Kinji Fukuzaku (07/03/1930 - 01/12/2003)

Major Events

• When in high school, his class was drafted by the army for munitions work.  In July of 1945, the class found themselves in the middle of a firefight, and the only way that anyone could survive was to dive underneath the dead bodies of their classmates.  Fukusaku was one of the lucky few to survive, but the experience forever changed his attitude to his government. 
• Directed the Japanese section of Tora, Tora, Tora after Akira Kurosawa was fired
• Directed Black Lizard, the campy film debut of Yukio Mishima
• Directed Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, a virulently anti-war film directed towards the failings of the Japanese government
• Began the Jingi Naki Tatakai series
• Semi-documentary style
• far from the Ninkyo Eiga (chivalry films) that romanticized the Yakuza's lifestyle and motivations
• traditionally, the hero's choice is between death and prison
• emphasized honorable nature of
• Resembles The Godfather in scope and scale
• Directed Battle Royale (

Links:

Battle Royale