Kōichi Saitō
Directing
Biography
Kōichi Saitō (斎藤 耕一 Saitō Kōichi, 3 February 1929 – 28 November 2009) was a Japanese film director and photographer. Born in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University). He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Tsubuyaki 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". 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. His Tsugaru jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics. Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2000.
Known For
The brief love story of an attentive young man and a beautiful woman who meet, fall in love and part during the course of a train ride.
The Rendezvous
Yuka is a “good-time girl” from Yokohama who is persuaded by her papa to sleep with a foreign business executive so that he can close an important deal. Nakahira presents a shrewdly observed portrait of a modern, sexually assertive woman—an unsettling character for a changing but still patriarchal society.
Only on Mondays
A detective drama that tries to charm you with its story rather than flashy action. The focus was on the guests in each episode, and each time a gorgeous lineup appeared and became a hot topic at the time. The title has the meaning that "a detective who protects citizens is the same as a representative director who protects employees in a company."
Daihyô torishimariyaku deka
It was five years ago when Minako spent a night with Sozo, younger brother of her ex-husband. She now lives in a local town with a rich old man who owns a dry goods store. Minako travels to Tokyo on business every three months, during which time she continues to meet Sozo, who has married the daughter of his respected teacher.
Shadow of Deception
Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
Two inmates are simultaneously released from jail, but go their separate ways, only to cross paths again in the nearest brothel. There they make the acquaintance of a would-be prostitute. They help her escape and decide to guide her on her quest for sunken contraband somewhere off the coast.
The Homeless
A young doctor starts working at a mental hospital in the Yokohama region and falls in love with one of the patients there.
Frozen River
A Tokyo student transfers to a rural school and finds it difficult to adjust himself to its customs and traditions. One of the customs is the wearing of an old school cap by a senior. It is a symbol of courage and bravery and is handed down to a new senior each year.
The School Cap
Bored with her school life, a 16-year-old student leaves home to take a trip along the Pacific Ocean. After meeting with a theatre group she falls sick and is rescued by a fisherman.
Journey Into Solitude
Kaori, the principal of Tanimoto Gakuen, a major player in the beauty industry, is aiming to expand into Shinjuku in order to make further progress. However, she is overtaken by the president of the Beauty Association and others. Then, a mysterious man, Segiyama, appears before her. He tells Kaori that he will take back the rights to the salon in Shinjuku in exchange for campaign expenses.
Ambition in The Mirror
A woman who has just missed her suicide and a couple which has just left its political movement meet on a beach...
Secret Flower
One evening, at the Marine Tower observatory, cosmetics salesman Ichiro Iki is drawn into conversation with an unfamiliar young lady Akiko. She invites Ichiro back to a hotel where they make love but part without even exchanging names. A week later, they have a second chance encounter at the observatory. This time, Ichiro is the one who pursues her. Back at the hotel, Akiko begs Ichiro to give her sister – Kyoko, a bar hostess – absolute hell. Akiko resents her sister for lecturing on chastity, while wantonly indulging in promiscuous activity. Ichiro takes an interest in Kyoko and sets out towards her bar…
Flora on the Sand
Tadao Konno (Yujiro Ishihara) had been staying in Canada for 5 years since his girlfriend's death. She was killed for Gang's boss, Shiraishi. Now Tadao returned from Canada and Gang member wonder if he will do revenge for her death…
A Man's World
No description available.
Kigeki: koko kara hajimaru monogatari
A bus making its precarious way across a winding mountain road picks up some unwelcome passengers.
Eight Hours of Terror
A young girl is being asked about a man with whom she was keeping company, as her grandmother plays a lament on a shamisen. Then the focus changes to a couple arriving from Tokyo - the woman returning to her home, the man an escapee from the yakuza. The man doesn't seem to mind when the woman sells her favours to tourists at the local bar, just as she seems to take his attentions to Yuki, a blind girl, with equanimity.
Tsugaru Folksong
No description available.
The Blue Mountains '88
No description available.
Ningen no sabaku
A man survives a double suicide attempt, while his girlfriend does not.
Second Chance
A warring Yakuza awakens to Christianity and becomes an evangelist. The film is modelled on the real-life "Mission Barabbas," a Christian evangelistic group of ex-Yakuza.