Shibuya, Minoru

The early years

Minoru Katayama (his real name) was born in Asakusa , Tokyo, now part of Taito's special area . After graduating from high school, he entered the faculty of philology at Keio University , where he studied English literature. Shortly before graduation, Minoru began to have severe chest pains, which is why he was hospitalized in a clinic in the city of Numazu ( Shizuoka Prefecture ). After recovering, never having received a diploma, a young man who became interested in cinema often began to pay a visit to the Kamata studio of the Setika film concern in the hope of getting at least some work. He met at the film studio with the then-famous director Kyokhiko Usihara , becoming his student ^[1] , and ultimately in 1930 was hired by the assistant director. He assisted Mikio Naruse on the films “Nightly Dreams” (1933) and “Street Without Ends” (1934) that he directed. Then he was an assistant with the popular master of household dramas and comedies, Heinosuke Gosho on the set of the films The Burden of Life (1935), The New Way and Woman of the Night (the last two - 1936). He also worked with the outstanding Yasujiro Ozu , assisting him on the set of the film “ What did the lady forget? "(1937). In 1936, the Setiku company closed the Kamata studio and all employees, including Shibuya, went to work in the newly formed Ofuna studio, which belongs to the same Setiku.

Movie career

He made his debut in independent directing in 1937, starting with everyday melodramas about the problems of raising children. His first paintings “Don't Tell Your Wife” (1937), “Mom Marries” (1937), “Mother and Daughter” (1938) deservedly brought him great success. These films belonged to the type of sweetened family dramas in the spirit of Ofun’s studio, but they felt fresh and clean ^[4] . Therefore, the debut of the young Shibuya caused a loud approval of the press. Critics of Kinema Jumpo magazine put his tape “Mother and Daughter” in third place among the best films of 1938 ^[5] . Supportive critics ranked Shibuya among promising young talents along with Kodzaburo Yoshimura and Kenkichi Hara ^[1] . The study of moral dilemmas in Shibuy's early works compares favorably ^[3] with Yasujiro Shimazu , the recognized master of "Shёtiku", but who was already at the end of his career in those years. And yet, some of his subsequent works from an early period were met rather coolly.

Due to the decline in production during the war years, Shibuya, like many of his colleagues during the little picture period, was out of work and in 1943 was mobilized into the army. He served in China ( Shanghai , Nanjing , Hong Kong and Guangdong ). Towards the end of the war he worked in the news department in Guangzhou . After several months spent in the internment camp, in April 1946 he returned to his homeland.

His first post-war film, “The Flame of Love ” (1947), spoke of a conjugal disagreement and a desire for divorce. The filming of this project was accompanied by a grand scandal ^{[1] [2]} . Shibuya made significant changes to the scenario he did not like, which in turn caused friction between him and the author. Screenwriter Eijiro Hisaita filed a lawsuit against the director. And although as a result of this swara, Minoru Shibuya was recorded in the credits as scriptwriter, and Hisaita was only as the author of the idea of ​​the plot, but in subsequent years the director gained the fame of a brawler ^[1] . At the beginning of the post-war period, Shibuya made several topical problematic paintings “ Trouble ” (1950), “ School of Freedom ” (1951), “ Today there is no reception ” and “ Modern Man ” (both - 1952), “ Upside down ” (1953), “ Order ”(1954) and others, in which the post-war problems of Japanese society were unusually combined with social satire. The appeal to satire in Shibuya films of that period was not accidental, for he admired the comedies of fellow studio artist Yuzo Kawashima . And yet, in his works, the influence of Ozu and Gosho was more noticeable, and subsequently remained faithful to the style of "Setik" ^[6] . Of course, he himself took part in the development of this style. Here is the opinion of the famous Japanese critic and film historian Akira Iwasaki :

Shibuya is a first-rate director in his skill. His films are distinguished by a beautiful composition, smooth pace, energetic editing. In Shibuya's paintings, you can always find several pieces that strike with a striking pattern. Sometimes it’s even breathtaking to see how excellent the director's work is in them ^[4] .

The films “ Village of the Mad ” (1957), devoted to the study of difficult relationships between residents of a tiny rural community and “Modzu” (1961), a bitter melodrama about a mother and daughter reunited after twenty years of separation, were very successful ^[7] . Shibuya was equally successful in making comedies and melodramas, leaving his mark in Japanese cinema as an ironic but compassionate chronicler of the difficulties of the post-war period ^[8] .

In 1965, it was Shibuya who became the director who completed his last unfinished project, Turnips and Carrots , after Odzu’s death ^[9] . In 1966, Shibuya left the big cinema on television, where until 1977 he filmed series. Minoru Shibuya died in 1980 before he was two weeks old until he was 74 years old.

Shibuya is not well known outside of Japan. Cinema expert Alexander Jacobi explains this by saying that the main popularizer of Japanese cinema in the West, American Donald Richie did not like the director and was very critical in his books about his work ^[3] . But he is appreciated and loved in his native Japan, where one of the most prominent film historians Akira Iwasaki praised Minora Shibuya as a first-class director and considered him a very significant figure in the history of the development of national cinema ^{[3] [6]} . In 2011, the late opening of the director’s legacy by the European public began. As part of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival , held from February 10 to 20, a mini-retrospective of 8 of his works was shown. The program was so admired by the audience that attended the cinema directorate had to agree with the Japanese organizers on the re-show. Finally, after the generous consent of the Japanese, already after the end of the Berlin film screening, from February 23 to 28, a retrospective was repeated in the Berlin Arsenal Hall, which is run by the Berlin Institute of Cinema and Video Art ^{[10] [11]} .

• Minoru Shibuya on the Internet Movie Database

• Iwasaki, Akira , "Contemporary Japanese Cinema", 1958, (translated from Japanese 1962, Translators: Vladimir Grivnin, L. Levin), - M .: Art, 1962, p. 524 (S. 380-390).
• Iwasaki, Akira . “History of Japanese Cinema”, 1961 (translation from Japanese 1966, Translators: Vladimir Grivnin, L. Levin and B. Raskin). - M.: Art, 1966, S.320.
• "Cinema Dictionary" / Edited by S. I. Yutkevich . - Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970. - T. 2 M-Ya. Additions, Index. - S. 1424 (S. 532).
• Jacoby, Alexander . A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors. - Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press, 2008 .-- ISBN 978-1-933330 -53-252295