April 22 - Kaneto Shindô

Happy Birthday, Kaneto Shindô! Born today in 1912, this Japanese author, art director, screenwriter, producer and film director directed forty-eight films and wrote scripts for two hundred and thirty-eight.

Shindô was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, and he made several films about Hiroshima and the atomic bomb.   

  

In the 1950s, Shindô made a series of autobiographical films, beginning with the first film he directed. 

The film was the 1951 Japanese black and white drama/romance film 'Aisai Monogatari' ('Story of a Beloved Wife'), about his own personal struggle to become a screenwriter. 

  

Of the 1950s, his best known film the 1952 Japanese black and white drama/documentary film 'Genbaku no Ko' (lit. 'Children of the Atomic Bomb"'.

The film was also released as 'Atom-Bombed Children in Hiroshima' or 'Children of Hiroshima'. 

  

In the 1960s, his best known films were the Japanese black and white drama film 'Hadaka no shima' ('The Naked Island'), the 1964 Japanese black and white historical drama/horror film 'Onibaba' ( lit. 'Demon Hag') and the 1968 Japanese black and white horror/fantasy film 'Yabu no naka no kuroneko' ('Kuroneko'). 

  

In the 1980s, he directed the 1986 Japanese black and white autobiographical drama film 'Rakuyôju' ('Tree Without Leaves'. The film told about his childhood, born into a wealthy family which became destitute. 

The Japanese title of the film means "deciduous tree", rather than "tree without leaves". 

  

In the 1990s, his best known film was the 1995 Japanese drama film 'Gogo no Yuigon-jo' ('A Last Note'). 

  

In the following decade, he directed the 2000 Japanese drama/romance film 'Sanmon yakusha' ('By Player'). It told about his film company, seen through the eyes of his friend, Japanese character actor Taiji Tonoyama. 

  

Shindô's last film was the 2010 Japanese war/drama film 'Ichimai no hagaki' ('Postcard'). It was loosely based on his military service. 

  

This was Shindô's last film before his death. He passed from natural causes in Hiroshima, Japan on May 29, 2012. He was 100. 

  

Shindô was Japan's oldest director, and had been considered the world's second-oldest working director after Portuguese film director and screenwriter Manoel de Oliveira. He lived to be 106.  

  

Of the aforementioned films, Shindô is best known for writing and directing 'Onibaba'.  

  

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, his mother (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find.  

  

However, both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi (Kei Satō). 

  

The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai. 

  

Like his early mentor, Japanese film director and screenwriter Kenji Mizoguchi ('The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums', 'Ugetsu', 'Sansho the Bailiff'), many of Shindô's films feature strong female characters.  

He was a pioneer of independent film production in Japan, founding a company called Kindai Eiga Kyokai. 

Shindô also continued working as a scriptwriter, director and author until his death in Hiroshima, Japan on May 29, 2012. He was 100.

Shindô had been active from 1940–2010. 

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