Who do you think are the top 10 directors of Japanese cinema? I just finished reading a chinese book called "Top 10 of Japanse Cinema" (日本電影十大) and the authors picked 20 (yes the book title is top 10 but they actually listed the top 20) directors from the history of japanese cinema.
according to the book, the directors were chosen based on polls by several authoritative japansese cinema journals throughout the years, as well as the criteria set by the two authors. here below is the list with the masterpiece (also selected by the authors) in bracket:
2a. Yasujiro Ozu 小津安二郎 (Late Spring)
2b. Kenji Mizoguchi 溝口健二 (Chushingura)
4a. Keisuke Kinoshita 木下惠介 (Carmen Comes Home)
4b. Kon Ichikawa 市川昆 (The Makioka Sisters)
4c. Mikio Naruse 成賴己喜男 (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs)
Shohei Imamura 今村昌平 (The Insect)
Masaki Kobayashi 小林正樹 (Harakiri)
9a. Yoji Yamada 山田洋次 (My Sons)
9b. Kaneto Shindo 新藤兼人 (A Last Note)
Tadashi Imai 今井正 (Till We Meet Again)
Satsuo Yamamoto 山本薩夫 (The Great White Tower)
Tomu Uchida 內田吐夢 (Miyamoto Mushashi Series)
Kinji Fukasaku 深作欣二 (Battles Without Honor and Humanity)
Kei Kumai 熊井啟 (Brothel 8)
Nagisa Oshima 大島者 (The Ceremony)
17a. Shiro Toyoda 豐田四郎 (Senile Person)
17b. Kozaburo Yoshimura 吉村公三郎 (The Ball at the Anjo House)
17c. Masahiro Shinoda 篠田正浩 (MacArthur's Children)
About the directors, I guess I generally agree with this list, perhaps with one or two different choices, though i was little surprised that Nagisa Oshima only gotta be 16th...
About the masterpiece, my choices are probably more different. I don't really understand how they distinguish between a "masterpiece" and a "near masteripiece", but anyway, if i choose my own list, i'd probably just choose the films i enjoy most, regardless of their cultural or social significance...so below are my choices:
Akira Kurosawa 黑澤明 (Seven Samurai)
Yasujiro Ozu 小津安二郎 (Good Morning)
Kenji Mizoguchi 溝口健二
Keisuke Kinoshita 木下惠介 (24 Eyes)
Kon Ichikawa 市川昆 (Burmese Harp,, 1956)
Mikio Naruse 成賴己喜男
Shohei Imamura 今川昌平
Masaki Kobayashi 小林正樹 (Harakiri)
Yoji Yamada 山田洋次
Kaneto Shindo 新藤兼人
So do you guys agree with this list? what films would you choose?
Don't forget your dream!