Sadao Yamanaka (å±±ä¸ è²žé›„, Yamanaka Sadao, November 7, 1909 â€"
September 17, 1938) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who
directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of
YasujirÅ Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary
figures in the development of the jidaigeki, or historical film.
Yamanaka died of dysentery in Manchuria after being drafted into the
Imperial Japanese Army. He is the uncle of the Japanese film director
Tai Kato, who wrote a book about Yamanaka, Eiga kantoku Yamanaka
Sadao.Only three of his films survive in nearly complete form. While
long considered a master filmmaker in his native Japan, interest in
Yamanaka's work redeveloped after the restoration and Japanese DVD
release of the three surviving films. His most internationally
discussed film, Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937), was given its
first non-Japanese DVD release in the UK as a Masters of Cinema
release.Yamanaka began his career in the Japanese film industry at the
age of 20 as a writer and assistant director for the Makino company.In
1932, he began working for Kanjuro Productions, a small, independent
film company similar to many others founded during the same period as
it was centered around a popular jidaigeki film star, this time
Kanjuro Arashi. Here, he began directing his first films, all of which
were jidaigeki. During his first year at Kanjuro, he made six films.
He was "discovered" by the critic Matsuo Kishi and gained a reputation
for creating films that escaped clichés and focused on social
injustices. He formed the Narutaki-gumi with his friends, and they
wrote under the pseudonym Kimpachi Kajiwara.
September 17, 1938) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who
directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of
YasujirÅ Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary
figures in the development of the jidaigeki, or historical film.
Yamanaka died of dysentery in Manchuria after being drafted into the
Imperial Japanese Army. He is the uncle of the Japanese film director
Tai Kato, who wrote a book about Yamanaka, Eiga kantoku Yamanaka
Sadao.Only three of his films survive in nearly complete form. While
long considered a master filmmaker in his native Japan, interest in
Yamanaka's work redeveloped after the restoration and Japanese DVD
release of the three surviving films. His most internationally
discussed film, Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937), was given its
first non-Japanese DVD release in the UK as a Masters of Cinema
release.Yamanaka began his career in the Japanese film industry at the
age of 20 as a writer and assistant director for the Makino company.In
1932, he began working for Kanjuro Productions, a small, independent
film company similar to many others founded during the same period as
it was centered around a popular jidaigeki film star, this time
Kanjuro Arashi. Here, he began directing his first films, all of which
were jidaigeki. During his first year at Kanjuro, he made six films.
He was "discovered" by the critic Matsuo Kishi and gained a reputation
for creating films that escaped clichés and focused on social
injustices. He formed the Narutaki-gumi with his friends, and they
wrote under the pseudonym Kimpachi Kajiwara.
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