Keisuke Kinoshita

Keisuke Kinoshita (木下 惠介, Kinoshita Keisuke, December 5, 1912 – December 30, 1998) was a Japanese film director. Hugely popular in his home country of Japan, Keisuke Kinoshita worked tirelessly as a director for nearly half a century, making lyrical, sentimental films that often center on the inherent goodness of people, especially in times of distress. He began his directing career during a most challenging time for Japanese cinema: World War II, when the industry’s output was closely monitored by the state and often had to be purely propagandistic. He refused to be bound by genre, technique, or dogma. Kinoshita excelled in almost every genre: comedy, tragedy, social dramas, period films. He shot all films on location or in a one-house set. He pursued severe photographic realism with the long take, long-shot method, and went equally far toward stylization with fast cutting, intricate wipes, tilted cameras, and even classical scroll-painting and Kabuki stage technique. Kinoshita was highly prolific, turning out some 42 films in the first 23 years of his career. For this, Kinoshita explained that he "can’t help it. Ideas for films have always just popped into my head like scraps of paper into a wastebasket." While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, he was a household figure in his home country, beloved by both critics and audiences from the 1940s to the 1960s. Although few concrete details have emerged about Kinoshita's personal life, his homosexuality was widely known in the film world. Screenwriter and frequent collaborator Yoshio Shirasaka recalls the "brilliant scene" Kinoshita made with the handsome, well-dressed assistant directors he surrounded himself with. His 1959 film Farewell to Spring (Sekishuncho) has been called "Japan's first gay film" for the emotional intensity depicted between its male characters. Kinoshita received the Order of the Rising Sun in 1984 and was awarded the Order of Culture in 1991 by the Japanese government. He died on December 30, 1998, of a stroke. His grave is in Engaku-ji in Kamakura, very near to that of his fellow Shochiku director, Yasujirō Ozu.

Keisuke Kinoshita (木下惠介, Kinoshita Keisuke) est un réalisateur et scénariste japonais, né le 5 décembre 1912 à Hamamatsu dans la préfecture de Shizuoka et mort le 30 décembre 1998 à Tokyo. Il a notamment mis en scène le premier film japonais entièrement en couleur, Carmen revient au pays (1951), Vingt-quatre prunelles (1953) ainsi que La Ballade de Narayama (1958). Son nom de naissance est Shōkichi Kinoshita (木下正吉, Kinoshita Shōkichi).

木下惠介，日本著名的抒情派导演，与黑泽明、小林正树、市川昆并称为四骑士。。曾就读于东方照相专科学校，1933年进入松竹电影公司蒲田制片厂任摄影助手，1936年转入导演部任助理导演。1943年成为导演，拍摄了第一部影片《热闹的码头》，一举成功。1946年导演的《大曾根家的早晨》是其成名之作，被《电影旬报》评为当年10部最佳影片第一名。木下惠介善于喜剧的创作，但他的重要作品多为反映日本政治、社会等问题的悲剧片。1954年自编自导的《二十四只眼睛》是他最有代表性的作品之一，影片描述了12个孩子与女教师之间的感情，影片将个人的悲剧融入剧情，十分生动感人，是一部难得的佳作。1967-1976年，他离开松竹公司，一直没有拍片。1979年的《冲动杀人，儿子啊！》和次年编剧兼导演的《父亲啊，母亲啊！》均为描写日本现实社会中青少年犯罪问题的佳作。《电影旬报》于1986年邀请了四十位作家和影评人推选出松竹公司20部最佳作品，结果木下惠介的作品上榜最多，压倒了小津安二郎。这说明了木下在日本本土享有极高的声誉，日本人和不少影评人心目中甚至远超黑泽明，而风格上他也与后者的男性化与豪壮不一样，而倾向温驯的、纯真的女性化色彩，“一个阳刚雄浑之美，一得阴柔纤细之美”，可说是各有千秋。

木下惠介，日本著名的抒情派導演，與黑澤明、小林正樹、市川昆並稱為四騎士。。曾就讀於東方照相專科學校，1933 年進入松竹電影公司蒲田製片廠任攝影助手，1936 年轉入導演部任助理導演。1943 年成為導演，拍攝了第一部影片《熱鬧的碼頭》，一舉成功。1946 年導演的《大曾根家的早晨》是其成名之作，被《電影旬報》評為當年 10 部最佳影片第一名。木下惠介善於喜劇的創作，但他的重要作品多為反映日本政治、社會等問題的悲劇片。1954 年自編自導的《二十四隻眼睛》是他最有代表性的作品之一，影片描述了 12 個孩子與女教師之間的感情，影片將個人的悲劇融入劇情，十分生動感人，是一部難得的佳作。1967 - 1976 年，他離開松竹公司，一直沒有拍片。1979 年的《衝動殺人，兒子啊！》和次年編劇兼導演的《父親啊，母親啊！》均為描寫日本現實社會中青少年犯罪問題的佳作。《電影旬報》於 1986 年邀請了四十位作家和影評人推選出松竹公司 20 部最佳作品，結果木下惠介的作品上榜最多，壓倒了小津安二郎。這説明瞭木下在日本本土享有極高的聲譽，日本人和不少影評人心目中甚至遠超黑澤明，而風格上他也與後者的男性化與豪壯不一樣，而傾向温馴的、純真的女性化色彩，“一個陽剛雄渾之美，一得陰柔纖細之美”，可説是各有千秋。