is a Japanese film director best known for directing ''

The Taste of Tea is the third film by Japanese writer and director Katsuhito Ishii. It has been referred to as a " surreal" version of Ingmar Bergman's '' Fanny and Alexander'' (1982). It was a selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Synopsis The film follows the ...

'' (2004), ''

Funky Forest , also known as ''Funky Forest: The First Encounter'' or simply ''Funky Forest'', is a 2005 Japanese surrealist anthology comedy film co-written and co-directed by Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine and Shunichiro Miki. It is composed of several sto ...

'' (2005), and ''Smuggler'' (2011).

Career

After graduating from

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

, Ishii got a job at

Tohokushinsha Film is a Japanese film distributor, production company and dubbing studio based in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It was founded in 1961 by Banjirō Uemura (who was also once the head of the Japanese branch of ITC Entertainment) as a dubbing house for fo ...

and began directing commercials in 1992, receiving numerous awards in this field. His first short film, ''

The Promise of August ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', shot in 1995, received the Japanese Film Grand Prix in the Fantastic Video Section of the 1995

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Fil ...

He made his

feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

debut with ''

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Katsuhito Ishii and starring Tadanobu Asano. It is based on a manga of the same name by Minetaro Mochizuki which was originally serialized in ''Mister Magazine'' circa 1993 under the title "Daisharin" (Big Whe ...

'', based on the visual novel by cult

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

artist Minetaro Mochizuki and starring regular collaborator

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...

. Ishii quickly followed his success with another box office hit, ''Party 7'' (2000), which featured

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's ''Cold Fever'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train''. Nagase was described by Todd Brown of Twitch Film as "one of the great unsung heroes of Japane ...

Yoshio Harada was a Japanese actor best known for playing rebels in a career that spanned six decades. Career Born in Tokyo, Harada joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1966 and made his television debut in 1967 with "Tenka no seinen" and his film debut in ...

and

among others. Between the years 2001 and 2002, he created a series of short films including the 3D animated dialogue piece '' Hal & Bons'' and the 2D animated space opera ''

Trava Fist Planet ''TRAVA FIST PLANET episode 1'' is an anime OVA released in four parts by Grasshoppa! between 2001 and 2002, directed by Katsuhito Ishii and Takeshi Koike. In March 2003, the four parts were re-edited into a single feature and released on a st ...

''. Among other commercials and select TV projects including the short ''Black Room'' which starred

Takuya Kimura is a Japanese actor, singer, and radio personality. He is regarded as a Japanese icon after achieving success as an actor. He was also a popular member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. A 1996 television drama series, ''Long ...

, and ''

Music Power Go Go! Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

'', He collaborated with

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...

for the animation sequence of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

's '' Kill Bill: Volume 1''. In 2004, his fourth feature film ''

'' won Best Feature Film at the

Hawaii International Film Festival The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii. HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is h ...

. In 2006, he co-directed the feature film ''

'' with fellow Japanese film makers and old school friends Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI. He founded his own production company, Nice Rainbow, in October 2006.Nice Rainbow website
accessed 20 June 2015.

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1999) starring

*''

Party 7 ''Party 7'' is a 2000 Japanese surreal comedy film directed by Katsuhito Ishii, distributed by Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. Plot Cast * Masatoshi Nagase as Miki * Keisuke Horibe as Sonoda * Akemi Kobayashi as Kana * Yoshinori Okada a ...

'' (2000) starring

*''

'' episode 1 (2001–2002, short series, animation) *''

'' (2004) starring

, Maya Banno, Takahiro Sato,

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed by ...

Anna Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.Oricon pr ...

*''

'' (2005) starring

Susumu Terajima is a Japanese actor. Though he has played a wide range of characters, he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of ''yakuza'' figures, most notably in the films of Takeshi Kitano. Terajima made his acting debut in 1986's ''A Homansu''. He ...

Ryō Kase is a Japanese actor. Early life Kase was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. He moved to Bellevue, Washington in the United States soon after his birth, due to his father's job being transferred. He's father Yutaka Kase was former chairman a ...

Rinko Kikuchi (born ; January 6, 1981) is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in ''Babel'' (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include '' Norwegian Wood'' (2010), which s ...

*''

Yama no Anata Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...

'' (2008, remake of 1938 film

The Masseurs and a Woman is a 1938 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. Plot The movie opens with Toku and his fellow blind masseur friend Fuku walking down a mountain path, heading for a spa town where they have been hired to serve th ...

) *''

Redline Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an en ...

'' (2009) *''

Smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

'' (2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishii, Katsuhito Japanese film directors Living people 1966 births People from Niigata Prefecture