Teinosuke Kinugasa

(1896-1982) [Film Director and Actor] Born in Kameyama, Mie. Kinugasa starred in films as a Shinpa Onnagata actor, then switched to directing in 1922 with “Aa, Konishi junsa” (Makino Kyoiku Eiga). He released “A Page of Madness” (’26) together with Yasunari Kawabata as a Shinkankakuha film, which was to be credited as Japan’s first art film. He then helps establish the newcomer actor Chōjiro Hayashi’s (later Kazuo Hasegawa) career in Shochiku Shimogamo studio, which’s jidaigeki were mainly rough and battle-based at the time, teaching him expressions of elegance and charm, becoming a main player to advance Shochiku’s jidaigeki scene. He continued to incorporate the beauty of ancient Japanese art, architecture and customs into his cinematic expressions, establishing his own stylistic beauty. In the period of his maturity post-war, he directed “Gate of Hell” in 1953 at Daiei Kyoto Studios, and appraised by the Honorary President of the Cannes Film Festival, Jean Cocteau, he was awarded the Grand Prize.