Masahiro Shinoda


Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.

Early life

Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also participated in the Hakone Ekiden long distance race.

Career

He joined the Shōchiku Studio in 1953 as an assistant director, where he worked on films by such directors as Yasujirō Ozu. He debuted as a director in 1960 with One-Way Ticket for Love, which he also scripted.
His focus on youth and the cultural and political turmoil of 1960s Japan made him a central figure in the Shōchiku New Wave alongside Nagisa Ōshima and Yoshishige Yoshida. He worked in a variety of genres, from the yakuza film to the samurai film, but he particularly became known for his focus on socially marginal characters and for an interest in traditional Japanese theater, which found its greatest expression in Double Suicide, in which actors are manipulated like Bunraku puppets. He also was interested in sports, directing a documentary on the 1972 Winter Olympics. Also known for his collaborations with such artists as Shūji Terayama and Tōru Takemitsu, Shinoda left Shōchiku in 1965 to form his own production company, Hyōgensha.

Awards

His film Gonza the Spearman was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution. He won the 1991 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year for Childhood Days. His film Moonlight Serenade was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival. He also won the Izumi Kyōka Prize in 2010 for a novel.

Personal life

Masahiro Shinoda's first marriage was with Kazuko Shiraishi, both had a daughter.
In 1967 he married the actress Shima Iwashita, who appears in several of his films. He retired from directing after the release of Spy Sorge in 2003, a biopic on the life of Richard Sorge.

Filmography

  1. One-Way Ticket for Love
  2. Kawaita mizuumi
  3. My Face Red in the Sunset
  4. Shamisen and Motorcycle
  5. Our Marriage
  6. Epitaph to My Love
  7. Tears on the Lion's Mane
  8. Glory on the Summit
  9. Kawaita hana
  10. Ansatsu
  11. With Beauty and Sorrow
  12. Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke
  13. Captive's Island
  14. Clouds at Sunset
  15. Shinjū ten no Amijima
  16. The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan
  17. Chinmoku / Silence
  18. Sapporo Winter Olympics
  19. The Petrified Forest
  20. Himiko
  21. Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees
  22. Ballad of Orin
  23. Demon Pond
  24. Akuryo Island
  25. MacArthur's Children
  26. ALLUSION～ 転生譚
  27. Gonza the Spearman
  28. The Dancing Girl
  29. Childhood Days
  30. Sharaku
  31. Setouchi Moonlight Serenade
  32. Owls' Castle
  33. Spy Sorge

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