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Birthday:
01-06-1954
Deathday:
08-20-2022 (68 years)
Birthplace:
Tokyo, Japan
Biography
Masahiro Kobayashi (6 January 1954 - 20 August 2022) was a Japanese film writer and director.
Kobayashi became the first Japanese filmmaker to win the Grand Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. In its wake, he founded Monkey Town Productions and made three films back to back which won prizes in three consecutive years at Cannes: Kaizokuban Bootleg Film (1999) and Man Walking on Snow (2001) in Un Certain Regard and Koroshi (2000) in the Directors' Fortnight.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Masahiro Kobayashi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Kobayashi became the first Japanese filmmaker to win the Grand Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. In its wake, he founded Monkey Town Productions and made three films back to back which won prizes in three consecutive years at Cannes: Kaizokuban Bootleg Film (1999) and Man Walking on Snow (2001) in Un Certain Regard and Koroshi (2000) in the Directors' Fortnight.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Masahiro Kobayashi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Their works
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The Rebirth
Act like Junichi
event2007 star_border 5.8
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Coincidence and the aftermath of violence. A man's middle-school daughter has been murdered. His wife is already deceased. He tells a counselor he wants to live in anonymity, working with his hands. He moves away and gets a job in a factory. The woman who is the mother of the killer wants to apologize to the father, although she knows it would change nothing. He refuses to meet. She moves back to her hometown. She works in the kitchen at an inn where the man now lives. No one speaks. He eats alone. He reads in his apartment. She walks to her home and has a sandwich. She keeps her eyes lowered. He drives to work. Does either want to connect? What bond can they establish?
Code Name: Melville
Act like Self
event2008 star_border 6.7
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Mixing interviews, rare archival footage and film extracts, the film shows how Melville's works were impacted by what he experienced in his youth during WWII, and how it structured his whole approach to cinema, not only in its thematic but also in its aesthetics.
Where Are You?
Act like Kawai's Father
event2009 star_border 6.2
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A sixteen year old boy, Ryo, experiences the painful ordeal of his mother being hospitalized and then dying. The boy turns to crime, but doesn't find success. He then seeks out his remarried father, but the pain still exists.
Strangers When We Meet
event2013
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The minimalistically staged Strangers When We Meet displays similarities with Kobayashi's The Rebirth (2007) and provides a sensitive observation of a couple who, tormented by loss, blame and guilt, adhere rigidly to their daily routine. Will they ever find each other again?
Kaizokuban Bootleg Film
Writer
event1999 star_border 5.9
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Two best friends—Tatsuo, a retiring Yakuza member, and Kiyoshi, a cop—travel to the funeral of a woman they both loved.
Roppongi Reijô: Fushidara
Screenplay
event1987 star_border 4.5
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An aimless and lonely call girl becomes involved with a detective who is looking for a underage runaway.
Bashing
Director
event2006 star_border 6
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Yuko is a Japanese girl who was taken hostage in Iraq while volunteering there as an aid worker. Finally released and back in her hometown, Yuko finds herself ostracized as a national disgrace by society that sees her helping a country other than Japan, and the embarrassment of getting captured but not killed, as things of which to be brutally ashamed.
Women on the Edge
Writer
event2011
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Following the 2011 tsunami, three women reunite in the family home only to rekindle tense, ruinous relationships.
Haru's Journey
Director
event2010 star_border 6.5
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Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make.
Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete
Writer
event2002 star_border 6.4
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A girl named Ai gets a major record deal to sing a song written by a friend of hers who is deceased. However an obsessed stalker fan slowly starts becoming more like her and tearing her world apart.
Japan's Tragedy
Writer
event2012 star_border 7
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In 2010, 31,560 people ended their own lives and about 20,000 people died or went missing with the earthquake. Unemployed widower Fujio Murai’s family tragedy contains instances of both; diagnosed with lung cancer, Fujio refuses surgery and returns home with his son Yoshio.
Film Noir
Writer
event2000 star_border 7
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The movie is absurd, and a thoroughly original take on the morale in Japanese society. The images are beautiful, and the people are as cold as the snow that surrounds them. The take on Melville's "Samoraï" from -67 is obvious, but Kobayashi turns the image around and portrays the killer as the weakest person in the movie - haunted by his demanding wife and the moaning contractor, who is one of the most mysterious characters ever portrayed in a movie.
Za shōgeki
Screenplay
event1986 star_border 2
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A woman whose body and mind are worn out. A man who could never love a woman because of his distrust of his wife. The two people meet by chance and live a platonic life together on a farm, which gradually heals the emotional wounds of the man and woman, but one night, a shocking event that happens in the horse stable causes the woman to be shocked again. It drags her into a quagmire of momentary pleasures of the flesh.
Closing Time
Director
event1996 star_border 5
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A down-and-out scriptwriter spends his days and nights in the bars of Tokyo. When he is thrown out of a joint because it is closing time, there is always a willing lady to spend the rest of the night with. In the street he has countless semi-philosophical discussions with fellow drinkers, male and female, (shot in black-and-white, as prologue to the different chapters) but in the end it often comes down to one thing: the bottle of whisky that has to be finished. An encounter with a homeless young man with AIDS marks a turning point in the life of the writer.
The Return
Screenplay
event2019 star_border 8
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Tatsuya Nakadai, the world’s greatest living actor, returns to the screen in a brilliant adaptation of a story by novelist Shuhei Fujisawa. A traveling gambler known as “Funeral Uno” he is now 86 years old and returning to his hometown for the first time in 30 years. Partly told in flashbacks, he is forced to face his lifelong nemesis, Boss Kyuzo, a vile yakuza portrayed by another superstar of samurai cinema, Atsuo Nakamura! Before the two old gamblers can settle a 30-year-old score they must put their lives on the line in a game of dice that can only lead to a bloody sword duel the likes of which has never before been seen! Superb performances all around in a film loaded with surprises and exciting swordplay!
Man Walking on Snow
Director
event2001 star_border 5.7
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Mashike, a city on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Nobuo Honma is a 63-year-old sake producer. He has lived with Yasuo since his wife died two years ago. Yasuo is his youngest son to whom he has entrusted his trade. Every day Nobuo goes for a walk which leads him to a fish-breeding center, located in the mountains. He fills his loneliness by attentively observing the development of thousands of little fish poured into the pool. The second anniversary of his wife's death approaches. Nobuo insists on the presence of Ryoichi, his elder son whom he hasn't seen for a long time. Nobuo and his two sons, along with their partners, gather for the commemoration. Unspoken feelings resurface and clash with each other.
Flic
Director
event2005 star_border 6.2
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Kazuo Murata is a detective who has lost his wife and eventually the meaning of his existence.
The Happiness
Director
event2006
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the story of a vagrant (Ishibashi) who arrives in a town in Hokkaido. With only a threadbare suit, an old pair of sneakers and a bag containing all his worldly possessions the proprietors of a local convenince store (played by Jun Murakami and Akemi Sakurai) taske pity on the man and bring him in.
Perfect Education 5: Amazing Story
Director
event2004 star_border 5.4
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Because of the desolate landscape, Kobayashi chose snow-covered Hokkaido (the most northern island of Japan) as the setting for Amazing Story, a light-erotic drama about a lonely man, Kenji, who kidnaps the woman of his dreams. The woman is Harumi, a hairdresser in the deserted town where Kenji has just arrived. It's never really busy in her business. Harumi's husband is a gambling addict and spends all Harumi's money. Maybe that's why Harumi doesn't try very hard to escape when Kenji kidnaps her. His concern about her and his boundless worship probably help, too. Something strange and beautiful blossoms between the kidnapper and his victim, but can this be the basis of a long and happy encounter?
White Night
Director
event2009 star_border 8
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Fate brings a man and woman together in Lyon, France. They fall in love, but time is set to run out on them ...
Tokyo Booty Nights
Writer
event2004 star_border 3.5
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Yuji and Akiko are newlyweds. Yuji dreams of being a movie star. He lands the lead role in a Pink Eiga soft-core sex film. The director requires him to have sex with the actress. Akiko goes to her high school reunion and is raped by a drunken guy, and then hooks up with her ex-high school love. A dark and comedic look at contemporary relationships and the pitfalls of married life. The story was written by Locarno International Film Festival, Golden Leopard Prize Winner, Masahiro Kobayashi. (Pink Eiga)
New Apartment Complex Wife: Adultery is a Taste of Honey
Screenplay
event1999 star_border 3.5
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Asako and Tomoko, who live next door to each other in a certain apartment complex, are housewives who frequently chat with each other. Asako, who is on good terms with her husband, Keiji, tells Tomoko about their nightly activities, and Tomoko, who is in a lull with her husband, Shinpei, envies her for it. One day, Keiji and Shinpei, who had never even exchanged greetings before, happen to hit it off and go out for a drink together. There they meet a pair of office workers...
Apartment Wife: Adulterous Love
Screenplay
event2000 star_border 2.5
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Two wives who leave their husbands behind and go on a hot spring trip, and two husbands who play homosexual games because it's not fair for them to be the only ones enjoying it. In contrast to the wives, who warm each other's bodies with hot water and lesbian play, the husbands cool each other's bodies by facing each other naked on a dark table with a bottle of sugar. There is another couple in danger of getting married because their parents disapprove of their relationship, but these two also change their mind, saying that marriage is between them. The story focuses on the liberation and change of consciousness of these three couples, who audaciously kiss on the street to get warm, and rethink their love and freedom.
The Lustful Sister-in-Law 2: Erotic Games
Screenplay
event1999 star_border 3.5
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Japanese pink film.
Lusty Hot Spring
Writer
event1999 star_border 1
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Kiriko is a beautiful woman working in a quiet hot spring town. The owner of the inn, Goro, is attracted to her beauty and asks her out, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Imai, a detective staying at the inn, recognizes Kiriko's face and investigates her past on his own.
Déracine
Writer
event2004 star_border 2
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A mysterious street-painter, Jouji, wanders aimlessly, homeless. Together with his homeless pals, he makes his living by selling his paintings on the street. His paintings, dynamically exploding on pieces of cardboard, catch the eyes of Kyoko, an art dealer. He can feel alive only if he keeps painting, but unable to find something to fill his void inside, he tries to drown himself in alcohol. Drawn to Jouji, Kyoko commissions him to paint for her. The two travel to a secluded mountain-side, and there Jouji becomes inspired both by the natural surroundings and Kyoko herself.
Tandem
Screenplay
event1994 star_border 4.4
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The story of two men, one middle aged one mid twenties, who make friends and exchange cigarettes and stories of their sex lives, unaware they have unwittingly exchanged partners. The story, told in flashbacks, as the two men travel through the night on a motorcycle, is loaded with highly charged eroticism. Sex and violence are juxtaposed against the drabness of the men's everyday lives, effectively blurring the line between what is real and what is fantasy. Founded on the well-known myth of furtive sexual gropers on the rush-hour Tokyo commuter trains, Tandem is a low-key masterpiece of Japanese Pink Cinema.
Lear on the Shore
Producer
event2017 star_border 6
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Kuwahata Chokichi used to be a famous actor, but now he's suspected to be suffering from dementia. He is betrayed by his older daughter, Yukiko, her husband-cum-his-former-disciple, Ikuo, and Yukiko's lover, a mysterious driver, and gets sent to a high-class old folks' home. One day, Choukichi runs away from the home and wanders to the beach where he meets his younger daughter, Nobuko, who he had with his lover. Although he had thrown Nobuko out in the past, he begins to imagine seeing her as the image of Cordelia, who is the beloved daughter of King Lear, after talking to her. Gradually, his past memories start to come back to him, and Choukichi heads towards the world of insanity.
Drops of eros
Screenplay
event1999 star_border 3.5
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Ito, a film director with no money and no woman, is agonizing every night over a violent love affair he hears from a neighbor who has recently moved in. One day, his neighbor, Honda, comes to visit Ito. He had apparently eloped with the daughter of a yakuza and was asking Ito to hide her for him. Ito tried to say no to the dangerous offer, but the 300,000 yen was too much to resist, and he ended up accepting the offer...
Adultery Diary: One More Time While I'm Still Wet
Screenplay
event1996 star_border 4
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Kumiko, who goes to a culture center with her husband's permission, has fallen prey to the instructor, Oikawa. Akiko, who also attends the same class, is single but also has a physical relationship with Oikawa. When Akiko finds out that Oikawa is also having an affair with Kumiko, she quits the class and starts a relationship with Kumiko's husband...
Lascivious Nurse Uniform Diary: Two or Three Times, While I'm Wet
Writer
event1997 star_border 4.5
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A pink drama about a nurse who falls in love with a movie sound recorder.
Apartment Wife: Adultery in broad daylight
Writer
event1997 star_border 4.5
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Asako, who has been married for eight years and has no children, is dissatisfied with her husband who comes home late every night, but she lives peacefully with him after he stops his unfaithful habit. However, a man she meets at a bowling alley with her neighbor Michiko and a beautiful woman who Asako's husband is interested in, cause changes in their lives.
My Brother's Lover
Screenplay
event1998 star_border 4.5
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Kenji breaks up with his girlfriend and goes to stay with his brother, Ryosuke, who is married but is having an affair with a local waitress. It becomes clear quickly that Ryosuke is unhappy with his marriage to Haruyo, who desperately tries to get them to reconnect. One night Kenji goes out alone, to see the mistress of his brother...and they fool around.
New and impatient son-in-law, promiscuous relationship
Writer
event2001 star_border 3.5
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2001 pink drama.
A Duel Tale
Screenplay
event2015 star_border 8
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Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword to protect those he loves in this adaptation of a Fujisawa Shuhei novel. As a ”Heya-zumi” (essentially a freeloader living off his family) Sanosuke has one last chance to help his grandniece escape from the cruel samurai of an arranged marriage. Nakadai proves he ”still has it,” when fate forces him into a deadly duel. This award winning samurai drama from the pen of noted author Fujisawa Shuhei is a tribute to one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen!
Naomi
Screenplay
event1993 star_border 1
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Tomoko and Naomi have had a lesbian relationship since their high school days. They meet again a few years later, and this film depicts the course of their love. Tomoko's strong obsession with Naomi and her intense sexual desire excite the audience. The beauty of the last scene is a must-see!
Extremely Wild Genuine Sex: Night of the Perverts
Screenplay
event1990 star_border 2
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What did a man who had his wife stolen by his mistress and his girlfriend violated see in this hell on earth? A feast of lust unfolds every night like a nightmare in Kabukicho, a city without night... A mysterious and gruesome live show!
Woman of Dreams
Screenplay
event1989
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Yoichi, who works for an advertising agency becomes heavily obsessed with a strange woman, things go unexpected, leading to a divorce and other disasters...
Lunatic
Screenplay
event1996
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The sensual images depict the love and hatred between four men and women living together, creating a new kind of love story. One night, alcoholic writer Akimoto and live-in former actress Yumiko meet Koichi, a gay drug dealer pursued by the yakuza, and his younger brother Yuji, a castrated man. The four of them flee Tokyo and start living together in Koichi and Yuji's childhood hideout. In the midst of their peaceful life, Yumiko falls in love with Yuji, but he is unable to give her any physical satisfaction. In the meantime, Yuji asks Koichi to hold Yumiko instead of him, which leads to jealousy among the men.
Promiscuous Wife's Sexuality: Pleasure Hunting
Screenplay
event1992 star_border 3
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Fumio, who works at an ironworks, has an affair with Yoko, the wife of the president of the ironworks. The wife of Shimizu, a detective who investigates Yoko's background at the request of Nobuo, the president of the company, is also having an affair with his mistress, Kenichi. Nobuo becomes angry and impulsive. Upon receiving the report, a jealous Nobuo impulsively kills Shimizu and appears with an iron pipe in front of Fumio and Yoko, who are entangled in an ironworks. The story accelerates toward the end as the impulsive murderer brings together a man and a woman in a love-hate relationship at a villa in Izu....
One Week
Director
event2000 star_border 3
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Japanese pink film.
Killing Angel Muhan
Script
event1995 star_border 7
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The story follows Muhan, the female assassin introduced in 1985's Dream Crimes, who was originally based on Takashi Ishii's manga character (unlike in the movies, she's primarily a mahjong expert in the manga). After Muhan fails to kill a young girl during a hitjob, she begins to question her existence.
Endless Lust: Make Me Squirm!
Screenplay
event2000 star_border 2
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Junichi is a drug dealer who has no place in society and wanders the streets. The only thing that makes him feel alive is running and sex. Kumiko is raped by the misanthropic Junichi, but for some reason she is attracted to him and falls in love with him. However, after being chased by the detectives, Junichi disappears from Kumiko's life and starts working at a factory in the town where she washed up...
Apartment Wife: Lost Cat
Screenplay
event1998 star_border 4
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As a newspaper reporter listens to the confession of a wife who murdered her husband, the film shockingly depicts the process by which she discovers why she killed her husband, why she started working on street corners, and how she became deeply immersed in an affair that began as prostitution to relieve boredom...
How to Make Delicious Water
Screenplay
event1989
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The lustful and intense sexual experiences of women at the beach one summer. Eventually, the women's unrestrained behavior develops into a strange love square, and their desires accelerate...
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