Yasuzō Masumura
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1924-08-25
Day of Death
1986-11-23 (62 years old)
Place of Birth
Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan
Yasuzō Masumura
Biography
Yasuzo Masumura (増村 保造 Masumura Yasuzō, August 25, 1924 - November 23, 1986) was a Japanese film director.
Masumura was born in Kōfu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949. He then won a scholarship allowing him to study film in Italy at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia under Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.
Masumura returned to Japan in 1953 and from 1955 worked as a second-unit director on films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa, before directing his own first film, Kisses, in 1957. Over the next three decades he directed around 60 films in a variety of genres. His work is noted for his dark satire and fluid style. Notable films include Red Angel, Black Test Car, Giants and Toys, Blind Beast and Hoodlum Soldier.
Known For
Acting
(1975)
Crew
(2022)
The Setting Sun
Screenplay
(1985)
(1982)
Lullaby of Death
Director, Writer
(1980)
The Garden of Eden
Director
(1978)
Double Suicide of Sonezaki
Director, Screenplay
(1978)
Horror of the Giant Vortex
Director
(1978)
(1976)
Lullaby of the Earth
Director
(1975)
Main Line to Terror
Screenplay, Director
(1974)
Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?
Screenplay
(1974)
Akumyo: Notorious Dragon
Director
(1973)
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare
Director, Screenplay
(1972)
Music
Director, Writer
(1972)
New Hoodlum Soldier Story: Firing Line
Director, Screenplay
(1971)
Games
Director
(1970)
Play It Cool
Director, Screenplay
(1970)
The Hot Little Girl
Director, Writer
(1970)
An Ode to Yakuza
Director
(1970)
Just for You
Screenplay
(1969)
Blind Beast
Director
(1969)
Vixen
Director, Screenplay
(1969)
Thousand Cranes
Director
(1968)
The Great Villains
Director, Screenplay
(1968)
The House of Wooden Blocks
Director, Screenplay
(1968)
The Sex Check
Director
(1968)
One Day at Summer's End
Director
(1967)
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka
Director
(1967)
Love for an Idiot
Director
(1967)
Two Wives
Director
(1967)
A Certain Killer
Screenplay
(1966)
Irezumi
Director
(1966)
Red Angel
Director
(1966)
The School of Spies
Director
(1965)
Seisaku's Wife
Director
(1965)
Hoodlum Soldier
Director
(1964)
Manji
Director
(1964)
Love and Greed
Director
(1964)
Fools at Work
Director
(1964)
Superexpress
Director, Screenplay
(1963)
Black Report
Script, Director
(1963)
When Women Lie
Director
(1963)
Sentimental Mobsters
Director, Screenplay
(1962)
Black Test Car
Director
(1962)
A Woman's Life
Director
(1962)
Stolen Pleasure
Director
(1961)
A Lustful Man
Director
(1961)
A Wife Confesses
Director
(1961)
Love and Life
Director
(1961)
The Burdened Sisters
Director
(1960)
Afraid to Die
Director
(1960)
The False Student
Director
(1960)
A Woman's Testament
Director
(1960)
The Woman Who Touched Legs
Director
(1959)
The Most Valuable Wife
Director
(1959)
The Cast-Off
Director
(1959)
Across the Darkness
Director, Writer
(1959)
Beauty the Enemy
Director
(1958)
Giants and Toys
Director
(1958)
Disobedience
Director
(1958)
The Precipice
Director
(1958)
The Lowest Man
Director
(1957)
Kisses
Director
(1957)
The Blue Sky Maiden
Director
(1957)
Warm Current
Director
(1956)
Bridge of Japan
Assistant Director
(1956)
Street of Shame
Assistant Director
(1956)
Punishment Room
Assistant Director
(1955)
Princess Yang Kwei-fei
Assistant Director
(1954)
Madame Butterfly
Assistant Director