Toshiya Fujita (è—¤ç"° æ• å…«, Fujita Toshiya, January 16, 1932 â€"
August 30, 1997), also known as Shigeya Fujita (è—¤ç"°ç¹ 矢, Fujita
Shigeya), was a Japanese film director, film actor, and screenwriter.
He is well-regarded in Japan for his youth films but is best known
abroad for Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of
Vengeance, films not typical of his usual style.Fujita was born in
Pyongyang, Korea. After graduating from Tokyo University, he joined
the Nikkatsu studio in 1955. At Nikkatsu, he worked as a publicist,
screenwriter, cinematographer and assistant director until he made his
debut as a director in 1967. His first film, about a juvenile
delinquent, HikÅ shÅ nen: Hinode no sakebi, won him the 1967 New
Directors Award from the Directors Guild of Japan. After a successful
sequel, HikÅ shÅ nen: Wakamono no toride , Fujita was tapped by
Nikkatsu to direct two installments in their youth-oriented Alleycat
Rock series which had been initiated in 1970 by director Yasuharu
Hasebe with Alleycat Rock: Female Boss. Fujita's two episodes, Stray
Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo and Alleycat Rock: Crazy Riders '71, both starred
actress Meiko Kaji.Fujita's August 1971 film for Nikkatsu, Wet Sand in
August, a melodramatic look at disenchanted youth in a beach setting,
was both a popular hit and a major critical success. Three months
later Nikkatsu inaugurated their Roman porno era of big budget
softcore pink films. Fujita stayed on with Nikkatsu and his two
sequels to Wet Sand in August, the 1972 Scent of Eros in August and
the 1973 Sweet Smell of Eros were both produced as part of the Roman
porno line. Fujita, however, was able to forge a compromise with the
sex and nudity demands of the Roman porno genre to bring these films,
especially Sweet Smell of Eros, close to mainstream acceptance.In the
1970s, Nikkatsu was still producing non-adult films as well as Roman
porno and Fujita made a number of realistic dramas about youth and the
generation gap including the 1973 Did the Red Bird Escape? (Akai tori
nigeta) and two works from 1974, Virgin Blues and The Red Lantern, the
latter film having been described as a young couple's "futile attempt
to escape from a restrictive society." The two films for which Fujita
is best known outside Japan, Lady Snowblood (1973) and its sequel Lady
Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974), were produced by an
independent company during a short hiatus from Nikkatsu. These violent
action movies, quite different from Fujita's usual style, reunited him
with Meiko Kaji, the star of his earlier Alleycat Rock films.
August 30, 1997), also known as Shigeya Fujita (è—¤ç"°ç¹ 矢, Fujita
Shigeya), was a Japanese film director, film actor, and screenwriter.
He is well-regarded in Japan for his youth films but is best known
abroad for Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of
Vengeance, films not typical of his usual style.Fujita was born in
Pyongyang, Korea. After graduating from Tokyo University, he joined
the Nikkatsu studio in 1955. At Nikkatsu, he worked as a publicist,
screenwriter, cinematographer and assistant director until he made his
debut as a director in 1967. His first film, about a juvenile
delinquent, HikÅ shÅ nen: Hinode no sakebi, won him the 1967 New
Directors Award from the Directors Guild of Japan. After a successful
sequel, HikÅ shÅ nen: Wakamono no toride , Fujita was tapped by
Nikkatsu to direct two installments in their youth-oriented Alleycat
Rock series which had been initiated in 1970 by director Yasuharu
Hasebe with Alleycat Rock: Female Boss. Fujita's two episodes, Stray
Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo and Alleycat Rock: Crazy Riders '71, both starred
actress Meiko Kaji.Fujita's August 1971 film for Nikkatsu, Wet Sand in
August, a melodramatic look at disenchanted youth in a beach setting,
was both a popular hit and a major critical success. Three months
later Nikkatsu inaugurated their Roman porno era of big budget
softcore pink films. Fujita stayed on with Nikkatsu and his two
sequels to Wet Sand in August, the 1972 Scent of Eros in August and
the 1973 Sweet Smell of Eros were both produced as part of the Roman
porno line. Fujita, however, was able to forge a compromise with the
sex and nudity demands of the Roman porno genre to bring these films,
especially Sweet Smell of Eros, close to mainstream acceptance.In the
1970s, Nikkatsu was still producing non-adult films as well as Roman
porno and Fujita made a number of realistic dramas about youth and the
generation gap including the 1973 Did the Red Bird Escape? (Akai tori
nigeta) and two works from 1974, Virgin Blues and The Red Lantern, the
latter film having been described as a young couple's "futile attempt
to escape from a restrictive society." The two films for which Fujita
is best known outside Japan, Lady Snowblood (1973) and its sequel Lady
Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974), were produced by an
independent company during a short hiatus from Nikkatsu. These violent
action movies, quite different from Fujita's usual style, reunited him
with Meiko Kaji, the star of his earlier Alleycat Rock films.
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