Shimizu Hiroshi (director)

Shimizu Hiroshi ( Japanese 清水 宏 ; born March 28, 1903 in Nishiwatari, Yamaka , Iwata-gun (today: Tenryū-ku , Hamamatsu ), Shizuoka Prefecture ; † June 23, 1966 in Kyoto ) was a Japanese director . He was known for his depictions of Japanese society.

life and work

Shimizu attended the University of Hokkaidō in Sapporo , but dropped out prematurely. In 1921 he joined the Shōchiku film studio in Tokyo and made his directorial debut in 1924 at the age of only 21. During his career he made more than 160 films. His early works were mostly melodramatic or dealt with wakadanna , the sons of wealthy traders who maintain a playboy lifestyle. The latter is to be understood as a reflection of his own youth. In the 1930s, he increasingly filmed in off-studio locations and with amateur actors. Contemporary film critics like Matsuo Kishi extolled his realism. Chris Fujiwara emphasizes the use of recurring scenes, the deliberate lack of a given narrative structure and the modernity in Shimizu's films.

His later works often focused on children. After the end of World War II , Shimizu worked for organizations that looked after war orphans. This experience led him to shoot the film Hachi no su no kodomotachi ("Children of the Beehive") in 1948 , which the film scholar Alexander Jacoby describes as a "masterpiece of neorealism ". Shimizu's films were about children in all sorts of situations - from those who do not love their parents or are not loved by them, to children who are rejected by their peers or ostracized by society, but also those who suffer from illnesses and disabilities Suffer. Despite the different premises, a common thread runs through the stories. Shimizu told of individuals who are expelled from a group in order to exercise social criticism on the groups themselves. Director Mizoguchi Kenji praised him as follows: "People like me and Ozu make films with hard work, but Shimizu is a genius."

Shimizu also addressed the issue of maternal self-sacrifice and fallen women in general. In these films, the heroine often accepts the burden of supporting a male relative or relative to give them an opportunity to go to school or live a successful life. However, their efforts and sacrifices fail and their actions are questioned as it seems that tragedy is inevitable. According to Jacoby, Shimizu thereby criticizes the double standard that women are expected to sacrifice everything for their male relatives, but at the same time the methods they have to use are morally condemned. In 1966, Shimizu died of a heart attack at the age of 63 . Though praised by contemporary filmmakers, his work is now almost forgotten.

Web links

• Shimizu Hiroshi in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Entry in the Japanese film database (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} 清水 宏. In: Nihon jinmei daijiten + Plus. Kōdansha, accessed May 30, 2019 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hiroshi Shimizu - Silent Master of the Japanese Ethos. Midnight Eye, April 15, 2004, accessed May 30, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Chris Fujiwara: Shimizu Hiroshi. Fipresci , 2004, archived from the original on June 5, 2011 ; Retrieved May 30, 2019 (Japanese). 
4. ↑ Alexander Jacoby: A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley (California) 2008, ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2 , pp. 268-273 .
5. ↑ ^{a b} Alexander Jacoby: Hiroshi Shimizu: A Hero of His Time. Senses of Cinema, July 2004, accessed May 30, 2019 . 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Shimizu is the family name, Hiroshi the first name.