Imai Tadashi

Imai Tadashi ( Japanese 今井 正 ; born January 8, 1912 in Tokyo ; † November 22, 1991 ibid) was a Japanese film director who was one of the most controversial filmmakers in Japan of the 20th century. His films openly addressed political leftist views combined with social criticism.

life and work

Imai Tadashi was born in Tokyo in 1912, the son of a priest. He rebelled against authority at an early age and developed a contempt for traditional religion, culture and general social structures from a young age. At that time, the era of the Japanese Empire, a worldview that was inconsistent with politics was considered a capital crime. As a student at Tokyo Imperial University, he was arrested twice in left-wing protests in the early 1930s, but was soon released again. Imai began to write while still a student and wrote his first scenario in 1934. A year later he gave up his studies and turned to the medium of film. He first worked as a screenwriter and made his debut as a director in 1939 with the documentary The Military Academy of Numazu , where he critically examined Japanese structures.

Despite his political leanings, Imai became a loyal supporter of the Japanese government during World War II and published films on behalf of well-known Japanese production companies that served as war propaganda for Tennō Hirohito . After the war, Imai gradually turned back to more socially critical issues and revealed his Marxist view of the world, which was reflected in his immediate post-war films, which, however, received little international attention. In the late 1940s he joined the Japanese Communist Party and was forced to work as an independent filmmaker, who usually - outside the rigid Japanese film studio system - developed into a renowned filmmaker and was significantly influenced by Italian neorealism .

His best-known works include the award-winning film The Samurai's Wife . His film Bushido - They love and they kill won the Golden Bear at the 1963 Berlin International Film Festival . At the 1958 Berlinale , he had already received the Silver Bear for best director for his film Mitsuko - Story of a Young Love .

Filmography (selection)

• 1939: The Numazu Military Academy ( Numazu heigakkō )
• 1953: The Tower of the Lilies ( Himeyuri no tō )
• 1956: Darkness in the afternoon ( Mahiru no ankoku )
• 1957: Mitsuko - Story of a Young Love ( Jun'ai monogatari )
• 1958: The Samurai's Wife ( Yoru no tsuzumi )
• 1963: Bushido - you love and you kill // oath of obedience ( Bushidō zankoku monogatari )
• 1974: Report on a Japanese poet ( Takiji Kobayashi )
• 1976: brother and sister ( Ani imotō )

Web links

• Tadashi Imai in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Biography of the artist (English)

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