| Satsuo Yamamoto | |
| Birth Date: | 15 July 1910 |
| Birth Place: | Kagoshima City, Japan |
| Death Place: | Tokyo |
| Occupation: | Film director |
| Relatives: | Kei Yamamoto (nephew) |
was a Japanese film director.[1]
Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima City. After leaving Waseda University, where he had become affiliated with left-wing groups, he joined the Shochiku film studios in 1933, where he worked as an assistant director to Mikio Naruse.[2] [3] He followed Naruse when the latter moved to P.C.L. film studios (later Toho) and debuted as a director in 1937 with Ojōsan. During World War II he directed the propaganda films Winged Victory and Hot Winds[4] before being drafted and sent to China.
After returning to Japan, Yamamoto's first film was War and Peace,[5] co-directed with Fumio Kamei. Being a communist and an active supporter of the union during the Toho strikes, he left the studio in 1948 after the strikes' forced ending and turned to independent filmmaking.[6] The commercially successful Street of Violence (1950) was produced by a committee named after the film's original title Bōryoku no machi,[7] while the left-wing production company Shinsei Eiga-sha ("New star films"), formed by former Toho unionists, produced the anti-war film Vacuum Zone (1953), which film historian Donald Richie called "the strongest anti-military film ever made in Japan" in 1959. The 1959 Ballad of the Cart was produced by the National Rural Film Association and won him the Mainichi Film Award for Best Director.[8]
In the 1960s, Yamamoto again worked for major companies like Daiei and Nikkatsu, directing films like Band of Assassins (1962), The Ivory Tower (1966) and Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967).[9] He died in Tokyo on August 11, 1983, at the age of 73.
| Title[10] | Studio | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Ojosan | PCL | 1937 |
| War and Peace | Toho | July 22, 1947 |
| Konna Onnani Daregashita | Toyoko Film (Distributed by Daiei Film) | July 4, 1949 |
| Street of Violence Boryoku no Machi | Bōryoku no machi production committee (Distributed by Daiei Film) | February 26, 1950 |
| Hakone Fūunroku | Shinsei Film, Zenshin Za | March 14, 1952 |
| Vacuum Zone Shinkūchitai | Hokuto Film | December 15, 1952 |
| Hi no Hate | Yagi Pro/Sehai (Distributed by Shochiku Film) | February 3, 1954 |
| Taiyō no nai Machi | Shinsei Film | June 24, 1954 |
| Taifu Sodoki | Yamamoto Production | December 19, 1956 |
| Ballad of the Cart Niguruma no Uta | Zenkoku Noson Eiga Kyokai | February 11, 1959 |
| Ningen no Kabe | Yamamoto Production (Distributed by Shintoho) | January 27, 1961 |
| Matsukawa Jiken | Matsukawa Jikengeki Eiga Seisakuiinkai | January 27, 1961 |
| Shinobi no Mono | Daiei Film | December 1, 1962 |
| Zoku Shinobi no Mono | Daiei Film | August 10, 1963 |
| Nippon Dorobō Monogatari | Daiei Film | May 1, 1965 |
| Ivory Tower | Daiei Film | October 15, 1966 |
| Men and War Senso to Ningen | Nikkatsu | August 14, 1970 June 12, 1971 August 11, 1973 |
| Karei-naru Ichizoku | Geiensha (Distributed by Toho) | January 26, 1974 |
| Kinkanshoku | Daiei (Distributed by Toho) | September 6, 1975 |
| Barren Land | Geiensha (Distributed by Toho) | August 14, 1976 |
| Kōtei no Inai Hachigatsu | Shochiku | September 23, 1978 |
| Nomugi Pass Ah Nomugi Toge | Shin Nihon Eiga (Distributed by Toho) | June 30, 1979 |
| Nomugi Pass Shinryokuhen Ah Nomugi Toge Shinrokuhen | Toho | February 6, 1982 |