Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
filmmaker
. He is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre.
on July 19, 1955, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is not related to director Akira Kurosawa
. After studying at Rikkyo University
in Tokyo
under the guide of prominent film critic Shigehiko Hasumi
, where he began making 8mm films, Kurosawa began directing commercially in the 1980s, working on pink films and low-budget V-Cinema
(direct-to-video) productions such as formula yakuza pictures
. In the early 1990s, he won a scholarship to the Sundance Institute
and 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 serial killer
film Kyua (Cure)
(1997). Also that year, Kurosawa experimented by filming two thrillers back-to-back, Serpent's Path and Eyes of 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.
Kurosawa followed up Cure with a semi-sequel in 1999 with Charisma, which established his penchant for apocalyptic
imagery and themes of identity and isolation. In 2001 Kurosawa directed Pulse
, a film about ghosts invading the world of the living by way of the Internet
. More recently Kurosawa has released Akarui Mirai (Bright Future)
(2003), starring Tadanobu Asano
, the first film of his shot with a 24p
High-definition
video
camera. Kurosawa followed this with another digital feature, Doppelganger
, later the same year.
A skilled writer, he has written novelization
s of some of his films as well as a history of horror cinema with Makoto Shinozaki
. He recently made a cameo in Kôji Shiraishi's horror film Occult
as himself.
and Andrei Tarkovsky
, though he has never expressly listed those directors as influences. Nevertheless he admitted in a interview that Alfred Hitchcock
and Yasujiro Ozu
features analyzed and discussed under the guidance of Shigehiko Hasumi
contributed to shape his personal vision of the medium.
Many of his films are concerned in some form with the way society shapes the individual, with individuals obsessed with some eccentric project, or how social mechanisms disintegrate when faced with the wholly irrational. Cure is widely cited as the best example of all of these concepts in one film, but they show up in others as well: Bright Future combines the first and second in its plot about a ruminative young man trying to acclimate a jellyfish
to live in fresh water with unexpected results.
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.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
filmmaker
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:...
. He is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre.
Biography
Born in KobeKobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
on July 19, 1955, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is not related to director Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
. After studying at Rikkyo University
Rikkyo University
, also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, based on Christian precepts, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. There is a suburban campus in Niiza in nearby Saitama.It is known for its liberal climate symbolized by the motto -History:...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
under the guide of prominent film critic Shigehiko Hasumi
Shigehiko Hasumi
is a male film critic and one of the most popular professional academic researchers on French literature in Japan. He is also the former president of the University of Tokyo, and is still continuing his critical activities after his retirement.- Family :Hasumi's father Shigeyasu was a professor at...
, where he began making 8mm films, Kurosawa began directing commercially in the 1980s, working on pink films and low-budget V-Cinema
V-Cinema
Japanese is the direct-to-video industry that appeared in Japan in the 1980s. The term is a trademark of Toei Company but is widely used in the West to describe any Japanese direct-to-video release. In Japan the term used is...
(direct-to-video) productions such as formula yakuza pictures
Yakuza film
is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of yakuza, also referred to as the Japanese Mafia.-Ninkyo eiga:...
. In the early 1990s, he won a scholarship to the Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...
and was able to study filmmaking in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, although he had been directing for nearly ten years professionally.
Kurosawa first achieved international acclaim with his serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
film Kyua (Cure)
Cure (film)
is a 1997 thriller film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Koji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki and Anna Nakagawa.- Synopsis :...
(1997). Also that year, Kurosawa experimented by filming two thrillers back-to-back, Serpent's Path and Eyes of 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.
Kurosawa followed up Cure with a semi-sequel in 1999 with Charisma, which established his penchant for apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
imagery and themes of identity and isolation. In 2001 Kurosawa directed Pulse
Kairo (film)
is a 2001 Japanese horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film was based on his novel of the same name, and was released in the United States in 2005 as Pulse. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival...
, a film about ghosts invading the world of the living by way of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. More recently Kurosawa has released Akarui Mirai (Bright Future)
Bright Future
is a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Tadanobu Asano and Joe Odagiri. It was entered into the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.- Plot :...
(2003), starring Tadanobu Asano
Tadanobu Asano
, born is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Mamoru Arita in Bright Future, Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi, Kenji in Last Life in the Universe, Aman in Survive Style 5+, Ayano in The Taste of Tea, and Temudjin...
, the first film of his shot with a 24p
24p
In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second frame rate with progressive scanning . Originally, 24p was used in the non-linear editing of film-originated material...
High-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
camera. Kurosawa followed this with another digital feature, Doppelganger
Doppelganger (2003 film)
is a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Koji Yakusho and Hiromi Nagasaku....
, later the same year.
A skilled writer, he has written novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
s of some of his films as well as a history of horror cinema with Makoto Shinozaki
Makoto Shinozaki
is a Japanese film director.-Career:Born in Tokyo, Shinozaki attended Rikkyō University where he studied under Shigehiko Hasumi, made 8mm films, and appeared in the then amateur works of other Rikkyō graduates such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa...
. He recently made a cameo in Kôji Shiraishi's horror film Occult
Occult (2009 film)
Occult is a 2009 J-Horror, "found footage" film in the form of a documentary. The movie was written and directed by Kôji Shiraishi.-Plot:...
as himself.
Style and influences
Kurosawa's directing style has been compared to that of Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
and Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
, though he has never expressly listed those directors as influences. Nevertheless he admitted in a interview that Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and Yasujiro Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu
was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
features analyzed and discussed under the guidance of Shigehiko Hasumi
Shigehiko Hasumi
is a male film critic and one of the most popular professional academic researchers on French literature in Japan. He is also the former president of the University of Tokyo, and is still continuing his critical activities after his retirement.- Family :Hasumi's father Shigeyasu was a professor at...
contributed to shape his personal vision of the medium.
Many of his films are concerned in some form with the way society shapes the individual, with individuals obsessed with some eccentric project, or how social mechanisms disintegrate when faced with the wholly irrational. Cure is widely cited as the best example of all of these concepts in one film, but they show up in others as well: Bright Future combines the first and second in its plot about a ruminative young man trying to acclimate a jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
to live in fresh water with unexpected results.
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.
Selected filmography
- 1983 Kandagawa Pervert WarsKandagawa Pervert Warsis a 1983 Japanese pink film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa who would later go on to a career directing mainstream horror films.-Synopsis:A young girl, Akiko, in a tenement block in Tokyo's Kandagawa area, uses a telescope to spy on her neighbors in between lovemaking sessions with her boyfriend...
- 19951995 in film-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
Shoot Yourself 1 The Heist (Katte ni Shiyagare!) colloquially translates as "Do whatever the fuck you want!" - 1995 Shoot Yourself 2 The Escape
- 1996 Shoot Yourself 3
- 19971997 in film-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
CureCure (film)is a 1997 thriller film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Koji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki and Anna Nakagawa.- Synopsis :...
(キュア Kyua) - 19981998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
Serpent's Path (蛇の道 Hebi no michi) - 19981998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
Eyes of the Spider (蜘蛛の瞳 Kumo no hitomi) - 19981999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
License to Live (ニンゲン合格 Ningen gōkaku) - 19991999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
Barren Illusions (大いなる幻影 Ōinaru genei) - 20002000 in filmThe year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
Charisma (カリスマ Karisuma) - 20012001 in filmThe year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
KairoKairo (film)is a 2001 Japanese horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film was based on his novel of the same name, and was released in the United States in 2005 as Pulse. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival...
(回路), aka Pulse - 20012001 in filmThe year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
Seance (降霊 Kōrei) - 20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
Bright FutureBright Futureis a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Tadanobu Asano and Joe Odagiri. It was entered into the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.- Plot :...
(アカルイミライ Akarui mirai) - 20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
DoppelgangerDoppelganger (2003 film)is a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Koji Yakusho and Hiromi Nagasaku....
(ドッペルゲンガー Dopperugengā) - 20052005 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
Loft (ロフト Rofuto) - 20062006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
RetributionRetribution (film)is a 2006 Japanese horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.-Plot:Yoshioka, an experienced detective, investigates the murder of an unknown woman in a red dress. She was drowned on the Tokyo waterfront, but an autopsy reveals that her stomach is full of seawater...
(叫 Sakebi) - 20082008 in filmThis is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Tokyo SonataTokyo Sonatais a 2008 film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It won the award for Best Film at the 3rd Asian Film Awards and received 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards nominations for Achievement in Directing and Best Screenplay...
(トウキョウソナタ Tōkyō Sonata)
External links
- Sedia Giuseppe Interview with Kiyoshi Kurosawa at Asia Express, (Italian), October 2006.