Senkichi Taniguchi
Encyclopedia
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...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
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:...
and 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:...
.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, he attended Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
but left before graduating due to his involvement in a left-wing theater troupe. He joined P.C.L. (a precursor to Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
) in 1933 and began working as an assistant director to Kajirō Yamaguchi alongside his longtime friend, acclaimed Japanese filmmaker, 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 ;...
. He made his feature film directing debut in 1947 with Snow Trail
Snow Trail
Snow Trail is a 1947 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. It was the first film role for Toshirō Mifune, later to become one of Japan's most famous actors. Mifune and the other main actor in the film Takashi Shimura, later became long-term collaborators of film director...
, which was written by Kurosawa. Snow Trial starred Toshirō Mifune
Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
in his film debut and actress Setsuko Wakayama. It helped establish Taniguchi's reputation for action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
.
Taniguchi and Wakayama married in 1949 (he had earlier been married to the screenwriter Yōko Mizuki), but the couple divorced in 1956. Taniguchi married his second wife, actress Kaoru Yachigusa
Kaoru Yachigusa
is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture. From 1947 to 1957 she was a member of the Takarazuka Revue. Since leaving the Revue, she has been active in film, television, and narration....
, in 1957. Yachigusa and Taniguchi remained together for over fifty years until his death in 2007.
Taniguchi was the 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:...
for the 1949 film, The Quiet Duel
The Quiet Duel
is a 1949 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa.-Plot:Toshirō Mifune plays a young idealistic doctor who works at his father's clinic in a small and seedy district. During the war, he contracts syphilis from the blood of a patient when he cuts himself during an operation...
, which Kurosawa directed and which also starred Mifune. His most acclaimed film as a director was Escape at Dawn
Escape at Dawn
is a 1950 Japanese film which revolves around a tragic affair between a soldier involved in the Manchurian campaign and a prostitute.-Synopsis:Mikami, a Japanese soldier serving in China, is captured by Chinese forces. Although he is able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers...
, a controversial anti-war work from 1950 about a Japanese soldier and a "comfort woman
Comfort Woman
Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released October 14, 2003 on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #150 on the Billboard Top 200 list that year. The album also peaked at #43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick,...
" that got into trouble with Occupation era censors. Taniguchi continued to direct movies throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but the quality of his work declined. His films from the time period include Man Against Man, The Gambling Samurai, Man In The Storm
Man in the Storm
Man in the Storm is a 1952 Japanese film directed by Kiyoshi Saeki. It was entered into the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Kyôko Kagawa * Yaeko Mizutani * Yoichi Numata...
and The Lost World of Sinbad. His 1965 film International Secret Police: Key of Keys has been famously re-dubbed and re-released as What's Up, Tiger Lily?
What's Up, Tiger Lily?
The soundtrack album to What's Up Tiger Lily? was released in 1966. It contains music by The Lovin' Spoonful. It was re-released on CD along with You're a Big Boy Now, the Spoonful's soundtrack for the 1966 Francis Ford Coppola film. It reached No...
by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
. He was chosen as the supervising director of the official documentary of Expo '70
Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
.
Senkichi Taniguchi died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan, on October 29, 2007, at the age of 95.
Director
- Snow TrailSnow TrailSnow Trail is a 1947 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. It was the first film role for Toshirō Mifune, later to become one of Japan's most famous actors. Mifune and the other main actor in the film Takashi Shimura, later became long-term collaborators of film director...
(銀嶺の果て, Ginrei no hate) (1947) - Escape at DawnEscape at Dawnis a 1950 Japanese film which revolves around a tragic affair between a soldier involved in the Manchurian campaign and a prostitute.-Synopsis:Mikami, a Japanese soldier serving in China, is captured by Chinese forces. Although he is able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers...
(暁の脱走, Akatsuki no dassō) (1950) - Rangiku monogatariRangiku monogatariis a 1956 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi....
(乱菊物語) (1956)
External links
- Taniguchi Senkichi no shigoto 2010 retrospective of Taniguchi's work (in Japanese)