is a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

known for starting the ''Sasori'' / ''Female Prisoner Scorpion'' series of 1970s

exploitation films An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

starring

Meiko Kaji is a Japanese actress and singer. Since the 1960s, she has appeared in over 100 film and television roles, most prominently in the 1970s with her most famous roles as outlaw characters, best known for her performances in the film series ''Alley ...

. Itō worked for

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

for most of his career. In 1972, he won a Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Citation for his first film, '' Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion''. He won Picture of the Year at the

Japanese Academy Awards The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

in 1985 with his film '' Gray Sunset'', a story of a man suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. This thus became Japan's entry for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

instead of

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's ''

Ran Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

'', which caused a slight uproar in Western media as many critics thought ''Ran'' had a real chance of winning whereas ''Gray Sunset'' was not even shortlisted. (Galbraith) In 1995, he directed '' Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus''. In 1998, he directed the World War II drama '' Pride: The Fateful Moment'', presenting a sympathetic view of

Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

on trial at the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conven ...

, attracting accusations of revisionism.

Selected filmography

*'' Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion'' (1972) (女囚７０１号さそり) *'' Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41'' (1972) (女囚さそり第４１雑居房) *'' Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable'' (1973) (女囚さそりけもの部屋) *''Inugami no tatari'' (1977) (犬神の悪霊) *'' To Trap a Kidnapper'' (1982) (誘拐報道) *''

Hakujasho is a 1983 Japanese film directed by Shunya Itō. Awards 7th Japan Academy Prize * Won: Best Actress - Rumiko Koyanagi , formerly known as during her Takarazuka Revue days, is a Japanese actress and singer. She began her career as a member o ...

'' (1983) (白蛇抄) *'' Gray Sunset'' (1985) (花いちもんめ) *''Labyrinth of Flower Garden'' (1988) (花園の迷宮) *'' Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus'' (1995) (ルパン三世くたばれ！ノストラダムス) *'' Pride: The Fateful Moment'' (1998) (プライド運命の瞬間) *''Independence of Japan'' (2020)

Notes

References

*Galbraith, Stuart, IV. ''The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune''. Faber & Faber, 2002. *
JMDb Listing
(Japanese)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Shunya 1932 births Japanese film directors Pink film directors Living people