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Matango
is a 1963 Japanese horror film directed by Ishirō Honda. The film stars Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno and Kenji Sahara. It is partially based on William Hope Hodgson's short story "The Voice in the Night" and is about a group of castaways on an island who are unwittingly altered by a local species of mutagenic mushrooms. ''Matango'' was different from Honda's other films of the period as it explored darker themes and featured a more desolate look. Upon the film's release in Japan, it was nearly banned due to scenes that depicted characters resembling Hibakusha, victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film was released directly to television in the United States in a shortened form. Retrospective reviews generally commented on how the film varied from Honda's other work, with its darker tone. Plot In a hospital in Tokyo, a university professor named Kenji Murai is visited by a man who asks him about the events that led him to the hospital. The story is about a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Voice In The Night
"The Voice in the Night" is a short story by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in the November 1907 edition of ''Blue Book Magazine''. The story has been adapted a number of times, most prominently in the 1963 Japanese film ''Matango''. Weird fungi in the shape of animals or humans are a recurring theme in Hodgson's stories and novels; for example, in the novel ''The Boats of the "Glen Carrig"'' the survivors of a shipwreck come across tree-like plants that mimic (or, perhaps, have absorbed) birds and people. Publication history After its first outing, the story was reprinted numerous times: in collections of Hodgson's stories like '' Deep Waters'', in more general anthologies like '' Beyond Time and Space'', as well as in other publications like ''Twilight Zone Magazine''. It also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's paperback anthology ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV'' which appeared in several imprints, e.g. Simon and Schuster ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, ''Aoi Shinju, The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead him to direct three subsequent drama films. In 1954, Honda directed and co-wrote ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'', which became a box office success in Japan, and was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards. Because of the film's commercial success in Japan, it spawned a Godzilla (franchise), multimedia franchise, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadao Bekku
was a Japanese classical composer. His works include five symphonies, film scores, a flute sonata, a piano concerto, choral work and art songs, and the opera, '' Prince Arima''. His work took strong influence from jazz. His best-known works include the film score ''Matango'' (1963). Major works Operas * ''A Story of Three Women (Le dit des trois femmes)'' (1964) * ''有間皇子 (Prince Arima (Arima-no Miko))'' (1963–67) * ''Aoi-no-ue'' Orchestral works * ''Deux mouvements pour orchestre'' (1946) * ''Suite classique'' (1947) * ''Introduction et Allegro'' (1954) * ''Deux prières'' (1956) * ''Symphonietta for String Orchestra'' (1959) * ''Symphony No. 1'' (1961) * ''Concerto pour violon et orchestre'' (1969) * ''Concerto pour alto et orchestre'' (1971) * ''Symphony No. 2'' (1977) * ''Concerto pour piano et orchestre'' (1980) * ''Festival Overture'' (1981) * ''Symphony No. 3 "Spring"'' (1984) * ''Memories of Pictures'': Suite for Wind Band (1987/2005) * ''March "Be Pure, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeshi Kimura
, better known by his pen name , was a Japanese screenwriter who wrote many films for Toho studios. Kimura scripted several films for director Ishirō Honda, including ''Matango'', '' Frankenstein vs. Baragon'', ''The War of the Gargantuas'', ''King Kong Escapes'', and ''Destroy All Monsters''. He was a member of the Japanese Communist Party whose screenplays often included political themes. His scripts are frequently contrasted with those written by Shinichi Sekizawa, whose scripts for kaiju films typically had a more lightweight, "fun" tone. Kimura considered the screenplay for Ishirō Honda's ''Matango'' to be his best work, and he considered all of his scripts from ''Frankenstein Conquers the World'' onward to be merely work for hire. Kimura was known for having a dark and gloomy personality, and he was reportedly never very close to any of his fellow Toho employees. He died from a throat obstruction in his Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hideyo Amamoto
was a prolific Japanese actor from the Wakamatsu ward of Kitakyūshū best known for portraying Dr. Shinigami in the original '' Kamen Rider'' series as well as many other characters in tokusatsu films and the ''Godzilla'' series. Amamoto also used the pseudonym of Eisei Amamoto for most of his career, Eisei being a misreading of the kanji in his real name, Hideyo. He died on March 23, 2003 of complication from pneumonia at the age of 77. Film and television credits 1950 *''Nijushi no hitomi'' (1954) as Hisako's husband *''The Garden of Women'' (1954) as Professor (uncredited) *''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) as Ôishi Sensei no Otto *''Ai wa furu hoshi no kanata ni'' (1956) as Chen LongCheng *''Yûwaku'' (1957) as Kyôzô Ikegami *''Kunin no shikeishû'' (1957) as Takao Nakamura *''Yatsu ga satsujinsha da'' (1958) *''Mikkokusha wa dare ka'' (1958) as Nakao *''Jinsei gekijô - Seishun hen'' (1958) * (1959) *'' Songoku: The Road to the West'' (1959) *''Aru kengo no shogai'' (1959) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kumi Mizuno
is a Japanese actress best known for appearing in several Toho kaiju films of the 1960s and early 1970s. Early life Mizuno was born Maya Igarashi on 1 January 1937 in Sanjō Niigata prefecture, Japan. She was acquainted with Giant Baba, her junior by one year, who is also from Sanjō. She enrolled and eventually graduated from an acting school and began a professional career in film in 1957 in ''Crazy Society'' (Shochiku). In 1958 she appeared in ''Nemuri Kyōshirō: Record of an Outlaw : Demon-blade Hell'' (Toho). Career Her most famous roles include Miss Namikawa in ''Invasion of Astro-Monster'', Dr. Sueko Togami in ''Frankenstein Conquers the World'', and the island girl Dayo in ''Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster''. She is also known for her role as Azami in the 1959 epic ''The Birth of Japan''. By the time she started working on ''A Bridge for Us Alone'' (1958), her second movie, her name had changed to Kumi Mizuno. Mizuno first worked with director Ishirō Honda in ''Seniors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiroshi Koizumi
(12 August 1926 – 31 May 2015) was a Japanese actor, best known for his starring role in the 1955 film ''Godzilla Raids Again'' as well as other Toho Studios monster movies. He was born in Japan. He is a graduate of Keio University in Tokyo. In a 1999 interview with Steve Ryfle, Koizumi laments that while he stated he has easy parts to play, he felt he could have done more in his performances. Despite his roles where he usually plays a scientist, he plays a powerful role in ''Late Chrysanthemums'', playing a young man that married an older wealthy woman to escape from the slums. On 31 May 2015, Koizumi died at a hospital in Tokyo from pneumonia at the age of 88. Filmography Film * ''Seishun kaigi'' (1952) - Shôgo Murase * ''Rakki-san'' (1952) * ''Kin no tamago: Golden girl'' (1952) * ''Wakai hito'' (1952) * ''Tôkyô no koibito'' (1952) - Shôtarô * ''Kekkon annai'' (1952) * ''Minato e kita otoko'' (1952) - Shingo Nishizawa * ''Itou shain-santô jyûyaku kyodaihen'' (1953) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomoyuki Tanaka
was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the ''Godzilla'' franchise and its associated spin-offs. Early life Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910, in Kashiwara, Osaka. As a child, he would often walk miles to the nearest theater to watch silent adventure and ninja films in the afternoons. At the age of 14, Tanaka saw the silent Western film ''The Covered Wagon'' and was so enamored by its cinematography that it remained his all-time favorite film. In his youth, Tanaka was once disowned by his parents because he focused more on his interests, films and acting, than on his studies. Career Soon after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Taisho Studios which merged with Toho Studios in 1941. After four years with the company, he began producing his own films, and his first effort, '' Three Women of the North'', was released in 1945. In his 60-year career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films. He is best known as the creator, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haruo Nakajima
was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra'' and ''The War of the Gargantuas'' and also appeared in a minor role in the Akira Kurosawa film '' Seven Samurai''. Career Nakajima was born in Yamagata. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1952 film '' Sword for Hire''. He began his career as a stunt actor in samurai films and he acted in a small role in the 1954 film '' Seven Samurai'', portraying a bandit slain by master swordsman Kyūzo (Seiji Miyaguchi). He was considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, Toho's visual effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya considered him completely invaluable, and he was employed to essay the roles of most of the '' kaiju'' (Japanese monsters) during his career as a suit a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many '' kaiju'' and ''tokusatsu'' films, the Chouseishin ''tokusatsu'' superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. All nine of the highest-grossing Japanese films are released by Toho. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who is featured in 32 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances throughout the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshio Tsuchiya
was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. ''Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and ''Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okamoto's ''Kill!''. He had a long-standing interest in UFOs and wrote several books on the subject. He preferred starring in science fiction films, usually as aliens, or people possessed by them, in such films as ''Battle in Outer Space'', '' Monster Zero'', and ''Destroy All Monsters''. Biography Tsuchiya was born in Kofu, Yamanashi in 1927. His film debut was in the 1952 Shintoho film ''Murder Suspect'' (殺人容疑者). During the auditions for Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'', Tsuchiya was watching, and was picked by Kurosawa although he originally had no intention of auditioning himself. ''Seven Samurai'' was filmed during the same time as ''Godzilla'', and Tsuchiya would frequently leave the set of ''Seven Samurai'' to see ''God ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenji Sahara
Kenji Sahara (佐原 健二 ''Sahara Kenji'') (born 14 May 1932) is a Japanese actor. He was born in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa. His birth name is Masayoshi Kato (加藤 正好 ''Katō Masayoshi''). Initially he used the name Tadashi Ishihara before changing it when he secured the lead role in ''Rodan'' (1956). Selected filmography Sahara did a lot of work for the Toho Company, the studio that so far has produced 28 ''Godzilla'' movies. He appeared in more of the ''Godzilla'' series than any other actor. Also, he is the actor who was often relied on in most of the films by Directors Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya. He has appeared in many supporting roles. Sahara is famous as a mainstay of Toho special-effects movies and the ''Ultraman'' series. * '' Farewell Rabaul'' (1954) * ''Godzilla'' (1954) – as Young Lover on the Sound * '' Yuki No Koi'' (1955) – (credited as Tadashi Ishihara) * ''Seifuku No Otome Tachi'' (1955) – as Hideya Fujiwara (credited as Tadashi Ishihara) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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