Gakuryu Ishii (石井 å²³é¾ , Ishii GakuryÅ«, born January 15, 1957),
formerly known as Sogo Ishii (石井 è °äº', Ishii SÅ go), is a
Japanese filmmaker known for his stylistic punk films, which helped
spark the cyberpunk movement in Japan. A number of contemporary
filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino have cited Ishii's films as an
influence.Born Toshihiro Ishii, he grew up in Hakata, and because of
all the American military bases in the area, he was exposed to a lot
of American rock music. He spent his teenage years a part of the punk
rock movement that grew in that region, singing and playing the
guitar.In 1977 he enrolled at Nihon University in Tokyo, and founded
KyÅ ei-sha (Crazy Film Group). He borrowed equipment from the school
to shoot his own 8mm and 16mm short films, which featured the style
and philosophy of his punk roots. It was difficult for a young person
in Japan to make films during that period, and he decided to skip the
traditional corporate ladder route to film directing by just making
the films himself.During his first year of college, one of Ishii's
short films called Panic High School got noticed by Nikkatsu, a movie
studio known at the time for its pink films. Nikkatsu provided the
funding to adapt the short into a feature-length film. Yukihiro Sawada
co-directed the film with Ishii, who was still only a sophomore in
college. It was around this time that he started going by Sogo Ishii.
formerly known as Sogo Ishii (石井 è °äº', Ishii SÅ go), is a
Japanese filmmaker known for his stylistic punk films, which helped
spark the cyberpunk movement in Japan. A number of contemporary
filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino have cited Ishii's films as an
influence.Born Toshihiro Ishii, he grew up in Hakata, and because of
all the American military bases in the area, he was exposed to a lot
of American rock music. He spent his teenage years a part of the punk
rock movement that grew in that region, singing and playing the
guitar.In 1977 he enrolled at Nihon University in Tokyo, and founded
KyÅ ei-sha (Crazy Film Group). He borrowed equipment from the school
to shoot his own 8mm and 16mm short films, which featured the style
and philosophy of his punk roots. It was difficult for a young person
in Japan to make films during that period, and he decided to skip the
traditional corporate ladder route to film directing by just making
the films himself.During his first year of college, one of Ishii's
short films called Panic High School got noticed by Nikkatsu, a movie
studio known at the time for its pink films. Nikkatsu provided the
funding to adapt the short into a feature-length film. Yukihiro Sawada
co-directed the film with Ishii, who was still only a sophomore in
college. It was around this time that he started going by Sogo Ishii.
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