Iwauchi Katsumi/Suna no kaori

[mark schilling]

Stephen is right about Iwauchi being a man -- check out his photo in
Kinejun's "Illustrated Who's Who of Japanese Cinema: Directors." The first
name, however, is Katsuki, not Katsumi. According to his entry, he made his
last film in 1973, his career apparently having gone down the tubes together
with the "Wakadaisho" series.

Stephen is probably also right about the likelihood of Rotterdam, or any
other festival, reviving Iwauchi -- too bad, because the Wakadaisho films
are great, instructive fun -- and turned out to be more prophetic about the
course Japanese youth culture would take than anything by Oshima. The
glamorous life of Wakadaisho and his buddies may have been out of reach for
contemporary audiences -- cool trips to exotic locales (Hawaii, Tahiti, Rio)
and cool toys to play with (skis, cars, sailboats), but their children ended
up realizing many of them. If  Japan goes the way of Argentina, as how seems
increasingly likely, they will, like Wakadaisho's fans, have to go back to
dreaming.

Mark Schilling
schill at gol.com




----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Cremin" <asianfilmlibrary at mac.com>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 5:16 AM
Subject: Re: Iwauchi Katsumi/Suna no kaori


> I thought Iwauchi Katsumi was a man, but happy to be proved wrong.  Born
> in 1925, he directed thirteen films to my knowledge for Toho beginning
> with LOVE ME! LOVE ME! (Aishite aishite) which was released in early
> 1963.  Probably most closely associated with the YOUNG GUY (Wakadaisho)
> series starring Kayama Yuzo for which he directed at least half-a-dozen
> episodes including CAMPUS A-GO-GO, he also shot THE TIGERS: HI! LONDON
> starring Kishibe Ittoku and THE NIGHT OF THE SEAGULL (Suna no kaori) in
> 1968 starring Hama Mie.
>
> Guess he's still alive ... somewhere.   Don't expect him to be
> rediscovered at Rotterdam anytime soon.
>
> Stephen
>
>
>
> On Friday, February 1, 2002, at 06:08  pm, marco wrote:
>
> > Dear kinejapaners,
> > lately I've had the chance to watch a movie called "Suna no kaori"and
> > directed by Iwauchi Katsumi. I wanted to know more about the director,
> > but since I didn't find anything about her, I'll be grateful to anyone
> > who could tell me something about her works.
> > Thank you in advance.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> >
> > marco ciavirella
> > giudecca 796
> > 30133 - Venezia
> > marcociavirella at libero.it
> > tel. 0415229657 - 3413130081
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>