Shibuya Minoru at the Forum 2011
He is yet to be discovered outside of Japan: Shibuya Minoru (1907–1980) has yet to be discovered outside of Japan. The director made more than 40 films between 1937 and 1965 for the production company Shochiku. We will be screening eight of his works from the 1950s and 60s, his most important creative phase. Shibuya joined Shochiku in 1930 and initially worked as an assistant to Naruse and Gosho, and also on one of Ozu’s movies. He made his directorial debut in 1937 and worked mainly on the social dramas and comedies that were typical of Shochiku, focusing on ordinary people and their everyday worries. Shibuya’s view of post-war Japan is sober, cool and satirical, sometimes bitingly sarcastic. He also has a sharp eye for his protagonists’ weaknesses of character and the moral depravity of a greedy society. His style is characterized by a visual excessiveness and a vitality that keeps his often digressive narrative strands together.
Honjitsu kyushin / Doctor's Day Off
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1952, 97 min.
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1952, 112 min.
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1957, 91 min.
Akujo no kisetsu / The Days of Evil Women
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1958, 110 min.
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1961, 95 min.
Kojin kojitsu / A Good Man, a Good Day
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1961, 88 min.
Yopparai tengoku / Drunkard's Paradise
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1962, 93 min.
Daikon to ninjin / The Radish and the Carrot
Shibuya Minoru, Japan 1964, 107 min.
