Shirō Toyoda
Shirō Toyoda | |
|---|---|
 Shirō Toyoda in 1938 | |
| Born | 3 January 1906 Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | 13 November 1977 (aged 71) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1925–1976 |
Shirō Toyoda (豊田 四郎, Toyoda Shirō; 3 January 1906 – 13 November 1977)[1][2] was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed over 60 films during his career which spanned 50 years.[3] He was denoted for his high-quality adaptations of works of many important twentieth-century Japanese writers.[1][2][4]
Career
Born in Kyoto, Toyoda moved to Tokyo after finishing high school. Intent on becoming a theatre playwright at first,[5] he studied scriptwriting under the pioneering film director Eizō Tanaka.[2][5] He joined the Kamata section of the Shōchiku film studios in 1925 and worked as an assistant director under Yasujirō Shimazu, before giving his directorial debut in 1929.[2][5] Forced to continue to work as an assistant director,[2] and dissatisfied with the material he was given at Shochiku,[5] he moved to the independent Tokyo Hassei Eiga Shisaku studio (later Toho).[5] There he directed the successful Young People (1937) and gained a reputation for directing literary adaptations with a humanistic touch, in particular Uguisu (1938) and Spring on Leper's Island (1940).[1][5]
After World War II, Toyoda adapted the works of writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Kafū Nagai, Naoya Shiga, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Masuji Ibuse for his films.[2][4] Distinguished by their visual imagination and superb acting,[4] they established Toyoda's reputation as an actor's director.[5] Noted works of this era include The Wild Geese (1953), Marital Relations (1955), A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women (1956), Snow Country (1957) and The Twilight Story (1960).[1][2][4] Working as closely with his cameramen and scenarists as with his actors, he relied on a steady group of collaborators, including cinematographers Kinya Kokura and Mitsuo Miura and scriptwriter Toshio Yasumi.[5]
Toyoda died in Tokyo in 1977.[2]
Filmography
Director
- 1929: Irodorareru kuchibiru (彩られる唇)
- 1929: Tokai o oyogu onna (都会を泳ぐ女)
- 1930: Yūai kekkon (友愛結婚)
- 1930: Kokoro ogoreru onna (心驕れる女)
- 1935: Sannin no josei (三人の女性)
- 1936: Tōkyō-Ōsaka tokudane ōrai (東京−大阪特ダネ往来)
- 1936: Ōbantō kobantō (大番頭小番頭)
- 1936: Kamata Ōfuna sutajio no haru (蒲田 大船スタジオの春)
- 1937: Minato wa uwakikaze (港は浮気風)
- 1937: Oyake Akahachi (オヤケアカハチ)
- 1937: Young People (Wakai hito)
- 1937: Jūji hōka (十字砲火)
- 1938: Nakimushi kozo (泣蟲小僧)
- 1938: Fuyu no yado (冬の宿)
- 1938: Uguisu (鶯)
- 1940: Okumura Ioko (奥村五百子)
- 1940: Spring on Leper's Island (Kojima no haru)
- 1940: Ōhinata-mura (大日向村)
- 1941: Waga ai no ki (わが愛の記)
- 1943: Wakaki sugata (若き姿)
- 1946: Hinoki butai (檜舞台)
- 1947: Four Love Stories (四つの恋の物語 第一話 初恋, Yottsu no koi no monogatari)
- 1948: Waga ai wa yama no kanata ni (わが愛は山の彼方に)
- 1949: Hakucho wa kanashikarazuya (白鳥は悲しからずや)
- 1950: Onna no shiki (女の四季)
- 1951: Eriko to tomo-ni dai-ichi bu (えりことともに 第一部)
- 1951: Eriko to tomo-ni dai-ni bu (えりことともに 第二部)
- 1951: Sekirei no kyoku (せきれいの曲)
- 1952: Kaze futabi (風ふたゝび)
- 1952: Haru no sasayaki (春の囁き)
- 1953: The Wild Geese (Gan)
- 1954: Aru onna (或る女)
- 1955: The Grass Whistle a.k.a. Love Never Fails (麦笛, Mugibue)
- 1955: Marital Relations (Meoto zenzai)
- 1956: The Legend of the White Serpent (白夫人の妖恋, Byaku fujin no yoren)
- 1956: A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women (Neko to Shozo to futari no onna)
- 1957: Snow Country (Yukiguni)
- 1957: Evening Calm (夕凪, Yūnagi)
- 1958: Makeraremasen katsumadewa (負ケラレセン勝マデハ)
- 1958: The Hotelman's Holiday (喜劇 駅前旅館, Kigeki ekimae ryokan)
- 1959: A Flower Never Fades (花のれん, Hana noren)
- 1959: Dansei shiiku hō (男性飼育法)
- 1959: Pilgrimage at Night (暗夜行路, An'ya kōro)
- 1960: Chinpindō shujin (珍品堂主人)
- 1960: The Twilight Story (Bokuto kidan)
- 1961: The Diplomat's Mansion (東京夜話, Tokyo yawa)
- 1962: Till Tomorrow Comes (明日ある限り, Ashita aru kagiri)
- 1962: Ika naru hoshi no moto ni (如何なる星の下に)
- 1963: Madame Aki (憂愁平野, Yushu heiya)
- 1963: The Maid Story (台所太平記, Daidokoro taiheiki)
- 1963: Shin meoto zenzai (新・夫婦善哉)
- 1964: Kigeki yōki-na mibōjin (喜劇 陽気な未亡人)
- 1964: Sweet Sweat (Amai ase)
- 1965: Nami kage (波影)
- 1965: Illusion of Blood (Yotsuya kaidan)
- 1965: Tale of a Carpenter (大工太平記, Daiku taiheki)
- 1967: River of Forever (千曲川絶唱, Chikumagawa zesshō)
- 1967: Kigeki ekimae hyakku-nen (喜劇 駅前百年)
- 1968: Kigeki ekimae kaiun (喜劇 駅前開運)
- 1969: Portrait of Hell (Jigoku-hen)
- 1973: The Twilight Years (Kōkotsu no hito)
- 1976: Tsuma to onna no aida (妻と女の間)
Screenwriter
Scripts not realised by Toyoda himself:
- 1925: Yū no kane (夕の鐘)
- 1925: Aisai no himitsu (愛妻の秘密)
- 1926: Fukumen no kage (覆面の影)
- 1926: Mankō (万公)
- 1927: Koi o hirotta otoko (恋を拾った男)
- 1928: Yowaki hitobito (弱き人々) co-writer
- 1928: Shin'ya no okyaku (深夜のお客) co-writer
- 1936: Ipponto dohyo-iri (一本刀土俵入)
Actor
- 1952: Kin no tamago: Golden girl (金の卵 Golden Girl)
Awards
- 1956: Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director for Marital Relations
Legacy
Toyoda's films have repeatedly been shown at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive as part of retrospectives,[6][7][8] and three of his works added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in 1987.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d "豊田四郎 (Toyoda Shirō)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "豊田四郎 (Toyoda Shirō)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "豊田四郎 (Toyoda Shirō)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 313–316. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
- ^ "Shiro Toyoda: Telling the Story". BAMPFA. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "A Cat, Two Women and One Man (Neko to Shozo to Futari no Onna)". BAMPFA. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "The Mistress (Wild Geese/Gan)". BAMPFA. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "MoMA announces major gift of Japanese films from Toho" (PDF). MoMA. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
External links
- Shirō Toyoda at IMDb