Kōichi Saitō (斎藤 耕一, Saitō Kōichi, 3 February 1929 – 28 November 2009) was a Japanese film director and photographer.
Kōichi Saitō | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 February 1929 |
| Died | 28 November 2009 (aged 80) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, photographer |
Career
editBorn in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University).[1][2] He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Sasayaki no Jō, "a low-budget, independent film with a visual flair that earned comparisons with Claude Lelouch and with Richard Lester’s Beatles films, including A Hard Day’s Night".[2] Some of his first films were youth movies featuring Group Sounds music. He came to prominence in the early 1970s with a series of movies about young people escaping to or searching for their identity in the countryside. He won the best director award at the 1972 Mainichi Film Awards.[3] His Tsugaru Jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics.[4] Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries.[2] He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2000.[5]
Selected filmography
edit- Sasayaki no Jō (1967)
- Chiisana sunakku (1968)
- Yakusoku (1972; The Rendezvous)
- Tabi no omosa (1972)
- Tsugaru jongarabushi (1973; Tsugaru Folk Song)
- Yadonashi (1974; The Homeless)
References
edit- ^ "Saitō Kōichi". Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus. Kōdansha. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ a b c "Koichi Saito: film director and photographer". The Times. 25 January 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "1972-nen". Mainichi Konkūru. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Gerow, Aaron. "Saito Koichi." Tangemania: Aaron Gerow's Japanese Film Page. 29 November 2009. Accessed 29 November 2009
- ^ "Haru no hōshō to jokun". Cinema Topics Online. 29 April 2000. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
External links
edit- Koichi Saito (I) at IMDb
- Saitō Kōichi at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)