Masaki Kobayashi
Known for
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese director born in Otaru, Hokkaido, known for meticulously composed films that combined visual beauty with unflinching moral and social critique. The Human Condition, an approximately nine-hour trilogy following a pacifist conscripted into the Japanese army, remains one of the most ambitious anti-war epics ever made. Harakiri, a ritual-suicide drama that used samurai tradition to expose the era's institutional hypocrisy, and Kwaidan, an anthology of stylized ghost stories shot on elaborately artificial soundstages, showed his range across historical drama and horror. Kobayashi's willingness to critique Japanese militarism and feudal codes of honor at a time when such subjects remained sensitive made him one of the postwar era's most morally serious directors.
Masaki Kobayashi
24 Directed
2 Series
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese director born in Otaru, Hokkaido, known for meticulously composed films that combined visual beauty with unflinching moral and social critique. The Human Condition, an approximately nine-hour trilogy following a pacifist conscripted into the Japanese army, remains one of the most ambitious anti-war epics ever made. Harakiri, a ritual-suicide drama that used samurai tradition to expose the era's institutional hypocrisy, and Kwaidan, an anthology of stylized ghost stories shot on elaborately artificial soundstages, showed his range across historical drama and horror. Kobayashi's willingness to critique Japanese militarism and feudal codes of honor at a time when such subjects remained sensitive made him one of the postwar era's most morally serious directors.
Movies
Director
Harakiri
1962
Director
Kwaidan
1965
Director
Samurai Rebellion
1967
Director
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
1961
Director
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
1959
Director
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959
Director
The Empty Table
1985
Director
The Inheritance
1962
Director
Black River
1957
Director
The Fossil
1975
Director
Inn of Evil
1971
Director
The Thick-Walled Room
1956
Director
Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky
1954
Director
I Will Buy You
1956
Director
Fountainhead
1956
Director
Youth of the Son
1952
Director
Sincere Heart
1953
Director
Beautiful Days
1955
Director
Hymn to a Tired Man
1968
Director
Three Loves
1954
TV Shows
Full Filmography
Final Approach
Executive Producer · 13 episodes
2004–
TV
Dora-heita
Screenplay
2000
Film
The Empty Table
Director
1985
Film
Glowing Autumn
Director
1978
Film
The Fossil
Director
1975
Film
Fossil
Creator
1972–
TV
Inn of Evil
Director
1971
Film
Hymn to a Tired Man
Director
1968
Film
Samurai Rebellion
Director
1967
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Masaki Kobayashi still alive?
Masaki Kobayashi passed away on October 4, 1996 at age 80.
What are the most famous roles of Masaki Kobayashi?
Masaki Kobayashi is best known for directing Harakiri, Kwaidan, The Human Condition I: No Greater Love.
How many movies has Masaki Kobayashi directed?
Over a 65-year career (since 1931), Masaki Kobayashi has directed or written 24 films and worked on 2 TV shows.
What was Masaki Kobayashi's first movie?
The career of Masaki Kobayashi began with The Revenge Champion (1931).
What is Masaki Kobayashi's most recent movie or series?
Masaki Kobayashi's most recent release is Final Approach, which premiered on October 3, 2004.
What TV shows has Masaki Kobayashi created or directed?
On television, Masaki Kobayashi has appeared in Final Approach, Fossil.
Masaki Kobayashi
1916-02-14 · Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan
Masaki Kobayashi (小林 正樹, Kobayashi Masaki; February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese filmmaker. He is best remembered for directing the epic war trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961), the samurai films Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), and the horror anthology epic Kwaidan (1964). Senses of Cinema described him as "one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s." Although overshadowed by other Japanese filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in his lifetime, his work has gained wider traction in the 21st century with several of his films being ranked as some of the greatest films ever made.Masaki Kobayashi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.