
Masahiro Makino
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-02-29
Day of Death
1993-10-29 (85 years old)
Place of Birth
Kyoto, Japan
Masahiro Makino
Biography
Masahiro Makino (マキノ 雅弘, Makino Masahiro, February 29, 1908 - October 29, 1993) was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was Masatada (正唯), but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including 雅広, 正博, and 雅裕).
Masahiro Makino was born in Kyoto, the eldest son of the film director and producer Shōzō Makino, who is often called the father of Japanese cinema. As a youth he acted in over 100 films before debuting as a film director in 1926 at age 18.
His critically acclaimed nihilistic jidaigeki such as Roningai (1928) made him one of the top Japanese film directors, but his way of shooting films quickly also earned him detractors. For instance, the total time it took to shoot the 1936 film Edo no Ka Oshō was only 28 hours.The critic Sadao Yamane, however, has argued that this fast filming practice also contributed to Makino's speedy, rhythmic film style. Rhythm and tempo are important to his films, and so in his jidaigeki, fight scenes like in Kettō Takadanobaba (1937) could seem like dances, or entire sequences, like in Awa no Odoriko (1941), could be filled with dance. He made musicals like Singing Lovebirds (1939) and even his wartime propaganda films like Hanako-san and Ahen senso (both 1943) could have Busby Berkeley-like musical numbers.
After the war, he helmed such popular jidaigeki series as Jirōchō Sangokushi and such ninkyō eiga series as Nihon Kyōkaku-den. He directed his last film in 1972, the retirement film for Junko Fuji, completing a filmography that totaled over 260 films and included films of many genres.
Known For
Acting
(1928)
Raiden
as Docotr Chikuan
(1921)
(1916)
(1916)
(1914)
Crew
(1990)
Ronin-gai
Co-Director
(1972)
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
Director
(1971)
The Path of the King
Director
(1970)
(1970)
Peonies And Dragons
Director
(1970)
Woman Boss
Director, Screenplay
(1970)
Born Fighter
Director
(1969)
Bad Reputation: Showdown of the Best
Writer, Director
(1969)
(1969)
Tale of the Last Japanese Yakuza
Director, Screenplay
(1969)
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
Director
(1968)
Histories of the Chivalrous
Director
(1968)
Rogue
Director
(1968)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
Director
(1968)
The Domain: Severed Relations
Director
(1967)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
Director
(1967)
The Chivalrous Life
Director
(1967)
The Domain: White Blade
Director
(1967)
(1966)
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
Director
(1966)
(1966)
Debt of Honor
Director
(1966)
Japan's Most Chivalrous
Director
(1965)
One Man's Chivalry
Director
(1965)
The Kingdom of Jirocho 4
Writer, Director
(1965)
(1965)
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
Director
(1964)
The Domain
Director
(1964)
The Kingdom of Jirocho 3
Director, Writer
(1963)
53 Stages of Action
Director, Screenplay
(1963)
The Kingdom of Jirocho 2
Screenplay, Director
(1963)
(1963)
The Kingdom of Jirocho 1
Director, Screenplay
(1963)
Tattoo of Love
Director
(1963)
Kyu-chan, Draw Your Sword
Director
(1962)
Yakuza Official
Director, Screenplay
(1962)
Lady Sen and Hideyori
Director
(1962)
A Revengeful Raid
Director, Screenplay
(1962)
(1961)
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: The Youngest Boss in the Tokai Region
Director, Screenplay
(1961)
Edo Purebreed
Director
(1961)
Mask of the Moon
Director
(1961)
Works of the Fish Man
Director
(1960)
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: Boss of the Tokai Region
Director, Writer
(1960)
Yakuza of Ina
Director, Screenplay
(1960)
Runway to Hell
Director
(1960)
(1959)
Evil Man of Edo
Director
(1959)
Goblin in Stirrups
Director
(1959)
An Actor's Revenge
Director
(1959)
Whirlwind Magistrate
Director
(1959)
Echo in the Mountains
Director
(1958)
The Traveling Ruffian
Screenplay, Director
(1958)
Bull's Eye of Love
Screenplay, Director
(1958)
Kanbei's Bargain Sale
Director
(1958)
Fighting Disposition
Director
(1958)
Fearless Opposition
Director
(1957)
Pure-Hearted Unit
Director
(1957)
Street of Ronin
Director, Screenplay
(1957)
Temple of Revenge
Director
(1955)
(1955)
Blood Festival of Akagi
Director
(1955)
Such is Life
Screenplay, Director
(1954)
Jirocho's New Year
Director
(1954)
Jirocho in Disgrace
Director
(1954)
Last of the Wild Ones
Director
(1954)
Daikichi Konomura
Director, Screenplay
(1954)
Yakuza bayashi
Director, Screenplay
(1953)
Jirocho's Home-Coming
Director
(1953)
Jirocho Strikes a Daring Blow
Director
(1953)
Jirocho, the Hunted
Director
(1953)
Jirocho Begins His Roving Life
Director
(1953)
Her Captive Gamblers
Director
(1953)
Night in Hawaii
Director
(1953)
The Last Embrace
Director
(1953)
続・丹下左膳
Director
(1952)
Divorce
Director
(1952)
Jirocho Rises in Fame
Director
(1952)
武蔵と小次郎
Director
(1952)
すっ飛び駕
Director
(1951)
豪快三人男
Director
(1951)
The Killing of Otsuya
Director
(1951)
(1950)
(1950)
A Thousand Standards of Stone
Director
(1950)
Fencing Master
Director
(1950)
Sugawara denju tenarai kagami
Director
(1949)
(1948)
Golden Devil
Director
(1948)
Golden Devil Part 2
Director
(1948)
Ghosts Die at Dawn
Director
(1948)
Gate of Flesh
Director
(1946)
Waiting Woman
Director
(1946)
Iki na fûraibô
Director, Producer
(1946)
Nonkina tosan
Director
(1945)
Victory Song
Director, Producer
(1945)
Sennichimae fukin
Director
(1945)
The Sword
Executive Producer
(1944)
Sinking the Unsinkable
Director
(1943)
Miss Hanako
Director
(1943)
The Opium War
Director
(1942)
Onna keizu
Director
(1942)
The Man Who Waited
Director
(1941)
(1941)
Iemitsu and Hikoza
Director
(1941)
A Man's Flower Road of Triumph
Director
(1941)
Dancers of Awa
Director, Writer
(1940)
Oda Nobunaga
Director
(1940)
Zoku Shimizu Minato
Director
(1939)
Singing Lovebirds
Director
(1938)
Yaji And Kita's Traveling Diary
Director
(1938)
Kurama Tengu
Director
(1938)
Chushingura
Director
(1937)
honchō kai neko Tsutō
Director
(1937)
Jiraiya
Director
(1937)
Echo of Love
Director
(1937)
Blood Spilled at Takadanobaba
Director
(1936)
Goronbo-gai
Director
(1936)
Kunisada Chūji: Shinshū komoriuta
Director, Screenplay
(1932)
Banquet Under the Midnight Sun
Director
(1929)
(1929)
Samurai Town Story Part II
Director
(1929)
Beheading Place
Director
(1928)
Keai-dori
Director
(1928)
Samurai Town Story Part I
Director
(1928)
Sozenji Baba
Director
(1925)
中山安兵衛
Assistant Director