Keisuke Kinoshita

Keisuke Kinoshita (1912–1998) is one of the most important directors of the Golden Era of Japanese cinema in the 1950s. After training to be a photographer, he started at Shochiku studios in 1933 and made his directorial debut in 1943 following work as a camera assistant and assistant director. Up until 1988, he made 49 films, most of which for Shochiku, a studio well known for its “shomingeki”, stories of everyday life in which the worries and joys of normal people form the focus of attention. Yet the eclectic Kinoshita did not allow himself to be pigeonholed within one particular genre or style, shooting melodramas, comedies and historical films. His films that tackle the war are of particular interest, given that he was more interested in the silent suffering of the civilian population rather than patriotic heroism at the front.

In collaboration with the Japanese festival Tokyo FILMeX, the Forum presents five films by the director restored over the last year in new 35 mm prints. A further six films are showing at the Arsenal cinema in February as part of a retrospective of the Japanese director’s work.

Kanko no machi / Jubilation Street

Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan 1944, 73 min

Onna / Woman

Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan 1948, 67 min

Konyaku yubiwa / Engagement Ring

Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan 1950, 96 min

Yuyake gumo / Farewell to Dream

Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan 1956, 78 min

Shito no densetsu / A Legend or Was It?

Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan 1963, 83 min