Masaki Kobayashi
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Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹 Kobayashi Masaki, February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese director who is probably best known for Kwaidan (怪談), a collection of four ghost stories (drawn from by Lafcadio Hearn), each of which has a surprise ending.
Kobayashi also directed The Human Condition, a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist. The total length of the films is over nine hours, making it a true epic. Also notable are Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), both of which were scathing indictments of the injustice and hypocrisy of the pre-Meiji samurai era. Harakiri, which won an award at the 1963 Cannes film festival, brought him great acclaim and was one of the first "anti-Samurai" Samurai movies. He was also a candidate for directing the Japanese sequences for Tora Tora Tora (1970) but instead Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda were chosen.
Kobayashi, himself a pacifist, was drafted into the Japanese army during World War II, but refused to fight or be promoted to rank higher than private.
Partial filmography
- The Human Condition trilogy - (1959–1961)
- Harakiri (1962)
- Kwaidan (1964)
- Samurai Rebellion (1967)
External links
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