Keisuke Kinoshita
Directing
Keisuke Kinoshita (木下 惠介, Kinoshita Keisuke, December 5, 1912 – December 30, 1998) was a Japanese film director. Hugely popular in his home country of Japan, Keisuke Kinoshita worked tirelessly as a director for nearly half a century, making lyrical, sentimental films that often center on the inherent goodness of people, especially in times of distress. He began his directing career during a most challenging time for Japanese cinema: World War II, when the industry’s output was closely monitored by the state and often had to be purely propagandistic. He refused to be bound by genre, technique, or dogma. Kinoshita excelled in almost every genre: comedy, tragedy, social dramas, period films. He shot all films on location or in a one-house set. He pursued severe photographic realism with the long take, long-shot method, and went equally far toward stylization with fast cutting, intricate wipes, tilted cameras, and even classical scroll-painting and Kabuki stage technique. Kinoshita was highly prolific, turning out some 42 films in the first 23 years of his career. For this, Kinoshita explained that he "can’t help it. Ideas for films have always just popped into my head like scraps of paper into a wastebasket." While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, he was a household figure in his home country, beloved by both critics and audiences from the 1940s to the 1960s. Although few concrete details have emerged about Kinoshita's personal life, his homosexuality was widely known in the film world. Screenwriter and frequent collaborator Yoshio Shirasaka recalls the "brilliant scene" Kinoshita made with the handsome, well-dressed assistant directors he surrounded himself with. His 1959 film Farewell to Spring (Sekishuncho) has been called "Japan's first gay film" for the emotional intensity depicted between its male characters. Kinoshita received the Order of the Rising Sun in 1984 and was awarded the Order of Culture in 1991 by the Japanese government. He died on December 30, 1998, of a stroke. His grave is in Engaku-ji in Kamakura, very near to that of his fellow Shochiku director, Yasujirō Ozu.
Known for
Directing57
movieFather
1988
Director
movieBig Joys, Small Sorrows
1986
Director
movieChildren of Nagasaki
1983
Director
movieThe Young Rebels
1980
Director
movieOh, My Son!
1979
Director
tvWagako wa Tanin
1974
Director
tvMom’s Shoulders
1971
Director
tvWorld of Two
1970
Director
tvBrother
1969
Director
movieThe Scent of Incense
1964
Director
movieA Legend or Was It?
1963
Director
movieSing, Young People!
1963
Director
movieBallad of a Workman
1962
Director
movieThis Year's Love
1962
Director
movieImmortal Love
1961
Director
movieThe River Fuefuki
1960
Director
movieSpring Dreams
1960
Director
movieThus Another Day
1959
Director
movieFarewell to Spring
1959
Director
movieThe Snow Flurry
1959
Director
movieThe Eternal Rainbow
1958
Director
movieThe Ballad of Narayama
1958
Director
movieDanger Stalks Near
1957
Director
movieTimes of Joy and Sorrow
1957
Director
movieThe Rose on His Arm
1956
Director
movieFarewell to Dream
1956
Director
movieThe Tattered Wings
1955
Director
movieTwenty-Four Eyes
1954
Director
movieThe Garden of Women
1954
Director
movieA Japanese Tragedy
1953
Director
movieCarmen's Innocent Love
1952
Director
movieFireworks Over the Sea
1951
Director
movieBoyhood
1951
Director
movieCarmen Comes Home
1951
Director
movieThe Good Fairy
1951
Director
movieWedding Ring
1950
Director
movieBroken Drum
1949
Director
movieApostasy
1948
Director
movieThe Portrait
1948
Director
movieWoman
1948
Director
moviePhoenix
1947
Director
movieMarriage
1947
Director
movieThe Girl I Loved
1946
Director
movieArmy
1944
Director
movieJubilation Street
1944
Director
movieThe Living Magoroku
1943
Director
moviePort of Flowers
1943
Director
movieThe Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi
1940
Assistant Director
movieThe Lights of Asakusa
1937
Assistant Director
Writing60
movieカルメン故郷に帰る
2024
Original Story
movieDora-heita
2000
Screenplay
movieFather
1988
Writer
movieChildren on the Island
1987
Screenplay
movieChildren of Nagasaki
1983
Original Story, Writer
movieOh, My Son!
1979
Screenplay
tvTaiyō no Namida
1971
Writer
tvOyaji Daiko
1968
Writer
movieGreen Light to Joy
1967
Screenplay
movieEyes, the Sea and a Ball
1967
Screenplay
tvKotoshi no Koi
1967
Original Story
Once a Rainy Day
1966
Original Story
movieA Legend or Was It?
1963
Screenplay
movieChildren of Izu
1962
Screenplay
movieBallad of a Workman
1962
Screenplay
movieKiriko no unmei
1962
Screenplay
movieDolls floating down the river
1962
Screenplay
movieImmortal Love
1961
Screenplay
movieDon't Ever Die, Mama!
1961
Screenplay
movieThe River Fuefuki
1960
Screenplay
movieSpring Dreams
1960
Screenplay
movieThus Another Day
1959
Screenplay
movieFarewell to Spring
1959
Screenplay
movieThe Snow Flurry
1959
Screenplay
movieThe Ballad of Narayama
1958
Screenplay
movieDanger Stalks Near
1957
Screenplay
movieThe Rose on His Arm
1956
Screenplay
movieAi to chie no wa
1956
Screenplay
movieThe Tattered Wings
1955
Screenplay
movieTwenty-Four Eyes
1954
Screenplay
movieThe Garden of Women
1954
Screenplay
movieLove Letter
1953
Screenplay
movieA Japanese Tragedy
1953
Screenplay
movieSincere Heart
1953
Screenplay
movieCarmen's Innocent Love
1952
Screenplay
movieFireworks Over the Sea
1951
Screenplay
movieBoyhood
1951
Screenplay
movieCarmen Comes Home
1951
Screenplay
movieThe Good Fairy
1951
Screenplay
movieWedding Ring
1950
Screenplay
movieBroken Drum
1949
Story, Screenplay
movieWoman
1948
Screenplay
moviePhoenix
1947
Screenplay
movieMarriage
1947
Story
movieThe Girl I Loved
1946
Story, Screenplay
movieOtoko no iki
1942
Writer
movieThe Spy Has Not Died Yet
1942
Screenplay
movieFive Siblings
1939
Writer, Idea
Production13
tvKōfuku Sōdan
1972
Producer
tvMom’s Shoulders
1971
Producer
tvWorld of Two
1970
Producer
movieDodes'ka-den
1970
Executive Producer
tvStory of Yakuza in Naniwa
1970
Producer
movieThe Scent of Incense
1964
Producer
movieA Legend or Was It?
1963
Producer
movieSing, Young People!
1963
Executive Producer
movieBallad of a Workman
1962
Producer
movieImmortal Love
1961
Producer
movieThe River Fuefuki
1960
Producer
movieWedding Ring
1950
Producer
Creator11
tv日本名作童話シリーズ 赤い鳥のこころ
1979
Creator
tvOmoi Bashi
1973
Creator
tvTaiyō no Namida
1971
Creator
tvMom’s Shoulders
1971
Creator
tvWorld of Two
1970
Creator
tvBrother
1969
Creator
tvFamily of Three
1968
Creator
tvOyaji Daiko
1968
Creator
tvKotoshi no Koi
1967
Creator
Crew4
tvWagako wa Tanin
1974
Creator
tvKōfuku Sōdan
1972
Creator
tvTaiyō no Namida
1971
Creator
tvOyaji Daiko
1968
Creator
Acting2
movieTwenty-Four Eyes
1954
(uncredited)
Camera1
movieOkoto and Sasuke
1935
Assistant Camera