Nobuo Nakagawa (ä¸å· 信夫, Nakagawa Nobuo, April 18, 1905 â€" June
17, 1984) was a Japanese film director, most famous for the stylized,
folk tale-influenced horror films he made in the 1950s and 1960s.Born
in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature
and wrote amateur film reviews to the Kinema JunpÅ film magazine. He
joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and
worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932,
he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his
debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved
to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries
during the war. It was at Shintoho after the war that he became known
for his cinematic adaptations of Japanese kaidan, especially his
masterful version of Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan in 1959.To Western
audiences, his most famous film is Jigoku (1960), which he also
co-wrote. The film was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in
2006.He also filmed many kaidan for television. His last film was
1982's Kaidan: Ikiteiru Koheiji.
17, 1984) was a Japanese film director, most famous for the stylized,
folk tale-influenced horror films he made in the 1950s and 1960s.Born
in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature
and wrote amateur film reviews to the Kinema JunpÅ film magazine. He
joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and
worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932,
he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his
debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved
to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries
during the war. It was at Shintoho after the war that he became known
for his cinematic adaptations of Japanese kaidan, especially his
masterful version of Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan in 1959.To Western
audiences, his most famous film is Jigoku (1960), which he also
co-wrote. The film was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in
2006.He also filmed many kaidan for television. His last film was
1982's Kaidan: Ikiteiru Koheiji.
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