Akio Jissôji (1937-)
Japanese film director. Born March 29, 1937, Tokyo. Jissôji published several articles on French cinema while studying French literature at Waseda university. After graduating from university, he began working at the TV station TBS. From 1961 onwards, he worked as a director, attracting attention for his distinctive cinema verite style.
Between 1966 and 1968, he directs the extremely popular series Ultraman, Ultra Seven, and Kaiki Daisakusen (Operation: Mystery!). In 1969 he establishes his own production company. Based on a treatment of Nagisa Oshima, he directs and produces the short-film Yoiyami semareba (When Twilight Draws Near).
His film Mujô (This Transient Life) is awarded the grand prize at the film festival of Locarno. Within the next few years, Jissôji directs three further films for the renowned Art Theatre Guild (ATG): Mandara (Mandala, 1971), Uta (Poem, 1972), and Asaki yumemishi (The Life of a Court Lady, 1972). At the same time he continues to work for TV, as a freelance director, acquiring cult status for his movies Ultraman (1979), Teito monogatari (Doomed Megalopolis: The Haunting of Tokyo, 1988), and Ultra Q – The Movie (1990). He also makes commercials and videos, stages theatre plays, concerts, and operas, and writes about two dozen books.
[Main source of information: Roland Domenig’s article on “Mujô” in the catalogue “Art Theatre Guild. Unabhängiges Japanisches Kino 1962-1984” (in German), published by the Austrian Film Museum Viennale, 2003.]
Links:
IMDB entry for Jissôji
The catalogue "Art Theatre Guild" wasn't published by the Austrian Film Museum, but by the Viennale, Vienna Int'l Film Festival.
Harry Hausen (Nov 22, 03:54 pm) #