Eizō Tanaka
Encyclopedia
was a early Japan
ese film director
, screenwriter
, and actor
.
movement under Kaoru Osanai
, but eventually joined the Nikkatsu
film studio in 1917. He debuted as a director in 1918 but mostly had to work with shinpa
stories, not the shingeki techniques he was used to although two early films, The Living Corpse (Ikeru shikabane) and The Cherry Orchard (Sakura no sono) were based on Tolstoy
and Chekhov
respectively. Working in parallel with the Pure Film Movement
, Tanaka made two films, Kyōya eirimise (1922) and Dokuro no mai (1923), based on his own screenplays, that were highly praised for their cinematic technique. He remained a rather conservative filmmaker and still used oyama
(male actors) in female roles, including in his masterpiece Kyōya eirimise, a melodrama about a merchant's destructive love for a geisha. He used actresses for the first time in Dokuro no mai, a story of a monk reminiscing about his youth and early loves.
His career as a director came to an end in 1923 aside from two minor sound films in the 1930s but he also penned screenplays for such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi
and Yutaka Abe
and concentrated on acting, appearing in films by Tadashi Imai and Shirō Toyoda
. In later life, Tanaka was also active as an educator, teaching at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō and at Nihon University
helping the careers of such actors as Kōji Shima
, Isamu Kosugi
, and Shin Saburi
. He also wrote several books, including a history of shingeki
.
unless otherwise noted. (March 1918) (April 1918) (May 1918) (Oct. 1918) (June 1919) (June 1919) (Jan. 1922) - new version of 1918 film (Dec. 1922) (March 1923) (May 1932) (produced by Oriental Film ) (Feb.1933) (produced by Kyoudai )
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Life and career
Tanaka initially trained as a stage actor in the shingekiShingeki
Shingeki was the Japanese retelling of Western realist theatre during the late 19th century through to the early 20th century. Retellings included the works of Western writers such as Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Eugene O'Neill, and reflected the styles of Russian proscenium theatre...
movement under Kaoru Osanai
Kaoru Osanai
was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater.-Biography:Graduating from Tokyo University, Osanai founded the Free Theater with Ichikawa Sadanji II in 1909 and staged translations of Ibsen, Chekov, and Gorky, but there he experienced...
, but eventually joined the Nikkatsu
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
film studio in 1917. He debuted as a director in 1918 but mostly had to work with shinpa
Shinpa
is a form of theater and cinema in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories. Its roots can be traced to a form of agitation propaganda theater in the 1880s promoted by Liberal Party members Sadanori Sudo and Otojirō Kawakami...
stories, not the shingeki techniques he was used to although two early films, The Living Corpse (Ikeru shikabane) and The Cherry Orchard (Sakura no sono) were based on Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
and Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
respectively. Working in parallel with the Pure Film Movement
Pure Film Movement
The was a trend in film criticism and filmmaking in 1910s and early 1920s Japan that advocated what were considered more modern and cinematic modes of filmmaking. Critics in such magazines as Kinema Record and Kinema Junpo complained that existing Japanese cinema was overly theatrical...
, Tanaka made two films, Kyōya eirimise (1922) and Dokuro no mai (1923), based on his own screenplays, that were highly praised for their cinematic technique. He remained a rather conservative filmmaker and still used oyama
Oyama (Japanese theatre)
Onnagata or oyama , are male actors who impersonate women in Japanese kabuki theatre. The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as yarō kabuki to distinguish it from earlier forms...
(male actors) in female roles, including in his masterpiece Kyōya eirimise, a melodrama about a merchant's destructive love for a geisha. He used actresses for the first time in Dokuro no mai, a story of a monk reminiscing about his youth and early loves.
His career as a director came to an end in 1923 aside from two minor sound films in the 1930s but he also penned screenplays for such directors as Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
and Yutaka Abe
Yutaka Abe
was a Japanese film director and actor. He went to America to study theater and began acting in Hollywood, appearing in such films as The Cheat with Sessue Hayakawa. He was often billed as "Jack Abbe" or "Jack Yutake Abbe." He returned to Japan in 1925, finding work at the Nikkatsu studio, and soon...
and concentrated on acting, appearing in films by Tadashi Imai and Shirō Toyoda
Shiro Toyoda
was a Japanese film director.-Career:Born in Kyoto, Toyoda moved to Tokyo in his teens and began studying under the pioneering film director Eizō Tanaka. He joined Shōchiku's Kamata studio in 1924 and worked as an assistant director under Yasujirō Shimazu...
. In later life, Tanaka was also active as an educator, teaching at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō and at Nihon University
Nihon University
Nihon University is the largest university in Japan. Akiyoshi Yamada, the minister of justice, founded Nihon Law School in October 1889....
helping the careers of such actors as Kōji Shima
Koji Shima
was a Japanese film director, actor and screenwriter.-Career:Born as Takehiko Kagoshima in Nagasaki, Shima left for Tokyo after graduating from high school. He was in the first class of the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō and joined the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1925. Playing mostly romantic leads, he...
, Isamu Kosugi
Isamu Kosugi
was a Japanese actor and film director.-Career:Born in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, Kosugi first studied at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō before joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925...
, and Shin Saburi
Shin Saburi
Shin Saburi was a Japanese film actor noted for his leading roles in a number of films by the director Yasujiro Ozu including Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family , Tea Over Rice , Equinox Flower and Late Autumn .-Selected filmography:* 1941 Brothers and...
. He also wrote several books, including a history of shingeki
Shingeki
Shingeki was the Japanese retelling of Western realist theatre during the late 19th century through to the early 20th century. Retellings included the works of Western writers such as Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Eugene O'Neill, and reflected the styles of Russian proscenium theatre...
.
Partial filmography
All produced by NikkatsuNikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
unless otherwise noted. (March 1918) (April 1918) (May 1918) (Oct. 1918) (June 1919) (June 1919) (Jan. 1922) - new version of 1918 film (Dec. 1922) (March 1923) (May 1932) (produced by Oriental Film ) (Feb.1933) (produced by Kyoudai )