Misplaced Pages

#36963

34-562: Kiyoshi Kurosawa ( 黒沢 清 , Kurosawa Kiyoshi , born July 19, 1955) is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic, author, actor, and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts . Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' inner turmoils and quests for meaning and connections, he is best known for his contributions to psychological horror and Japanese horror , notably his acclaimed 1997 film Cure , although he has also worked in

68-474: A distressed Ryūhei, who now works as a lowly-paid janitor and runs away from her, she returns to her captor and the two unexpectedly bond, deciding to continue their travel towards no particular destination. That night, Kenji, Megumi and Ryūhei, and all have experiences away from home in which they confront the full extent of their existential disquiet: Kenji, who assisted in a friend's unsuccessful attempt to run away from his abusive father, tries to leave town but

102-538: A filmmaker is to share Hasumi's teachings. (Film History of Kiyoshi Kurosawa) (Eiga ha Osoroshi) (technique of Kiyoshi Kurosawa) (Eiga no kowai hanashi, scary story of film) (Kurosawa Kiyoshi talking about 21st century movie) Lost in America (Kurosawa Kiyoshi no Kyofuno Eigashi - Scary film history of Kurosawa Kiyoshi) (Eiga no Jyugyou, Eiga Bigakkou no Kyoushitsu Kara - Film Class, from class room of School of Cinema ) (Nihon Eiga wa Ikiteiru - Japanese Film

136-475: A history of horror cinema with Makoto Shinozaki . In September 2012, it was announced that he would direct 1905 , a film starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai , Shota Matsuda and Atsuko Maeda . In February 2013, it was announced that production of the film had been cancelled before filming could start. Kurosawa directed a 2012 five-part television drama Penance . Beautiful 2013 , an anthology film featuring Kurosawa's Beautiful New Bay Area Project , screened at

170-399: A light on the horizon over the sea, the burglar despairs because he cannot see it. The next morning, the robber has driven the stolen car into the ocean, and Megumi returns home. Meanwhile, Ryūhei, fleeing from work after finding an envelope stuffed with cash behind one a toilet at work, is victim to a hit and run and left for dead, only to wake up the next day surprisingly healthy and abandon

204-532: A mentor and early influence in his filmmaking career. Much of Hasumi's influence would go on to shape the core of Kurosawa's filmography. Kurosawa met Hasumi in University, where he was one of the few students to finish his course, and credits Hasumi with teaching him that film is worth dedicating your entire life to. Hasumi and Kurosawa believe that every element of the film matters and should be meticulously planned. Kurosawa has also stated that one of his goals as

238-594: A semi-sequel in 1999 with Charisma , a detective film starring Kōji Yakusho . In 2000, Seance , Kurosawa's adaptation of the novel Seance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane, premiered on Kansai TV . It also starred Yakusho, as well as Jun Fubuki (the two had appeared together in Charisma as well). In 2001, he directed the horror film Pulse . Kurosawa released Bright Future , starring Tadanobu Asano , Joe Odagiri and Tatsuya Fuji , in 2003. He followed this with another digital feature, Doppelganger , later

272-675: A variety of other genres. While most of his work has been in Japanese , two of his films, Daguerrotype (2016) and Serpent's Path (2024; a remake of his own 1998 film of the same name), were in French . Born in Kobe on July 19, 1955, Kiyoshi Kurosawa started making films about his life in high school. He studied at Rikkyo University in Tokyo under the guidance of prominent film critic Shigehiko Hasumi , where he began making 8mm films . He

306-700: Is Livning) (Eiga Nagabanashi - Long Story about Film) Tokyo University of the Arts Under the establishment of the National School Establishment Law, the university was formed in 1949 by the merger of the Tokyo Fine Arts School ( 東京美術学校 , Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō ) and the Tokyo Music School ( 東京音楽学校 , Tōkyō Ongaku Gakkō ) , both founded in 1887. The former Tokyo Fine Arts School

340-456: Is a 2008 Japanese psychological drama film directed and co-written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa . It stars Teruyuki Kagawa , Yū Koyanagi and Kai Inowaki as the four members of an emotionally distant middle-class family who all individually come to question their life choices and futures. Kanji Tsuda , Kōji Yakusho and Haruka Igawa co-star in supporting roles. Tokyo Sonata premiered in May 2008 at

374-425: Is a housewife, and their two sons, late teen Takashi and middle-schooler Kenji. The four are emotionally distant from each other and rarely share anything. Ryūhei loses his good office job after his company decides to hire Chinese workers for cheaper, and grows increasingly desperate in his attempts to find a new job. He encounters an old classmate, Kurosu, who was downsized three months earlier and, like Ryūhei, hides

SECTION 10

#1732793541037

408-440: Is caught. Unwilling to answer the questions of the police, Kenji is kept in an adult group cell overnight but is released the following day when the charges are dismissed. Megami continues her journey with the burglar until they spend the night in a wood shed by the beach. Megumi resigns to the robber's sexual advances, although he is ultimately unable to go through with the act, and she attempts to console him; however, when she spots

442-470: Is his best in quite a few years, a truly frightening work that achieves its effects without resorting to tired genre mechanics." He also wrote that " Debussy 's ' Clair de Lune ' may well have never been put to better use in a film." Meanwhile, Tom Mes of Midnight Eye said: " Tokyo Sonata is the ultimate expression of this quality of Kurosawa's cinema. As mentioned, it contains no supernatural elements, no ghosts, killers, or monstrous flora and fauna. Yet it

476-599: Is not related to director Akira Kurosawa . Kurosawa began directing commercially in the 1980s, working on pink films and low-budget V-Cinema (direct-to-video) productions such as formula yakuza films . In 1981, his 8mm film Shigarami Gakuen (しがらみ学園) was nominated for the Oshima Prize at the PFF ( Pia Film Festival ). In 1983, after he worked with Shinji Soumai , he released his first feature film Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983). He became popular after The Excitement of

510-473: Is something I have never done." Kurosawa also mentions that he has seen many films since he was young, and that he knows there are many great films from around the world. Those films motivate him to be a better filmmaker; he always asks himself how to make films that will be memorable for a long time. In the same article by the Tokyo Art University, Kurosawa names film critic Hasumi Shigehiko as

544-999: The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the University of applied Arts , Vienna (Austria), the École des Beaux-Arts (France), School of the Art Institute of Chicago (USA), the Royal Academy of Music (UK), the University of Sydney and Queensland College of Art , Griffith University (Australia), the Korea National University of Arts , and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts . (Includes undergraduate and graduate school programs) (Includes undergraduate and graduate school programs) (Only for graduate students) Tokyo Sonata Tokyo Sonata ( トウキョウソナタ , Tōkyō Sonata )

578-753: The Cannes Film Festival , where it won the Prix Un Certain Regard , before a theatrical release in Japan on September 27. The film received positive reviews, won Best Film and Best Screenwriter at the 3rd Asian Film Awards , and was nominated for Achievement in Directing and Best Screenplay at the 2nd Asia Pacific Screen Awards . Tokyo Sonata follows the Sasakis, a middle-class family in Tokyo : Ryūhei, his wife Megumi, who

612-675: The Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2013. Kurosawa's next feature film Real , which stars Takeru Sato and Haruka Ayase , was released in 2013. He won the Best Director award at the 8th Rome Film Festival for Seventh Code later that year. His 2015 film Journey to the Shore was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival where he won

646-510: The middle east where he was stationed to continue his personal journey. The final scene depicts Kenji playing Claude Debussy 's " Clair de Lune " flawlessly at an audition; moved to tears by his performance, his parents accompany him out as the mesmerized crowd watches them. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, while Nick Schager of Slant Magazine gave it 3 out of 4 stars. Christopher Bourne of Meniscus Magazine said, "Kurosawa's latest film, Tokyo Sonata ,

680-704: The Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) and The Guard from Underground (1992). In the early 1990s, Kurosawa won a scholarship to the Sundance Institute by submitting his original screen play Charisma . Then, he was able to study filmmaking in the United States, although he had been directing for nearly ten years professionally. Kurosawa first achieved international acclaim with his 1997 crime thriller film Cure . A year later, he completed two thrillers back-to-back, Serpent's Path and Eyes of

714-473: The Gaza Strip , and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages. Kurosawa's directing style has been compared to those of Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky , though he has never expressly listed those directors as influences. In an interview, he claimed that Alfred Hitchcock and Yasujirō Ozu contributed to shaping his personal vision of

SECTION 20

#1732793541037

748-589: The Piazza Grande program of the 72nd Locarno Film Festival . In 2020, Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 77th Venice International Film Festival for his film Wife of a Spy . In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Kurosawa signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of

782-665: The Spider , both of which shared the same premise (a father taking revenge for his child's murder) and lead actor ( Show Aikawa ) but spun entirely different stories. In March 1999, the Hong Kong International Film Festival presented his first retrospective, a five-title-program including The Excitement of the Do-re-mi fa Girls , The Guard from Underground , Serpent's Path , Eyes of the Spider , and License to Live . Kurosawa followed up Cure with

816-415: The Tokyo Art University, where he is a professor, Kurosawa talks about not wanting his directorial style to be too fixed. The interviewer makes reference to Kurosawa's versatility when they talk about Clint Eastwood ; Kurosawa says he admires people who can do many things and that he doesn't box himself into one style or one theme. When asked what he wants to try next, he answered: "The next thing I want to do

850-420: The cash in a lost and found box. Kenji, Megumi and Ryūhei all return to the family house, where they share an uneventful meal without mentioning their journeys or questioning the others. Four months later, the three have seemingly accepted recent changes in their lives, with Ryūhei continuing his job as janitor; despite Japan recalling all Japanese soldiers part of the U.S. military, Takashi decided to remain in

884-614: The formation of the National University Corporations on April 1, 2004, the school became known as the Kokuritsu Daigaku Hōjin Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku ( 国立大学法人東京藝術大学 ) . On April 1, 2008, the university changed its English name from " Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music " to "Tokyo University of the Arts". The school has had student exchanges with some of the nation's most highly regarded art and music institutions

918-425: The medium. He has also expressed admiration for American film directors such as Don Siegel , Sam Peckinpah , Robert Aldrich , Richard Fleischer , and Tobe Hooper . In a 2009 interview with IFC , Kurosawa talked about the reason why he has cast the actor Kōji Yakusho in many of his films: "He has similar values and sensitivities. We’re from the same generation. That’s a big reason why I enjoy working with him on

952-428: The piano, but after his father's stern refusal, starts taking lessons in secret, paying with his lunch money and practicing on a broken keyboard he found in garbage. Gradually, he develops a bond with his piano teacher, Miss Kaneko, who considers him gifted and urges him to pursue his musical ambitions. When Kenji's parents find out about the lessons, a furious Ryūhei physically abuses Kenji and accidentally pushes him down

986-723: The prize for Best Director. In 2016, his thriller Creepy premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival . The film marked Kurosawa's first cinematic return to the horror genre since 2006. His 2017 film Before We Vanish was screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival. His 2019 film To the Ends of the Earth was screened as the closing film in

1020-518: The same year. Both Bright Future and Doppelganger have nominated for the Cannes Film Festivals In 2005, Kurosawa returned with Loft , his first love story since Seance . Another horror film, Retribution , followed in the next year. With his 2008 film, Tokyo Sonata , Kurosawa was considered to step "out of his usual horror genre and into family drama." He has written a novelization of his own film Pulse , as well as

1054-442: The set." According to Tim Palmer, Kurosawa's films occupy a peculiar position between the materials of mass genre, on the one hand, and esoteric or intellectual abstraction, on the other. They also clearly engage with issues of environmental critique, given Kurosawa's preference for shooting in decaying open spaces, abandoned (and often condemned) buildings, and in places rife with toxins, pestilence and entropy. In an interview with

Kiyoshi Kurosawa - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-434: The stairs, causing him a minor concussion. One day, Megumi, who suffers from a lack of meaningful connections with those around her and worries for Takashi's well-being, is taken hostage by an unemployed man who broke into the family house looking for money. The desperate robber forces her to drive a car he has stolen previously, but when they stop at the mall, Megumi has a chance to escape; however, after chance encounter with

1122-450: The truth from his family; the two bond anew over their mutual suffering, until a stunned Ryūhei learns that Kurosu and his wife committed double suicide, thought to be initiated by Kurosu. Driven by a desire to make the world a better place, Takashi leaves Japan to join the United States military, to Ryūhei's anger and Megumi's sadness. Kenji, who feels guilt for mistakenly causing his class to disrespect their teacher, wishes to learn to play

1156-457: Was then restructured as the Faculty of Fine Arts under the university. Originally male-only, the school began to admit women in 1946. The graduate school opened in 1963, and began offering doctoral degrees in 1977. The doctoral degree in fine art practice initiated in the 1980s was one of the earliest programs to do so globally. After the abolition of the National School Establishment Law and

#36963