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Hiroshi Inagaki

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Hiroshi Inagaki
Inagaki c. 1930s
Born(1905-12-30)30 December 1905
Tokyo, Japan
Died21 May 1980(1980-05-21) (aged 74)
Occupation(s)director, screenwriter, producer, actor
Years active1923–1979
AwardsAcademy Honorary Award
1956 Miyamoto Musashi
Golden Lion
1958 Rickshaw Man

Hiroshi Inagaki (Japanese: 稲垣 浩, Hepburn: Inagaki Hiroshi, 30 December 1905 – 1 May 1980) was a Japanese filmmaker who worked on over 100 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed filmmakers in the history of Japanese cinema, having directed several jidaigeki epics such as the 1954 Academy Award-winning film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, and its two sequels (1955's Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955) and 1956's Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island).

Career

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Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1922.[1] Wishing to become a director, he joined Chiezō Kataoka's Chiezō Productions and made his directorial debut with Tenka taiheiki (1928). 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".[2] Like others in the group, Inagaki was known for his cheerful and intelligent samurai films.[2] Inagaki later moved to Daiei and then Toho, where he made big budget color spectacles as well as delicate works depicting the feelings of children.[2] He also produced many films and wrote the scripts for dozens of others. He directed Toshiro Mifune in twenty films.[3]

Recognition

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His film Muhōmatsu no isshō (Rickshaw Man, 1943) was selected as the 8th best Japanese film of all time in a 1989 poll of Japanese critics and filmmakers.[4] The color remake, Rickshaw Man (1958), won the Golden Lion award at that year's Venice Film Festival. His film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) won the honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Selected filmography

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Director

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Producer

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Bibliography

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  • Inagaki, Hiroshi (1978). Nihon eiga no wakaki hibi. Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha.

References

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  1. ^ "Inagaki Hiroshi". Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus. Kōdahsha. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Hiroshi Inagaki Retrospective at his Centenary". National Film Center. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  3. ^ "The Second Father – Hiroshi Inagaki's Rickshaw Man".
  4. ^ Bungei Shunjū, ed. (1989). Nihon eiga besuto 150. Tokyo: Bungei Shunjū. ISBN 4-16-811609-3.
  5. ^ Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.

Further reading

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