga ALIVE by Tsutomu Takahashi and stars Hideo Sakaki as the protagonist, Tenshu. Tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death for murdering the men who raped his girlfriend...
(2002) - The Messenger (2002, Jam FilmsJam FilmsJam Films and its sequels are collections of short films, each by a different Japanese director.-Jam Films:Jam Films is a 2002 suite of 7 shorts produced by Sega/Amuse Jam Films and its sequels are collections of short films, each by a different Japanese director.-Jam Films:Jam Films is a 2002...
segment) (a.k.a. Requiem for the Dead) - AragamiAragamiAragami is a 2003 Japanese action film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It was Kitamura's contribution to the Duel Project, a challenge issued by producer Shinya Kawai to him and fellow director Yukihiko Tsutsumi to film a feature length movie with only two actors, battling in one setting, in only the...
(2003) - Azumi (2003)
- Sky HighSky High (2003 film)Sky High is a supernatural action film from director Ryuhei Kitamura. It is based on the manga of the same title by Tsutomu Takahashi and serves as a prequel to a Japanese television drama of the same name, and starring the same actress, Yumiko Shaku...
(2003) - LonginusLonginus (film)-Synopsis:A war rages on, its end unknown, covering the world in despair. At a military field hospital, a group of soldiers bring in one of their own, wounded by a large, vicious, bite-like wound, along with a large box. The soldiers are visibly shaken. Suddenly, an enigmatic man appears...
(2004) - Godzilla: Final WarsGodzilla: Final Warsis a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
(2004) - LoveDeath (2006)
- Midnight Meat Train (2008)
- Baton (2009)
- Tekon (2010)
- Versus (2010) (a.k.a. Versus 2)
- No One Lives (2012)
Producer
- Down to Hell (1997)
- Battlefield BaseballBattlefield Baseballis a 2003 Japanese film directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. The film is written by Gatarō Man, based on his manga series of the same name, and stars Tak Sakaguchi, Atsushi Itō, and Hideo Sakaki...
(2003, directed by Yūdai YamaguchiYūdai Yamaguchiis a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness".-Life and career:...
) - LoveDeath (2006)
Writer
- Heat After Dark (1996) (writer)
- Down to Hell (1997) (writer)
- VersusVersus (film)is a 2000 Japanese action/horror film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.-Synopsis:After escaping from police custody, Prisoner KSC2-303 and a fellow escapee join with a group of mobsters in a forest that is one of the 666 portals that act as a connection between this world and the next, called "The...
(2000) (writer) - AliveAlive (2002 film)Alive is a 2002 Japanese action film and the fourth film by director Ryuhei Kitamura. It is based on the manga ALIVE by Tsutomu Takahashi and stars Hideo Sakaki as the protagonist, Tenshu. Tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death for murdering the men who raped his girlfriend...
(2002) (screenplay) - AragamiAragamiAragami is a 2003 Japanese action film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It was Kitamura's contribution to the Duel Project, a challenge issued by producer Shinya Kawai to him and fellow director Yukihiko Tsutsumi to film a feature length movie with only two actors, battling in one setting, in only the...
(2003) (writer) - LonginusLonginus (film)-Synopsis:A war rages on, its end unknown, covering the world in despair. At a military field hospital, a group of soldiers bring in one of their own, wounded by a large, vicious, bite-like wound, along with a large box. The soldiers are visibly shaken. Suddenly, an enigmatic man appears...
(2004) (writer) - Godzilla: Final WarsGodzilla: Final Warsis a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
(2004) (screenplay) - LoveDeath (2006) (screenplay)
- Yoroi: Samurai Zombie (2008, directed by Tak SakaguchiTak Sakaguchiis a Japanese actor, director, fight choreorapher, and stuntman. He is best known for his lead role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, Versus. Sakaguchi is a talented martial artist, and as such, stars in films featuring copious fight scenes and performs all of his own stunts. He is known to be...
) (story, screenplay) - Versus (2010) (writer)
Television
- Sky HighSky High (TV series)is a live-action, supernatural Japanese television drama series, starring actress and model, Yumiko Shaku. It aired in Japan, first run, from 2003 to 2004, and was popular enough to spawn the 2003 feature film of the same name . Both are based on the Japanese manga, Skyhigh...
(2003, TV series) - SakurajimaSakurajima, also romanized as Sakurashima or Sakura-jima, is an active composite volcano and a former island of the same name in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyūshū, Japan...
(2004, documentaryDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
) - Romance Novel (2006)