Kinuyo Tanaka

Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代, Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 credited films, and was best known for her roles in collaboration with director Kenji Mizoguchi over 15 films between 1940 and 1954. She was also a second cousin to director Masaki Kobayashi.[1]

Kinuyo Tanaka
Kinuyo Tanaka in Jinsei no onimotsu (1935)
Born(1909-11-29)29 November 1909
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
Died21 March 1977(1977-03-21) (aged 67)
Japan
Years active1924–1976
Spouse(s)Hiroshi Shimizu (1927–1929, not legally married)
AwardsMainichi Film Concours Best Actress
1975 Sandakan No. 8
1949 Yoru no onnatachi
1948 Joyū Sumako no koi
Mainichi Film Concours Best Supporting Actress
1961 Otōto
1958 Stepbrothers
Screenwriter Yoshikata Yoda, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Director Kenji Mizoguchi visit Paris, 1953

Biography

Early career

Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan. Her first credited film appearance was in 1924 in "A Maid of the Genroku Era" in 1924, which also marked the start of her affiliation with the Shochiku Studios. She married director Hiroshi Shimizu in 1929 after appearing in a number of his films in the 1920s. Although they divorced after less than a year, she later played in a number of films directed by her ex-husband.[1]

She became a leading actress at an early age, appearing in Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929. The following year she played the lead in Aiyoku no ki, and in 1931 she appeared in Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Heinosuke Gosho. In the 1930s, she became so popular that the titles of her films used her name, as in "The Kinuyo Story" (Kinuyo Monogatari) in 1930, "Doctor Kinuyo" (Joi Kinuyo sensei) in 1937 and "Kinuyo’s First Love" (Kinuyo no hatsukoi) in 1940. In 1938, she starred in Hiromasa Nomura’s Flower in Storm (愛染かつら Aizen-Katsura) with Ken Uehara, which was the highest-grossing movie of the prewar period.[1] In 1940, she worked for the first time with Kenji Mizoguchi, starring in "A Woman of Osaka" (Naniwa Onna), which has not survived. It marked the start of her transition to more challenging roles.

Post-war career

Tanaka made a three-month trip to the United States starting in October 1949 as one of Japan’s first post-war cultural envoys [1] On her return, she resigned from Shochiku, and announced her intention of going freelance, which would give her more scope to choose which directors she wished to work with. She worked on several movies with Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, and also Keisuke Kinoshita (including The Ballad Of Narayama for which she was awarded the Best Actress Award from the magazine Kinema Junpo).[1] She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear.[2]

Director and actress

Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, scripted by Kinoshita, was entered as a contestant in the Cannes Film Festival in 1954. She directed five further films between 1953 and 1962. The "Moon Has Risen" (Tsuki wa noborinu) in 1955 was scripted by Yasujirō Ozu and the "Wandering Princess" (Ruten no onna) starring Machiko Kyō, was scripted by Natto Wada.[1] However, as well as directing, Tanaka continued with her acting career, appearing as Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her performance as an aged prostitute in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975.[3] During the 1960s, she moved increasingly towards television.

Tanaka died of a brain tumor on 21 March 1977.

Selected filmography

Actress

She has appeared in more than 259 films[4] (incomplete)

  • 1929 I Graduated, But... (大学は出たけれど Daigaku wa detakeredo) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu (小津安二郎)
  • 1930 I Flunked, But... (落第はしたけれど Rakudai wa shitakeredo) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1931 The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (マダムと女房 Madamu to Nyōbō) - directed by Heinosuke Gosho (五所平之助)
  • 1932 Konjiki Yasha (金色夜叉) - directed by Hōtei Nomura (野村芳亭)
  • 1933 The Dancing Girl of Izu (伊豆の踊子) - directed by Heinosuke Gosho
  • 1933 Woman of Tokyo (東京の女 Tōkyō no Onna) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1933 Dragnet Girl (非常線の女 Hijōsen no Onna) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1935 Okoto and Sasuke (春琴抄 お琴と佐助 Shunkinshō Okoto to Sasuke) - directed by Yasujirō Shimazu (島津保次郎)
  • 1935 Burden of Life (人生のお荷物 Jinsei no Onimotsu) - directed by Heinosuke Gosho
  • 1938 Flower in Storm (愛染かつら Aizen-Katsura) - directed by Hiromasa Nomura (野村浩将)
  • 1941 Ornamental Hairpin (簪 Kanzashi) - directed by Hiroshi Shimizu (清水宏)
  • 1944 Army (陸軍 Rikugun) - directed by Keisuke Kinoshita (木下惠介)
  • 1944 The Swordsman (宮本武蔵 Miyamoto Musashi) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口健二)
  • 1945 A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo (三十三間堂通し矢物語 Sanjūsangendō Tōshiya Monogatari) - directed by Mikio Naruse (成瀬巳喜男)
  • 1946 Utamaro and His Five Women a.k.a. Five Women Around Utamaro (歌麿をめぐる五人の女 Utamaro o meguru gonin no Onna) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1947 The Love of Sumako the Actress (女優須磨子の恋 Joyū Sumako no koi) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1948 Women of the Night (夜の女たち Yoru no Onna-tachi) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1948 A Hen in the Wind (風の中の牝鶏 Kaze no naka no Mendori) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1949 Flame of My Love a.k.a. My Love Burns (わが恋は燃えぬ Waga koi wa moenu) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1950 An Engagement Ring (婚約指環 Kon'yaku-yubiwa) - directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
  • 1950 The Munekata Sisters (宗方姉妹 Munekata Kyōdai) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1951 The Inner Palace Conspiracy (おぼろ駕籠 Oboro-Kago) - directed by Daisuke Itō (伊藤大輔)
  • 1951 Ginza Cosmetics (銀座化粧 Ginza Keshō) (1951) - directed by Mikio Naruse
  • 1951 Miss Oyu (お遊さま Oyū-sama) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1951 The Lady of Musashino a.k.a. Lady Musashino (武蔵野夫人 Musashino-Fujin) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1952 The Life of Oharu (西鶴一代女 Saikaku ichidai-onna) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1952 Mother (おかあさん Okaasan) - directed by Mikio Naruse
  • 1953 Entotsu no mieru basho - directed by Heinosuke Gosho
  • 1953 Ugetsu a.k.a. Tales of Moonlight and Rain (雨月物語 Ugetsu-monogatari) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1954 Sansho the Bailiff (山椒太夫 Sanshō-dayū) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1954 Onna no koyomi (女の暦 Onna no koyomi) - directed by Seiji Hisamatsu (久松静児)
  • 1954 The Woman in the Rumor a.k.a. The Crucified Woman (噂の女 Uwasa no onna) - directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • 1956 Arashi - directed by Hiroshi Inagaki
  • 1956 Flowing (流れる Nagareru) - directed by Mikio Naruse
  • 1957 Yellow Crow (黄色いからす Kiiroi Karasu) - directed by Heinosuke Gosho
  • 1958 Equinox Flower (彼岸花 Higanbana) - directed by Yasujirō Ozu
  • 1958 The Ballad Of Narayama (楢山節考 Narayamabushi-ko) - directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
  • 1958 Sorrow is Only for Women
  • 1960 Her Brother (おとうと Otōto) - directed by Kon Ichikawa (市川崑)
  • 1962 Lonely Lane a.k.a. A Wanderer's Notebook (放浪記 Horoki) - directed by Naruse Mikio
  • 1963 Alone on the Pacific (太平洋ひとりぼっち Taiheiyō hitori-bocchi) - directed by Kon Ichikawa
  • 1964 The Scent of Incense (香華 Kôge) - directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
  • 1965 Red Beard (赤ひげ Aka-hige) - directed by Akira Kurosawa (黒澤明)
  • 1966 Futari no hoshi (二人の星) - television drama, TBS
  • 1967 Momotarō-zamurai (桃太郎侍) - television drama, NTV
  • 1970 Momi no ki wa nokotta (樅ノ木は残った) - television drama, NHK
  • 1970 Asu no shiawase (明日のしあわせ) - television drama, NET
  • 1971 Nyonin Heike (女人平家) - television drama, ABC
  • 1973 Singular rebellion (たった一人の反乱 Tatta hitori no hanran) - television drama, NHK
  • 1974 Sandakan N° 8 (サンダカン八番娼館 望郷) - directed by Kei Kumai (熊井啓)
  • 1974 Rin rin to (りんりんと) - television drama, HBC
  • 1974 Jaane (じゃあね) - television drama, NHK
  • 1975 Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (ある映画監督の生涯 Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai) - directed by Kaneto Shindō (新藤兼人)
  • 1975-1977 Zenryaku ofukurosama (前略おふくろ様) - television drama, NTV
  • 1976 Kita No Misaki (北の岬) - directed by Kei Kumai
  • 1976 Maboroshi no machi (幻の町) - television drama, HBC
  • 1976 Kumo no jūtan (雲のじゅうたん) - appeared as a narrator, television drama, NHK
  • 1976 Sekishun no uta (惜春の歌) - television drama, CBC
  • 1976 Lullaby of the Earth (大地の子守歌 Daichi no Komoriuta) - directed by Yasuzo Masumura (増村保造)

Director
  • 1953: Love Letter (恋文 Koibumi)
  • 1955: Tsuki wa noborinu (月は上りぬ)
  • 1955: The Eternal Breasts (乳房よ永遠なれ Chibusa yo eien nare)
  • 1960: The Wandering Princess (流転の王妃 Ruten no Ouhi)
  • 1961: Girls of the Night　(女ばかりの夜 Onna bakari no yoru)
  • 1962: Love Under the Crucifix (お吟さま Ogin sama)

Honours

See also
  • Category:Films directed by Kinuyo Tanaka
  • Kinuyo Tanaka Award (田中絹代賞) in Mainichi Film Awards - This award is bestowed each year for an actress' works and career from 1985.

References
  1. Sharpe, Jasper (2011). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 240–242. ISBN 978-0-8108-7541-8.
  2. Tony Rayns video essays in the Masters of Cinema edition of Chikamatsu Monogatari/Uwasa no onna set.
  3. "Berlinale 1975: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. 258 films according to 田中絹代 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 5 December 2009. and plus 1 film Kōge(香華)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.