(31 May 1927 – 28 December 2002) was a Japanese screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

'' (1983), which won several awards and was entered into the

34th Berlin International Film Festival The 34th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 17–28 February 1984. The festival opened with ''The Noah's Ark Principle'' by Roland Emmerich. The Golden Bear was awarded to the American film '' Love Streams'' directed by John ...

. He also co-directed ''

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

'' (1995) with

Roger Spottiswoode John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and television. Early life He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spottiswoode was a British ...

, which was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series represents excellence in the category of limited series that are two or more episodes, with a total running time of at least 150 minutes. Criteria The program must tell a comp ...

Biography

He was born in

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

, Kingdom of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

(now a state of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

) on

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, to an agricultural engineer. His family returned to Japan when Kurahara was in elementary school. He was the nephew of literary critic Korehito Kurahara, and older brother of film director Koretsugu Kurahara. His son Jun Iwasaki, a former producer fo
Ishihara International Productions Inc.
is currently secretary to politician

Nobuteru Ishihara is a Japanese politician who was Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2010 to 2012. He was born in Zushi, Kanagawa, the son of author and former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. He attended Keio Gijuku High School and gradu ...

. While a film student at Nihon University College of Art, he became a live-in student of Kajiro Yamamoto at the introduction of

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 enter ...

. Upon graduation in 1952 he joined

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

studio and worked as an assistant director. He switched to

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

in 1954, working mainly as chief assistant director to

Eisuke Takizawa (alternate name: Kinpachi Kajiwara) was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Tokyo, Takizawa worked at Tōa Cinema and Makino Film Productions before debuting as a director in 1929 with ''Aru onna to gaka''. He later directed primarily ji ...

. He made his directorial debut in 1957 with '' I Am Waiting'', starring Yujiro Ishihara, and gained recognition for his bold camera work and angles. He subsequently directed numerous films starring Ishihara and

Ruriko Asaoka , born 2 July 1940 in Xinjing, Manchukuo (now Changchun, Jilin, China), is a Japanese actress. She won the Medal with Purple Ribbon (2002) and Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2011). She married actor Koji Ishizaka in ...

. In 1960 he made the first Japanese film noir ''Intimidation'' and in 1964 he made the film '' Black Sun'' the story of a Black GI on the run who meets a Japanese jazz fan with a soundtrack from

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

's band featuring

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

and

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

. The soundtrack was issued on CD in Japan only in 2007. After going freelance in 1967, he helmed a succession of blockbusters and popular works including '' Eiko e no 5,000 Kiro'', '' Kitakitsune Monogatari'', '' The Gate of Youth'' and '' Umi e, See You''. His 1983 film ''

Nankyoku Monogatari is a 1983 Japanese drama film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Ken Takakura. Its plot centers on the 1958 ill-fated Japanese scientific expedition to the South Pole, its dramatic rescue from the impossible weather conditions on the ...

'' (aka, ''Antarctica'') was a 5.9 billion yen hit and held the Japanese box office record for a domestic film until it was surpassed by Miyazaki Hayao's ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...

'' in 1997. The film was later adapted into a 2006 film, ''

Eight Below ''Eight Below'' is a 2006 American survival drama film, a remake based on the 1983 Japanese film ''Antarctica'' by Toshirô Ishidô, Koreyoshi Kurahara, Tatsuo Nogami and Susumu Saji. It was produced by Patrick Crowley and David Hoberman, direc ...

'' which is also dedicated to him.

Filmography

Film

* '' I Am Waiting'' (俺は待ってるぜ ''Ore wa matteru ze'', 1957) * '' A Man in the Fog'' (霧の中の男 ''Kiri no naka no otoko'', 1958) * '' Fūsoku 40 metres'' (風速４０米 ''Fūsoku yonjū mētoru'', 1958) * ''

Arashi no naka o tsuppashire is a 1958 Japanese color drama film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and produced by Nikkatsu. Cast * Yujiro Ishihara * Mari Shiraki * Sanae Nakahara * Kō Nishimura * Shinsuke Ashida was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 90 film ...

'' (嵐の中を突っ走れ ''Arashi no naka o tsuppashire'', 1958) * '' The Third Dead Angle'' (第三の死角 ''Dai san no shikaku'', 1959) * '' Dynamite ni Hi o Tsukero'' (爆薬に火をつけろ ''Dynamite Ni Hi o Tsukero'', 1959) * '' The Woman from the Sea'' (海底から来た女 ''Kaitei kara kita onna'', 1959) * '' A Turning to Hell'' (地獄の曲り角 ''Jigoku no magarikado'', 1959) * '' The Age of Our Own'' (われらの時代 ''Warera no jidai'', 1959) * ''

Intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

'' (ある脅迫 ''Aru kyōhaku'', 1960) * ''

The Warped Ones is a 1960 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Go, Yuko Chishiro and Noriko Matsumoto (actress), Noriko Matsumoto. It was produced and distributed by the Nikkatsu Company. The story concerns the y ...

'' (狂熱の季節 ''Kyōnetsu no kisetsu'', 1960) * '' Desperation'' (破れかぶれ ''Yabure kaburo'', 1961) * '' Kono wakasa aru kagiri'' (この若さある限り ''Kono wakasa aru kagiri'', 1961) * '' Gambler at Sea'' (海の勝負師 ''Umi no shōbuchi'', 1961) * '' The Jet That Flew Into the Storm'' (嵐を突っ切るジェット機 ''Arashi wo tsukkiru jettoki'', 1961) * '' Mexico mushuku'' (メキシコ無宿 ''Mexico mushuku'', 1962) * '' Love in Ginza'' (銀座の恋の物語 ''Ginza no koi no monogatari'', 1962) * '' I Hate But Love'' (憎いあンちくしょう ''Nikui anchikushō'', 1962) * (硝子のジョニー野獣のように見えて ''Garasu no johnny yajû no yō ni miete'', 1962) * '' I Fly for Kicks'' (何か面白いことないか ''Nani ka omoroi koto nai ka'', 1963) * '' Black Sun'' (黒い太陽 ''Kuroi taiyō'', 1964) features a soundtrack by Max Roach * '' The Flame of Devotion'' (執炎 ''Shûen'', 1964) * '' Dawn Song'' (夜明けのうた ''Yoake no uta'', 1965) * '' The Hearth of Hiroshima'' (愛と死の記録 ''Ai to shi no kiroku'', 1966) * '' Thirst for Love'' (愛の渇き ''Ai no kawaki'', 1967) * '' Safari 5000'' (栄光への5000キロ ''Eiko e no 5000 kiro'', 1969) * '' Sunset Sunrise'' (陽は沈み陽は昇る ''Hi wa shizumi hi wa noboru'', 1973) * '' Two in the Amsterdam Rain'' (雨のアムステルダム ''Ame no Amsterdam'', 1975) * '' The Glacier Fox'' (キタキツネ物語 ''Kita-kitsune monogatari'', 1978) (documentary) * '' The Gate of Youth'' (青春の門 ''Seishun no mon'', 1981) (co-directed with

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

) * '' The Gate of Youth Part 2'' (青春の門自立篇 ''Seishun no mon jiritsu-hen'', 1982) * ''

'' (南極物語 ''Nankyoku Monogatari'', 1983) * '' Spring Bell'' (春の鐘 ''Haru no kane'', 1985) * ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that ha ...

'' (道 ''Michi'', aka ''Des gens sans importance'', 1986) * '' See You'' (海へ ''Umi e'', 1988) * '' Strawberry Road'' (ストロベリーロード ''Strawberry road'', 1991) * ''

'' (1995) (co-directed with

)

Television

* ''

Tasukenin Hashiru is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama, that was broadcast in 1973–1974. It is the third in the Hissatsu series and is based on Saga Sen's ''Seibei-ryū Gokui''. Plot Seibie used to be a famous bandit. Now Seibie's official job ...

'' (1974) episode1,6,13,14,21,22,35,36 * ''

Hissatsu Shiokiya Kagyō is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in 1975–1976. It is the 6th in the Hissatsu series. Kenji Misumi was hospitalized while directing episode 13 where he later died. Plot Nakamura Mondo retired from profe ...

'' (1975) episode1,6,7,12,15,18,28 * '' Hissatsu Karakurinin Keppūhen'' (1976) episode1,5,7 *'' Daitokai'' (1976–79)

References

External links

*
Koreyoshi Kurahara at the Japanese Movie Database
(in Japanese)
Criterion Collection Essay
by Chuck Stephens {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurahara Koreyoshi 1927 births 2002 deaths People from Kuching People from Sarawak Malaysian people of Japanese descent Malaysian emigrants to Japan Japanese film directors 20th-century Japanese screenwriters