Satsuo Yamamoto
Satsuo Yamamoto (山本 薩夫, Yamamoto Satsuo, 10 July 1910 – 11 August 1983) was a Japanese film director.[1]
Satsuo Yamamoto | |
|---|---|
 Satsuo Yamamoto in 1950. | |
| Born | 15 July 1910 Kagoshima City, Japan |
| Died | 11 August 1983 (aged 73) |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Relatives | Kei Yamamoto (nephew) |
Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima City. After leaving Waseda University, where he had become affiliated with left-wing groups, he joined the Shochiku film studios in 1933, where he worked as an assistant director to Mikio Naruse.[2][3] He followed Naruse when the latter moved to P.C.L. film studios (later Toho) and debuted as a director in 1937 with Ojōsan.[2][3] During World War II he directed the propaganda films Winged Victory and Hot Winds[1][4] before being drafted and sent to China.[3]
After returning to Japan, Yamamoto's first film was the 1947 War and Peace (not based on the Leo Tolstoy novel),[5] co-directed with Fumio Kamei.[1][4] Being a communist and an active supporter of the union during the Toho labour strikes, he left the studio in 1948 after the strikes' forced ending and turned to independent filmmaking.[3][6] The commercially successful Street of Violence (1950) was produced by a committee named after the film's original title Bōryoku no machi,[7] while the left-wing production company Shinsei Eiga-sha ("New star films"), formed by former Toho unionists, produced the anti-war film Vacuum Zone (1953), which film historian Donald Richie called "the strongest anti-military film ever made in Japan" in 1959.[4] The 1959 Ballad of the Cart was produced by the National Rural Film Association and won him the Mainichi Film Award for Best Director.[8]
In the 1960s, Yamamoto again worked for major companies like Daiei and Nikkatsu, directing films like Band of Assassins (1962), The Ivory Tower (1966) and Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967).[9] He died in Tokyo on August 11, 1983, at the age of 73.[2]
Selected filmography
Films
| Title[10] | Studio | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Ojosan お嬢さん |
PCL | 1937 |
| Konna Onnani Daregashita こんな女に誰がした |
Toyoko Film (Distributed by Daiei Film) | July 4, 1949 |
| Street of Violence 暴力の街 Boryoku no Machi |
Bōryoku no machi production committee (Distributed by Daiei Film) | February 26, 1950 |
| Hakone Fūunroku 箱根風雲録 |
Shinsei Film, Zenshin Za | March 14, 1952 |
| Vacuum Zone 真空地帯 Shinkūchitai |
Hokuto Film | December 15, 1952 |
| Hi no Hate 日の果て |
Yagi Pro/Sehai (Distributed by Shochiku Film) | February 3, 1954 |
| Taiyō no nai Machi 太陽のない街 |
Shinsei Film | June 24, 1954 |
| Taifu Sodoki 台風騒動記 |
Yamamoto Production | December 19, 1956 |
| Ballad of the Cart 荷車の歌 Niguruma no Uta |
Zenkoku Noson Eiga Kyokai | February 11, 1959 |
| Ningen no Kabe 人間の壁 |
Yamamoto Production (Distributed by Shintoho) | January 27, 1961 |
| Matsukawa Jiken 松川事件 |
Matsukawa Jikengeki Eiga Seisakuiinkai | January 27, 1961 |
| Shinobi no Mono 忍びの者 |
Daiei Film | December 1, 1962 |
| Zoku Shinobi no Mono 続・忍びの者 |
Daiei Film | August 10, 1963 |
| Nippon Dorobō Monogatari にっぽん泥棒物語 |
Daiei Film | May 1, 1965 |
| Ivory Tower 白い巨塔 |
Daiei Film | October 15, 1966 |
| Men and War 戦争と人間 Senso to Ningen |
Nikkatsu | August 14, 1970 (I) June 12, 1971 (II) August 11, 1973 (III) |
| Karei-naru Ichizoku 華麗なる一族 |
Geiensha (Distributed by Toho) | January 26, 1974 |
| Kinkanshoku 金環蝕 |
Daiei (Distributed by Toho) | September 6, 1975 |
| Barren Land 不毛地帯 |
Geiensha (Distributed by Toho) | August 14, 1976 |
| Kōtei no Inai Hachigatsu 皇帝のいない八月 |
Shochiku | September 23, 1978 |
| Nomugi Pass あゝ野麦峠 Ah Nomugi Toge |
Shin Nihon Eiga (Distributed by Toho) | June 30, 1979 |
| Nomugi Pass Shinryokuhen あゝ野麦峠 新緑篇 Ah Nomugi Toge Shinrokuhen |
Toho | February 6, 1982 |
Awards
- Kinema Junpo Awards
Yamamoto received the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Director for Ivory Tower, which was also awarded Best Film.
- Blue Ribbon Awards
Yamamoto won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director for Shōnin no isu and Nippon dorobō monogatari (both 1965).[11] Ivory Tower was awarded Best Film the following year.
- Mainichi Fim Awards
Yamamoto was awarded Best Director at the Mainichi Film Awards for Ballad of the Cart and Ningen no kane (both 1959),[8] Ivory Tower,[12] Men and War[13] and Barren Land.[14] Ivory Tower, Barren Land and Nomugi Pass[15] were winners in the Best Film category.
- Festival prizes
Ivory Tower was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where it was awarded the Silver Prize.[16]
References
- Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
- "山本 薩夫 (Satsuo Yamamoto)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "山本 薩夫 (Satsuo Yamamoto)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
- "戦争と平和 (War and Peace)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- Hirano, Kyoko (1992). Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 978-1-56098157-2.
- "暴力の街 (Street of Violence)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- "14th Mainichi Film Awards 1959" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "山本 薩夫 (Satsuo Yamamoto)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- Filmography from "satsuo Yamamoto" (in Japanese). kinenote. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- "ブルーリボン賞ヒストリー (Blue Ribbon Award)" (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "21st Mainichi Film Awards 1966" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "25th Mainichi Film Awards 1970" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "31st Mainichi Film Awards 1976" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "34th Mainichi Film Awards 1979" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "5th Moscow International Film Festival (1967)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
External links
- Satsuo Yamamoto at IMDb
- "Satsuo Yamamoto Special Program". Tokyo Filmex. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- Kato, Mariko (31 January 2008). "SATSUO YAMAMOTO: Classic director remembered". The Japan Times. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- "Satsuo Yamamoto, Director; Made Antiwar Films in Japan". The New York Times. 12 August 1983. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
Bibliography
- Yamamoto, Satsuo (2017). My life as a filmmaker. Chang, Chia-ning. Baltimore, Maryland: Project Muse. ISBN 9780472122493. OCLC 990075123.