Directing

Masahiro Makino

Born 1908-02-29 · Kyoto, Japan

Masahiro Makino (マキノ雅弘, Makino Masahiro, February 29, 1908 - October 29, 1993) was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was Masatada (正唯), but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including 雅広, 正博, and 雅裕). Masahiro Makino was born in Kyoto, the eldest son of the film director and producer Shōzō Makino, who is often called the father of Japanese cinema. As a youth he acted in over 100 films before debuting as a film director in 1926 at age 18. His critically acclaimed nihilistic jidaigeki such as Roningai (1928) made him one of the top Japanese film directors, but his way of shooting films quickly also earned him detractors. For instance, the total time it took to shoot the 1936 film Edo no Ka Oshō was only 28 hours.The critic Sadao Yamane, however, has argued that this fast filming practice also contributed to Makino's speedy, rhythmic film style. Rhythm and tempo are important to his films, and so in his jidaigeki, fight scenes like in Kettō Takadanobaba (1937) could seem like dances, or entire sequences, like in Awa no Odoriko (1941), could be filled with dance. He made musicals like Singing Lovebirds (1939) and even his wartime propaganda films like Hanako-san and Ahen senso (both 1943) could have Busby Berkeley-like musical numbers. After the war, he helmed such popular jidaigeki series as Jirōchō Sangokushi and such ninkyō eiga series as Nihon Kyōkaku-den. He directed his last film in 1972, the retirement film for Junko Fuji, completing a filmography that totaled over 260 films and included films of many genres.

Acting credits

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Film about Ghost-Cat.

Nabeshima nekô sôdô

1921

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Film about Ghost-cat.

Monster-Cat of Sanno

1914

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Arima Ghost-Cat movie.

Arima no nekô sôdô

1916

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Japanese horror movie from 1916. Produced by Nikkatsu.

Kaiketsu Ondo maru

1916

No artwork available

6.0

Raiden is a 1928 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Shozo Makino and Sadatsugu Matsuda. It is a posthumous work by Makino and is the last film starring his son, Masahiro Makino, in his first role in a comedy film.

Raiden

1928

Behind the camera

7.0

Tossing his hat in the air to pick a direction, Yataro the wanderer sets out on a journey of adventure, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. The son of a Hatamoto, he has left the samurai life and become a yakuza, gambling on life's fortune and ready to risk his life at a moment's notice. Featuring an all-star cast that includes the debonair Azuma Chiyonosuke, this is a tale of excitement and action that brings the best of black and white to the silver screen. An adventure like no other, this is one of Kinnosuke's lost gems. A series of mishaps leads Yataro to watching over the beloved daughter of his close friend.

Yakuza of Ina

1960

7.0

Yakuza of Ina

1960

A hobo exposes the misdeeds of a new yakuza.

Debt of Honor

1966

No synopsis available yet.

Kin Toyama-san's Detective Story: Man in the Shadows

1956

No synopsis available yet.

Utsukushiki taka

1954

6.3

An umbrella maker with a shopping addiction finds himself in dire straits when his debts force him to consider selling his attractive, desirable daughter to a suitor she doesn't love.

Singing Lovebirds

1939

No synopsis available yet.

The Ornery Entrance to the Sumo Ring with a Sword

1957

8.0

A wandering Jirocho stumbles upon his wife's possible murder and has other adventures while on the run.

Jirocho, the Hunted

1953

8.0

Jirocho and his followers chase the Kurokomas into the Kai Province.

Jirocho Strikes a Daring Blow

1953

7.0

The vassals of the Asano clan, who surrendered the castle & became wanderers, deceive the enemy and the public, wait for an opportunity to avenge their master and his family.

Chushingura

1938

A sentimental tale of the filial love between shogun Iemitsu (matinee idol Hasegawa) and his loyal old retainer Hikoza (comedian Roppa, playing somewhat against type).

Iemitsu and Hikoza

1941

9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Her Captive Gamblers

1953

9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Jirocho's New Year

1954

6.8

The Ni Family is the most well know and respected group of firefighters in the Kanto region. When their leader dies and the successor disappears, Tsuruji, a beautiful yet tough geisha, becomes the boss. But will she be able to confront a yakuza gang trying to take over the area?

The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang

1972

7.0

This is Kanjûrô Arashi's first film with Nikkatsu after his independent production company went bankrupt (many of these independent companies went bankrupt shortly after the transition to sound). As he is mostly famous for his portrait of Kurama tengu (and on the other hand, he's the definitive actor for Kurama Tengu as well), Nikkatsu made another version of Kurama tengu, co-directed by Masahiro Makino & Sadatsugu Matsuda who are both sons of Shozo Makino. Scripted by Yoshitake Hisa, a jidaigeki specialist who later scripted several Toei All-Star Jidaigeki.

Kurama Tengu

1938

10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Zoku Tange Sazen

1953

8.0

A classic battle between good and evil pits an unscrupulous fortuneteller who has been preying on the good citizens of Edo against a master-less samurai who founded a school for underprivileged children in a poor neighborhood. Into the mix comes a young woman running away from a forced marriage disguised as a teenage boy and becomes a student of the beloved Sensei, while he staves off the advances of a skilled pickpocket and prepares for a bloody showdown against a direct retainer of the shogun!

Evil Man of Edo

1959

10.0

Yukiko Nogami is rescued during a mountain blizzard by handsome forester Shinkichi, and the two subsequently fall in love. But when Shinkichi dies in an avalanche, Yukiko leaves the mountains in despair and takes a job in a bar where she becomes deeply involved in the personal lives of several of the patrons. One day she thinks she sees Shinkichi alive, but it turns out to be a gangster named Hayakawa, a man on the run who bears an astonishing resemblance to Yukiko's lost love. Against her better judgment, she is drawn to help Hayakawa, though clearly danger follows him.

The Last Embrace

1953

10.0

Jirocho's Tale of Three Provinces IV: All Gathered at Shimizu Harbor is the forth installment in the Jirocho's Tale of Three Provinces series.

Jirocho's Home-Coming

1953

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In old Edo, Kakunojo (Chiezo), a dandy about town, falls in love with Oichi (Isuzu Yamada), whose merchant family is much beyond Kakunojo's status. He nevertheless pursues her until her initial disgust breaks down into fondness, then romantic feelings, inducing her to abandon her fiance on their wedding day.