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Masaki Kobayashi (小林 正樹, Kobayashi Masaki, February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961), the samurai films Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), and the horror anthology Kwaidan (1964).
Kobayashi Masaki was a Japanese motion-picture director whose 9 12-hour trilogy, Ningen no joken (The Human Condition: No Greater Love, 1959; Road to Eternity, 1959; A Soldier’s Prayer, 1961), a monumental criticism of war, constitutes the best example of his films of social concern.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Masaki Kobayashi. Director: Harakiri. Masaki Kobayashi was born on 14 February 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961).
- January 1, 1
- Hokkaido, Japan
- January 1, 1
- Tokyo, Japan
Jul 10, 2016 · Masaki Kobayashi’s career coincides with the so-called Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite the fact that some of his films such as the war trilogy Ningen no jōken ( The Human Condition, 1959-1961) and Seppuku ( Harakiri, 1962) had won international critical acclaim, 1 the centenary of his birth in February 2016 ...
- Andrea Grunert
- Early Career Interrupted by War
- Career Resumed with Lengthy Apprenticeship
- Explored Controversial Subjects in Several Films
- Decade of Frustration Followed Successes
- Chronicled War Crimes in Documentary
- Remembered For Perfectionism, Social Commentary
- Books
- Periodicals
- Online
There is seemingly no documentation of Kobayashi's early life or personal life other than noting he was born on January 14, 1916, in Otaru, Japan, and spent his youth on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan, in the port city of Otaru. In 1933 Kobayashi entered Waseda University in Tokyo where he began studies in philosophy and art. He was particu...
Following the war, Kobayashi was able to resume his career in film and rejoin the staff at the Shochiku studios. Beginning in November 1946, he commenced what would be a six-year long apprenticeship as an assistant director. Kobayashi worked under Keisuke Kinoshitaon 15 films. Kinoshita was not only Kobayashi's supervisor, he also served as his men...
Kobayashi went on to make four more films with Shochiku. By 1956 Kobayashi considered himself to be sufficiently well established in his career, comfortable enough to make what would be a controversial film about corruption within professional baseball, Anata kaimasu (I'll Buy You). The film that followed it was no less controversial. Kuroi kawa (B...
Kobayashi made a couple of other films before choosing to make a big budget picture. This blockbuster was Kwaidan (Kaidan, 1964), a film composed of four distinct ghost stories by Lafcadio Hearn, which were based on traditional Japanese tales. The project had been in the planning for years. With KaidanKobayashi also abandoned the gritty realistic s...
Kobayashi's next project was a disappointment, but the director redeemed himself with the film Tokyo saiban (The Tokyo Trials, 1983), a four-and-a-half-hour documentary epic. The film chronicles the events of the Pacific counterpart to the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials. During these war crimes trials before the International Military Tribunal ...
Among his frequent collaborators was Toru Takemitsu, a composer, and actor Tatsuya Nakadai. Kobayashi and Takemitsu began working together in 1962 on Karamiai (The Inheritance). Shokutaku no nai iewas the last film for both masters. Kobayashi was known as a perfectionist. He took his time on the set, possibly completing only three final takes in a ...
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors,St. James Press, 1996. World Film Directors, Volume 2 1945-1985,The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Asia Africa Intelligence Wire(From The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri), August 8, 2002. The Nation,November 10, 1984.
Columbia University: Japanese Film Masters, http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/jfm/(February 10, 2003). "Deep Focus: Masaki Kobayashi (1916-1996)," DVD Verdict, October 11, 2000, http://www.dvdverdict.com/columns/deepfocus/kobayashi.shtml (February 10, 2003). □
Jan 29, 2024 · Before Masaki Kobayashi made the ambitious titles he's best known for today, he made a series of grounded and oftentimes downbeat dramas throughout the 1950s, I Will Buy You included. This one ...
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The Human Condition (人間の條件, Ningen no jōken) is a trilogy of Japanese epic war drama films co-written and directed by Masaki Kobayashi, based on the novel of the same name by Junpei Gomikawa. The films are subtitled No Greater Love (1959), Road to Eternity (1959), and A Soldier's Prayer (1961). The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a ...
