Takeo Kimura (木æ ' å¨ å¤«, Kimura Takeo, April 1, 1918 â€" March 21,
2010) was a Japanese art director, writer and film director. Beginning
his career in 1945 he art-directed well over 200 films. He was one of
Japan's best known art directors, most famously for his collaborations
with cult director Seijun Suzuki through the 1960s at the Nikkatsu
Company, exemplified by Tokyo Drifter (1966). Other directors with
whom he frequently worked include Toshio Masuda, Kazuo Kuroki, Kei
Kumai and Kaizo Hayashi. At age 90 he made his feature film
directorial debut with Dreaming Awake (2008). He had also worked as a
critic, writer, painter, photographer and teacher.Kimura was born in
Tokyo on April 1, 1918. A graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University with a
background in theatre, Kimura joined the Nikkatsu Company's
scenography department in 1941. The same year, the government ordered
the ten major movie studios to consolidate into two. A counteroffer of
three was accepted and Nikkatsu merged with Daito and Shinko, the
first shutting down their film production unit, and the new company
was named Daiei. Kimura continued as an assistant with Daiei after
World War II and was promoted to art director in 1945. His debut film
was Masanori Igayama's Umi no yobu koe (1945). When Nikkatsu opened a
new studio and resumed film production in 1954, Kimura transferred
there.At Nikkatsu he worked with many of the studio's directors,
including top action director Toshio Masuda, and showed a propensity
for realistic set design. However, Kimura became frustrated in doing
the same types of films repeatedly and had ambitions to work on films
where the art direction was a major focal point. He found an ideal
collaborator in the like-minded Seijun Suzuki, a director of primarily
B action movies. They first collaborated on The Bastard (1963) which
Suzuki considered a turning point in his career. The two became good
friends and Kimura became his permanent art director. They worked to
refine their style which consisted of more artistry and symbolism than
studio bosses generally preferred to see in their action films. Among
their best known collaborations are Gate of Flesh (1964) and Tokyo
Drifter (1966), on which The Japan Times' Mark Schilling wrote, "Who
can forget the all-white nightclub in the latter film, with the huge
donut-shape, color-shifting mobile â€" like nothing in real life but
expressive of the film's go-go-era, anything-can-happen world." Suzuki
considered the art director and cinematographer key collaborators and
rewrote the scripts he was assigned over extended discussions with
Kimura or cinematographers Katsue Nagatsuka or Shigeyoshi Mine. They
would add characters and scenes or expand simple lines into elaborate
shots. For his contributions to The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Kimura received his first screenwriting credit. He was also included
in HachirŠGuryū, the joint pen name for the writing group which
formed around Suzuki in the mid-1960s, along with six assistant
directors, most prominently Atsushi Yamatoya and Chūsei Sone.
2010) was a Japanese art director, writer and film director. Beginning
his career in 1945 he art-directed well over 200 films. He was one of
Japan's best known art directors, most famously for his collaborations
with cult director Seijun Suzuki through the 1960s at the Nikkatsu
Company, exemplified by Tokyo Drifter (1966). Other directors with
whom he frequently worked include Toshio Masuda, Kazuo Kuroki, Kei
Kumai and Kaizo Hayashi. At age 90 he made his feature film
directorial debut with Dreaming Awake (2008). He had also worked as a
critic, writer, painter, photographer and teacher.Kimura was born in
Tokyo on April 1, 1918. A graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University with a
background in theatre, Kimura joined the Nikkatsu Company's
scenography department in 1941. The same year, the government ordered
the ten major movie studios to consolidate into two. A counteroffer of
three was accepted and Nikkatsu merged with Daito and Shinko, the
first shutting down their film production unit, and the new company
was named Daiei. Kimura continued as an assistant with Daiei after
World War II and was promoted to art director in 1945. His debut film
was Masanori Igayama's Umi no yobu koe (1945). When Nikkatsu opened a
new studio and resumed film production in 1954, Kimura transferred
there.At Nikkatsu he worked with many of the studio's directors,
including top action director Toshio Masuda, and showed a propensity
for realistic set design. However, Kimura became frustrated in doing
the same types of films repeatedly and had ambitions to work on films
where the art direction was a major focal point. He found an ideal
collaborator in the like-minded Seijun Suzuki, a director of primarily
B action movies. They first collaborated on The Bastard (1963) which
Suzuki considered a turning point in his career. The two became good
friends and Kimura became his permanent art director. They worked to
refine their style which consisted of more artistry and symbolism than
studio bosses generally preferred to see in their action films. Among
their best known collaborations are Gate of Flesh (1964) and Tokyo
Drifter (1966), on which The Japan Times' Mark Schilling wrote, "Who
can forget the all-white nightclub in the latter film, with the huge
donut-shape, color-shifting mobile â€" like nothing in real life but
expressive of the film's go-go-era, anything-can-happen world." Suzuki
considered the art director and cinematographer key collaborators and
rewrote the scripts he was assigned over extended discussions with
Kimura or cinematographers Katsue Nagatsuka or Shigeyoshi Mine. They
would add characters and scenes or expand simple lines into elaborate
shots. For his contributions to The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Kimura received his first screenwriting credit. He was also included
in HachirŠGuryū, the joint pen name for the writing group which
formed around Suzuki in the mid-1960s, along with six assistant
directors, most prominently Atsushi Yamatoya and Chūsei Sone.
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