Tai Kato Explained
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was best known for making yakuza films at the Toei Company in 1960s.[2]
Biography
Born in Hyōgo Prefecture,[3] Kato was the nephew of the film director Sadao Yamanaka.[4] He entered the Toho studio in 1937 and first began by working on documentaries.[3] He worked as an assistant director to Akira Kurosawa in Rashomon.[4] After World War II he switched to making jidaigeki.[3]
Style and influences
Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times noted that Kato has been compared with Budd Boetticher and Samuel Fuller.[5]
Filmography as director
- Submarine (1941)[1] - under the pseudonym "Yoshio Nishio"[6]
- Bubble (1943) - under the pseudonym "Yoshio Nishio"[6]
- Lice Are Scary (1944)
- Military Academy (1944)
- Sword Trouble, Women Trouble, Part 1: Change of a Woman's Heart (1951)
- Sword Trouble, Women Trouble, Part 2: The Blade Reflecting the Light of a Fallen Star (1951)
- Shimizu Port is Scarier Than a Demon (1952)
- Book of Birds (1952)
- Ninjutsu Jiraiya, Part 1 (1955)
- Ninjutsu Jiraiya, Part 2 (1955)
- Love and the Masterless Samurai (1957)
- Tales of Young Genji Kuro, Part 1 (1957)
- The Tattooed Lord (1958)
- Tales of Young Genji Kuro, Part 2 (1958)
- The Wind, the Woman and the Wandering Crow (1958)
- Eight Views of Samurai (1958)
- Genghis Khan and His Mongols (1959)
- Robin Hood of Edo (1960)
- Asagiri Highway (1961)
- The Tale of Oiwa's Ghost (1961)
- In Search of Mother (1962)
- Sazen Tange: The Masterpiece Blade (1962)
- Brave Records of the Sanada Clan (1963)
- Warrior of the Wind (1964)
- Fighting Tatsu, the Rickshaw Man (1964)
- Cruel Story of the Shogunate's Downfall (1964)
- Blood of Revenge (1965)
- Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza (1966)
- Drained to the Bone (1966)
- By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him (1966)
- Opium Hills: The Hell Squad (1966)
- Eighteen Years in Prison (1967)
- I, the Executioner (1968)
- Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Match (1969)
- Red Peony Gambles Her Life (1970)
- Red Peony Gambler: Death to the Wicked (1971)
- Modern Lady Gambler (1972)
- Theatre of Life (1972)
- Flower and Dragon (1973)
- Musashi Miyamoto (1973)
- Blossom and Sword (1973)
- The Beast in the Shadows (1977)
- Ondekoza (1981)
Notes and References
- Book: Mes . Tom . Tai Kato: By a Man's Style Shall You Know Him . 2024-01-29 . Radiance Films . 56-60.
- Web site: Jasper. Sharp. Midnight Eye review: By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him. Midnight Eye. 18 January 2008.
- Web site: Katō Tai. Nihon jinmei daijiten. Kōdansha. Japanese. 28 October 2010.
- Book: Yoshimoto, Mitsuhiro. Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema. Duke University Press. 2000. 188.
- Web site: Kevin. Thomas. Remembering Masterful Director Tai Kato. Los Angeles Times. 22 May 1998.
- Book: Mes . Tom . Tai Kato: By a Man's Style Shall You Know Him . 2024-01-29 . Radiance Films . 16.
