As Director, As Writer
Lullaby of Death
1982
5.0
Yasuzō Masumura
Acting
Born
August 25, 1924
Place of Birth
Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan
Deceased
November 23, 1986
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.
The Filmography
As Director
The Garden of Eden
1980
3.2
As Director, As Writer
Double Suicide of Sonezaki
1978
6.8
As Director
Lullaby of the Earth
1976
6.5
As Director, As Writer
Main Line to Terror
1975
6.0
As Actor
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
6.8
As Writer
Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?
1974
5.9
As Director, As Writer
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare
1973
6.3
As Director, As Writer
Music
1972
5.0
As Director
Games
1971
6.0
As Director, As Writer
The Hot Little Girl
1970
5.0
As Director
An Ode to Yakuza
1970
6.8
As Director, As Writer
Play It Cool
1970
4.8
As Director, As Writer
Vixen
1969
6.4
As Director
Thousand Cranes
1969
8.3
As Director
Blind Beast
1969
6.5
As Director, As Writer
The House of Wooden Blocks
1968
6.5
As Director, As Writer
The Great Villains
1968
4.0
As Director
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka
1967
6.9
As Director
Love for an Idiot
1967
6.0