Hiroshi Inagaki


Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker who worked on over 100 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed filmmakers in the history of Japanese cinema, having directed several jidaigeki epics such as the 1954 Academy Award-winning film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, and its two sequels Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island.

Career

Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1922. Wishing to become a director, he joined Chiezō Kataoka's Chiezō Productions and made his directorial debut with Tenka taiheiki. Returning to Nikkatsu, he continued making jidaigeki and participated in the Naritaki Group of young filmmakers such as Sadao Yamanaka and Fuji Yahiro who collaboratively wrote screenplays under the made up name "Kinpachi Kajiwara". Like others in the group, Inagaki was known for his cheerful and intelligent samurai films. Inagaki later moved to Daiei and then Toho, where he made big budget color spectacles as well as delicate works depicting the feelings of children. He also produced many films and wrote the scripts for dozens of others. He directed Toshiro Mifune in twenty films.

Recognition

His film Muhōmatsu no isshō was selected as the 8th best Japanese film of all time in a 1989 poll of Japanese critics and filmmakers. The color remake, Rickshaw Man, won the Golden Lion award at that year's Venice Film Festival. His film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto won the honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Selected filmography

Director

Tenka taiheiki Hōrō zanmai Muhōmatsu no isshō Noroshi wa Shanghai ni agaru Sword for Hire Samurai Trilogy

Producer