Hiromichi Horikawa

Directing

Hiromichi Horikawa

Born — Died

1916-12-28 — 2012-09-05

Place of birth

Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

33 titles

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 partic…

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Militarists poster
7.5

The 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

The Blue Beast poster
8.0

The 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

Brand of Evil poster
7.7

A Jonan Station detective, Kikuchi, is framed for smuggling drugs and sent to prison. When he is paroled, he joins a private detective agency, where he is asked to investigate Mitsue Takazawa, the wife of a local trading firm president. While secretly conducting his own research, he finds out that Takazawa's husband is the one, responsible for Kikuchi's imprisonment, who also have set sights on Setsuko, a woman Kikuchi becomes romantically involved with.

Brand of Evil

1964

Brand of Evil poster
7.7

A Jonan Station detective, Kikuchi, is framed for smuggling drugs and sent to prison. When he is paroled, he joins a private detective agency, where he is asked to investigate Mitsue Takazawa, the wife of a local trading firm president. While secretly conducting his own research, he finds out that Takazawa's husband is the one, responsible for Kikuchi's imprisonment, who also have set sights on Setsuko, a woman Kikuchi becomes romantically involved with.

Brand of Evil

1964

Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree

1955

Pressure of Guilt poster
7.5

A seasoned prosecutor uncovers the perfect crime committed by a young lawyer.

Pressure of Guilt

1963

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers poster
5.4

Five 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

Sun Above, Death Below poster
7.5

Suspense 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

The Last Judgment poster
8.0

Driven 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

The Lost Alibi poster
5.0

Suspense 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

The Naked General poster
7.0

A film about the life of Kiyoshi Yamashita, a Japanese painter with disabilities.

The Naked General

1958

Musume to watashi poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Musume to watashi

1962

Without Complaint poster
10.0

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichô Matsumoto.

Without Complaint

1975

The Alaska Story poster
8.0

A 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

You Can If You Try poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

You Can If You Try

1965

Eternity of Love poster
8.0

A Hiromichi Horikawa movie

Eternity of Love

1961

Eternity of Love poster
8.0

A Hiromichi Horikawa movie

Eternity of Love

1961

War and Flowers poster
7.0

Japanese Drama film about the female experience during the war years.

War and Flowers

1989

Asian Blue: Ukishima-maru Incident poster
NR

Asian Blue focuses on Koreans brought to Japan to work in forced-labor brigades during World War II

Asian Blue: Ukishima-maru Incident

1995

No artwork available
9.0

Tragedy about a terminally ill girl.

Have Wings on Your Heart

1978

No artwork available
9.0

Tragedy about a terminally ill girl.

Have Wings on Your Heart

1978

A Cat and Dried Bonito Flakes: The Story of a Swindler poster
NR

Based on the story "Tokyo Station" by Tsunehiko Sagawa.

A Cat and Dried Bonito Flakes: The Story of a Swindler

1961

Summer in Eclipse poster
NR

Drama of a disillusioned youth, with writer-actor Ishihara starring as the young man at odds with his bickering parents and scheming brother, while finding little happiness when he begins a liaison with an older woman.

Summer in Eclipse

1956

Last Days of the Samurai poster
9.0

Seppuku 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

Fumiko's Five Benefactors poster
5.5

A greedy Japanese barmaid serves her aged escort too many noodles.

Fumiko's Five Benefactors

1964

The King poster
NR

Sakata 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

Good-bye Moscow poster
7.0

Ex-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

The Path Under the Platanes poster
7.0

Romantic drama about three beautiful sisters, based on the acclaimed play.

The Path Under the Platanes

1959

The Oil-Hell Murder poster
7.0

A privileged son betrays his family for the favors of a geisha in 18th century Osaka.

The Oil-Hell Murder

1957

School Festival Night: A Sweet Experience poster
NR

A teenage drama film about Makiko Hayashi, a top student who is aiming to get into University of Tokyo, together with a group of other students. She befriends one of the school's misfits, Yoshiyuki Mizuno, which starts to change her life. The film follows the way Makiko Hayashi's life changes throughout the time, from a model student with high ambitions, to someone who is uncertain enough about her future, that she feels the only way out is to start anew.

School Festival Night: A Sweet Experience

1970

No artwork available
NR

A Japanese adaption of the story of the Prodigal Son.

The Prodigal Son

1964

Mutchan poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Mutchan

1985