Biography
Yasuzo Masumura (増村 保造 Masumura Yasuzō, August 25, 1924 - November 23, 1986) was a Japanese film director. Masumura was born in Kōfu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949. He then won a scholarship allowing him to study film in Italy at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia under Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. Masumura returned to Japan in 1953 and from 1955 worked as a second-unit director on films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa, before directing his own first film, Kisses, in 1957. Over the next three decades he directed around 60 films in a variety of genres. His work is noted for his dark satire and fluid style. Notable films include Red Angel, Black Test Car, Giants and Toys, Blind Beast and Hoodlum Soldier.
Directed 66
1980s
- 1982
- 1980
The Garden of Eden
Director
Akai Shisen
Director
1970s
- 1979
Red Storm
Director
- 1978
Double Suicide of Sonezaki
Director
- 1976
Akai Shougeki
Director
Lullaby of the Earth
Director
- 1975
Main Line to Terror
Director
- 1974
Akumyo: Notorious Dragon
Director
- 1973
- 1972
Music
Director
- 1971
Games
Director
- 1970
The Hot Little Girl
Director
An Ode to Yakuza
Director
1960s
- 1969
Vixen
Director
Thousand Cranes
Director
Blind Beast
Director
- 1968
The House of Wooden Blocks
Director
The Sex Check
Director
The Great Villains
Director
- 1967
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka
Director
Two Wives
Director
- 1966
- 1965
Seisaku's Wife
Director
- 1964
Manji
Director
Love and Greed
Director
Fools at Work
Director
- 1963
Sentimental Mobsters
Director
When Women Lie
Director
Black Report
Director
- 1962
A Woman's Life
Director
Stolen Pleasure
Director
- 1961
The Burdened Sisters
Director
A Wife Confesses
Director
Love and Life
Director
- 1960
The Woman Who Touched Legs
Director
Afraid to Die
Director
A Woman's Testament
Director
1950s
- 1959
Beauty the Enemy
Director
- 1958
Disobedience
Director
Giants and Toys
Director
The Precipice
Director
- 1957
Warm Current
Director
The Blue Sky Maiden
Director
Kisses
Director
The Crowded Train
Assistant Director
- 1956
Bridge of Japan
Assistant Director
Street of Shame
Assistant Director
- 1955
- 1954
Madame Butterfly
Assistant Director
Wrote 20
2020s
- 2022
The Setting Sun
Screenplay
1980s
- 1985
Shoujo ni Nani ga Okotta ka
Writer
- 1982
1970s
- 1978
Double Suicide of Sonezaki
Screenplay
- 1975
Main Line to Terror
Screenplay
- 1974
- 1973
- 1972
Music
Screenplay
シークレット部隊
Writer
- 1970
Just for You
Screenplay
The Hot Little Girl
Writer
1960s
- 1969
Vixen
Screenplay
- 1968
The House of Wooden Blocks
Screenplay
The Great Villains
Screenplay
- 1967
A Certain Killer
Screenplay
- 1964
- 1963
Sentimental Mobsters
Screenplay
1950s
- 1959
Other crew 1
1960s
- 1963
Black Report
Script
Appearances1
1970s
- 1975
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Self