Jūzō Itami
Also Known As: Ichizô Itami, Jûzô Itami, 이타미 주조, Itami Juzo, Itami Jūzō, Yoshihiro Ikeuchi, Ikeuchi Yoshihiro, 池内義弘, Itami Juuzou, Juuzou Itami, Juzo Itami, 伊丹一三
Biography: Jūzō Itami (1933–1997) was a Japanese actor and, later, a popular modern screenwriter and film director. Many critics came to regard him as Japan's greatest director since Akira Kurosawa. His ten feature-length movies and one short film, all of which he wrote himself, are comic satires on elements of Japanese culture. He died under suspicious circumstances in December 1997 and may have been murdered by the yakuza.
Department: Directing
Place of Birth: Kyoto, Japan
Adult: No
Deathday: December 20, 1997
Popularity:
Known For:
Sweet Secret
Overview: A dynamic woman who aspires to be a writer, living a wild life in constant search of freedom while indulging in lust with four men.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-08-25
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Private Collections
Overview: Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed. What's her secret?
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1979-06-27
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Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance
Overview: Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.
Genres: Action Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-06-15
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A Young Man's Stronghold
Overview: A 1970 juvenile delinquent drama.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-04-04
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The Making of "Tales of a Golden Geisha"
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "A-Ge-Man" a.k.a. "Tales of a Golden Geisha".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-01-01
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The Making of "Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion"
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Minbo no Onna" a.k.a. "Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-01-01
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Itami Juzo Museum's "13"
Overview: A documentary about the Juzo Itami memorial museum in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2011-11-25
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Sing a Song of Sex
Overview: Four sexually hungry high school students preparing for their university entrance exams meet up with an inebriated teacher singing bawdy drinking songs. This encounter sets them on a less than academic path.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-02-23
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Her Brother
Overview: Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-11-01
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No More Easy Life
Overview: Mariko is living the life of a typical Japanese college student in the 70's, spending far more of her time balancing boyfriends and part-time jobs than on her schoolwork. She finds herself torn between a former boyfriend who's the tough, insensitive-but-sexy, type, and a new acquaintance who's more sensitive to her feelings, but who still acts childishly selfish at times. Will she choose one of them, or decide to go her own way?
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-12-25
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The Making of "A Taxing Woman"
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Marusa no Onna" a.k.a. "A Taxing Woman".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-08-01
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The Making of "A Taxing Woman's Return"
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Marusa no Onna 2" a.k.a. "A Taxing Woman's Return".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1988-05-20
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Great SFX Adventure: Take Me to 'Sweet Home'
Overview:
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-04-01
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Kidnapping Blues
Overview: A man and a little girl meet in a bicycle parking in Tokyo. The little girl says she wants to watch the sea, and their travel begins. The man does not intend to be a kidnapper – he asks the girl to phone her mother and tell her she's with him. During their trip they meet various people, but they always must continue on, lest the man be arrested.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-10-09
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Making of Daibyonin
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Daibyonin" a.k.a. "The Last Dance".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-01-01
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My Way
Overview: Based on a true story, an elderly woman resiliently spends nine months attempting to retrieve her husband's dead body, fighting government bureaucracy and indifference all along the way.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-09-07
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Onna no naka no akuma
Overview:
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-07-17
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55 Days at Peking
Overview: Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.
Genres: History War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-05-06
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MacArthur's Children
Overview: In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation's defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops.
Genres: War Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-06-23
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"Utsukishiki Shizuka na Seikatsu" + satsuei genba hōmonki
Overview: A special feature included with the Juzo Itami Film Collection about the production of "Shizuka na Seikatsu" a.k.a. "A Quiet Life".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2012-01-27
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'Marutai no Onna' satsuei wo oete
Overview: A special feature included with the Juzo Itami Film Collection about the production of "Marutai no Onna" a.k.a. "Woman in Witness Protection".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2012-01-27
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Itami-ryū super na supermarket ga dekiru made
Overview: A special feature included with the Juzo Itami Film Collection about the production of "Super no Onna" a.k.a. "Supermarkt Woman".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2012-01-27
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Itami Jūzō Kinenkan ga dekiru made
Overview: Featurette included with "Juzo Itami: The Man with 13 Faces" about the creation of the Itami Juzo Museum in Matsuyama, Ehime.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2007-01-01
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Safari 5000
Overview: A Japanese racing driver for Nissan named Godai (Yujiro Ishihara) have a rivalry with a French driver named Pierre (Jean-Claude Drouot). Godai is enlisted to race in an annual endurance race, The East African Safari Rally. Peripheral to this is the story concerning Godai's former lover Yuko (Ruriko Asaoka), a fashion designer, and her friend Anna (Emmanuel Riva), who happens to be Pierre's wife.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-07-19
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The Flame of Devotion
Overview: The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-11-22
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Grass Labyrinth
Overview: Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.
Genres: Drama Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-01-01
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The Family Game
Overview: A sendup of the stereotypical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-05-04
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Juzo Itami: The Man with 13 Faces
Overview: A documentary about the legendary Japanese filmmaker.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2007-01-01
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Shirayuri Girls' Academy Western Archery Club: A Silver Target
Overview: An archery club on retreat in Hokkaido is forced to rescue their teacher who is kidnapped.
Genres: Comedy Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1991-01-01
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北の国から 記憶 前編
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Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-08-23
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Lord Jim
Overview: After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2000.
Genres: Adventure Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-02-15
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Heat Wave Island
Overview: Otowa is a former Seto Inland Sea island farmer who has moved to the mainland in order to find work, but instead ends up dead. The film begins with the discovery of her corpse, which leads to an investigation that uncovers the narcotics, prostitution, and murder in which many poor farmers had found themselves trapped after World War II.
Genres: Mystery Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-10-29
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By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him
Overview: Immigrant gangs terrorize a Japanese town with their threats, loud jazz, and tasteless fashion sense, and only the tough but suave Dr. Amamiya (Ando) can stop them, as long as he gets rid of his silly peace-loving ideals.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-03-23
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Island of the Evil Spirits
Overview: Famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi follows a dying man's words to an enigmatic island, where he meets beautiful twin sisters and tragic events unfold.
Genres: Drama Horror Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-10-03
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I Am a Cat
Overview: Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat!
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-05-31
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Choji Snack Bar
Overview: Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-11-12
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Convenience Jack
Overview: A youth action drama depicting the struggles of a young man who gets involved in an extraordinary incident at a convenience store. This film is based on the novel of the same name written by Asato Izumi, written and directed by newcomer Hisashi Toma. Isamu Nagata of “Asatte DANCE” was in charge of the photography.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-01-18
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Human Torpedoes
Overview: Story of loyal sailors giving their lives for their country as human torpedoes towards the end of the War.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-01-03
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The Young Eagles of the Kamikaze
Overview: The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in World War II. Young boys dream about becoming pilots and apply to flight schools. However, the flight schools have extremely demanding, harsh training, and once they finally become pilots, they must become suicide bombers and give their lives for their homeland.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-06-01
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Play it, Boogie-Woogie
Overview: A runaway cat-loving girl begins a love triangle with a reckless older man and a young biker in high school. The film follows their subsequent chaotic relationships.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-04-07
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The Notorious Concubines
Overview: Dark, cynical Japanese epic brought to U.S. in a dubbed version by shlockmeister Harry Novak. Still, this gory, sexy epic is made with style and interesting for to compare to "Yojimbo" and other masterworks of the form.
Genres: History Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-09-27
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The False Student
Overview: A youth drama set in a Japanese university which is home to a group of active, leftist students.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-10-08
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Ten Dark Women
Overview: Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long as she was the only woman in his life.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-03
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The Making of "Tampopo"
Overview: Documentary about the making of Juzo Itami's film "Tampopo" (1985).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-01-01
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Rubber Band Pistol
Overview: Jūzō Itami's debut short film, concerning a group of unique young people in the high economic growth period who are into games with rubber band pistols.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-10-22
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The Makioka Sisters
Overview: This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-05-21
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Bumpkin Soup
Overview: A country girl visits Tokyo in search of her college heartthrob. Here she meets horny students, a psychology professor in search of the theory of shame, and Yoshioka who has become a campus nobody.
Genres: Music Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-11-03
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Parole
Overview: Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-10-21
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Team of Ruffians
Overview: Prisoners with special skills from all over Japan are sent to the battlefront on a mission.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-09-19
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Until Evening
Overview: Intellectual collegue professor Sasa becomes obsessed with beautiful Sugiko, a virgin. Eventually, luring her to a love hotel.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-09-20
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The Big Wave
Overview: Yukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically threatened by a volcano on one side and tidal waves on the other. Yukio's younger sister Setsu follows then and dreams of becoming a pearl diver. Toru is preparing to go fishing with his father when a bell tolls and a danger flag is hung high on the hill behind the village to warn of an impending tidal wave by the village patriarch, known as Old Gentleman.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-04-02
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Sweet Home
Overview: A TV production crew are making a documentary about the infamous painter Mamiya Ichiro. When they start filming at his old home, they come under attack from the ghost of the painter's wife.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-01-21
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The Gentle Japanese
Overview: A survivor of the tragic mass suicides on Tokashiki Island in 1945 falls in love with a near-mute motorcycle engineer.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-03-05
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Make-Up
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-05-02
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Even If Life Withers
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-10-25
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Baian the Assassin
Overview: This is an ensemble period drama adapted from Shotaro Ikenami's popular novel, featuring the famous Kabuki actor brothers Kinnosuke Manya and Katsuo Nakamura, who made the transition from the Kabuki world to the film industry, and a cast of gorgeous and diverse faces. The Edo period. Nagato Abe, a Hatamoto (a feudal lord), is annoyed by his son's bad behavior, and when it becomes a hindrance to his own career, he asks Otowaya Hanemon, a black marketeer, to assassinate his son. The target is then taken care of by the assassin, Umeyasu. In order to keep his mouth shut, Nagatomon no Mamoru also attempts to take Otowaya's life. Nagato's brother-in-law, Omiya Sahei, a corrupt merchant from the Kamigata region, also plans to replace Otowaya as the head of Edo's black market business, so Umebayashi and his fellow trapper Hikojiro set out to eliminate them.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-04-11
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Kirai Kirai Kirai
Overview:
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-02-24
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The Politicians
Overview: Who will be the next prime minister? As two candidates start to compete, political game and brutal murder ensue. And the existence of secret love letters changes the situation.
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-10-22
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