Directing
Hiromichi Horikawa
Born 1916-12-28 · Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Hiromichi Horikawa (28 November 1916 – 5 September 2012) was a Japanese director and assistant director. Akira Kurosawa’s assistant on numerous films including Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954), Horikawa never achieved his mentor’s fame. Kurosawa himself scripted his directorial debut, Tomorrow I’ll Be a Fire-Tree (1955), about an adolescent and the first three women in his life. A concern with youthful experience was also visible in Horikawa’s second and third films, Summer in Eclipse (1956), a taiyōzoku (“sun tribe”) film based on a Shintarō Ishihara novel, and Last Days of the Samurai (1957), a reworking of the Chūshingura story that focused particularly on the youngest of the participating ronin and his fiancée. Another retelling of a classical Japanese story was the Chikamatsu adaptation The Oil-Hell Murder (1957), after which Horikawa returned to contemporary subject matter with The Naked General (1958), a portrait of mentally handicapped collage artist Kiyoshi Yamashita. During the sixties, Horikawa made several thrillers, the socially conscious aspects of which suggest the continuing influence of Kurosawa while also evoking Masaki Kobayashi, whose regular actor Tatsuya Nakadai appeared in The Blue Beast (1960), Pressure of Guilt (1963), and The Last Judgement (1965). Later, Horikawa’s drama Good-bye Moscow (1968) used the relationship between a Japanese jazz pianist, an American soldier on leave from Vietnam, and a group of young Russian dissidents as a metaphor for Japan’s situation in the Cold War era. The Militarists (1970) was a critical biopic of General Tōjō, which dramatized the military coup of February 26, 1936, while Sun Above, Death Below (1968) was a conventional if snappily edited thriller about a doomed hitman.
Acting credits
Behind the camera
7.0A privileged son betrays his family for the favors of a geisha in 18th century Osaka.
The Oil-Hell Murder
1957
NRNo synopsis available yet.
You Can If You Try
1965
7.0Romantic drama about three beautiful sisters, based on the acclaimed play.
The Path Under the Platanes
1959
8.3Driven by greed and a desire for his cousin's wife, Jiro orchestrates a complex frame-up to have his cousin arrested for murder.
The Last Judgment
1965
7.0Ex-jazz pianist turned promoter finds he is successful, but empty. When an entrepreneur sends him to Moscow with a jazz combo, he falls in with the dissident youth of the city, and again finds life empty.
Good-bye Moscow
1968
8.0A Japanese sailor finds a colony of Eskimos in the Arctic and decides to stay with them. He comes off at a certain moment to look for his luck in the gold rush in Alaska. But he does not forget them.
The Alaska Story
1977
7.0A film about the life of Kiyoshi Yamashita, a Japanese painter with disabilities.
The Naked General
1958
5.4Five swindle stories, taking place in five international cities: Tokyo, Japan ("Fumiko's Five Benefactors" by Hiromichi Horikawa); Amsterdam, The Netherlands ("A River of Diamonds" by Roman Polanski); Naples, Italy ("The Road Map" by Ugo Gregoretti); Paris, France ("The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower" by Claude Chabrol); and Marrakesh, Morocco ("The Confidence Man" by Jean-Luc Godard). Godard's segment was not included in the original French cinema release, and Polanski's segment was not included on the 2016 home disc release.
The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers
1964
Tragedy about a terminally ill girl.
Have Wings on Your Heart
1978
Tragedy about a terminally ill girl.
Have Wings on Your Heart
1978
NRAsian Blue focuses on Koreans brought to Japan to work in forced-labor brigades during World War II
Asian Blue: Ukishima-maru Incident
1995
5.0Suspense drama about a married salaryman whose affair with one of his co-workers is compromised when, returning from a clandestine meeting with his lover, he runs into a neighbor who is later accused of murder. Questioned by police about the neighbor, and blackmailed by his lover's neighbor, the salaryman's lies lead him on a path to destruction.
The Lost Alibi
1960
9.0Seppuku Day 17 Ako ronins, including Kuranosuke Oishi, who were entrusted to the Hosokawa family, and the events of the two days before are depicted as a tragic romance between one of the ronins, Jurozaemon Isogai, and Omino. An adaptation of Seika Mayama play "Genroku Chusingura, the Last Day of Oishi", which tells about the torments of life and death of samurai living in feudal times.
Last Days of the Samurai
1957
7.5Suspense drama about an assassin charged with breaking up a gold smuggling ring, and the contract subsequently purchased against him and his employer.
Sun Above, Death Below
1968
7.5A seasoned prosecutor uncovers the perfect crime committed by a young lawyer.
Pressure of Guilt
1963
7.5The second film in Toho's series on the military history of the Showa era, Hiromichi Horikawa's war drama offers a look at the career of controversial politician Hideki Tojo and the strained relationships between Japan's government, military, and the media.
The Militarists
1970
10.0No synopsis available yet.
Musume to watashi
1962
NRSakata Sankichi, an amateur shogi player living in the slums of Osaka, is so obsessed with the board game that he spends all of his family's money to keep playing in the hope of defeating star player Sekine.
The King
1973
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
1955
8.0A Hiromichi Horikawa movie
Eternity of Love
1961
8.0A Hiromichi Horikawa movie
Eternity of Love
1961
NRBased on the story "Tokyo Station" by Tsunehiko Sagawa.
A Cat and Dried Bonito Flakes: The Story of a Swindler
1961
8.0The ruthless and ambitious Yasuhiko uses his charm to manipulate and exploit those around him to climb the corporate social ladder. His cold-blooded ascent eventually leads to moral decay as his past actions begin to catch up with him.
The Blue Beast
1960
10.0Based on the novel of the same name by Seichô Matsumoto.
Without Complaint
1975