Masaki Kobayashi

Masaki Kobayashi

Actor · Director · Producer · Writer

Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan
February 14, 1916

Biography

Masaki Kobayashi (小林 正樹, Kobayashi Masaki; February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese filmmaker. He is best remembered for directing the epic war trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961), the samurai films Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), and the horror anthology epic Kwaidan (1964). Senses of Cinema described him as "one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s." Although overshadowed by other Japanese filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in his lifetime, his work has gained wider traction in the 21st century with several of his films being ranked as some of the greatest films ever made. Description above from the Wikipedia article Masaki Kobayashi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Photo

Masaki Kobayashi 1
Masaki Kobayashi 2
Masaki Kobayashi 3

Representative Works

Harakiri
Harakiri
8.5
/ Japanese
Samurai Rebellion
Samurai Rebellion
8.3
/ Japanese
Kwaidan
Kwaidan
7.7
/ Japanese
Dodes'ka-den
Dodes'ka-den
7.1
/ Japanese
The Empty Table
The Empty Table
6.9
/ Japanese
Tokyo Olympiad
Tokyo Olympiad
7.7
/ Japanese
Inn of Evil
Inn of Evil
6.3
/ Japanese
The Inheritance
The Inheritance
7.3
/ Japanese
The Fossil
The Fossil
7.2
/ Japanese

Awards and Honors

Critical Favorites

Harakiri
1962Winner

Best Director

Harakiri

Samurai Rebellion
1967Winner

Best Director

Samurai Rebellion

Kwaidan
1965Winner

Best Director

Kwaidan

Career Highlights

The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
1961Highlight

Best Writing

The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer

The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959Highlight

Best Director

The Human Condition I: No Greater Love