[KineJapan] Morisaki Azuma has passed away

[matteo boscarol]

Hello everyone, 

It was reported today that director and screenwriter Morisaki Azuma has passed away, he was 92. 

Born in 1927 he joined Shochiku in 1956, first working as an assistant director for Nomura Yoshitarō and  Yamada Yōji. His first work as a screenwriter was for Yamada’s なつかしい風来坊 The Lovable Tramp in 1966 (not the Tora-san one), a nice comedy with undertones of seriousness and satire, with Baishō Chieko and Hana Hajime. In the same year he wrote or co-wrote the script for other 3 movies and in the second half of the 60s while continuing to write, always for Shōchiku, he had his debut behind the camera with 喜劇 女は度胸   Women Can’t be Beaten (1969) with Baishō Mitsuko (Chieko’s sister) and Atsumi Kiyoshi, from an original idea by Yamada himself. In 1969 he co-wrote with Yamada the first Tora-san 男はつらいよ and the following year Morisaki directed one of the only two films in the entire series not directed by Yamada, 男はつらいよ フーテンの寅. 
He’s relatively known for Nuclear Gypsies 生きてるうちが花なのよ死んだらそれまでよ党宣言 (1985), one of the best titles ever and a underseen masterpiece, for Location ロケーション (1984), the fictionalized adaptation of photographer Tsuda Ichirō’s book ザロケーション, about his experiences on pink eiga sets, and more recently for the touching and funny Pecoross' Mother and Her Days ペコロスの母に会いに行く (2013). 


Matteo Boscarol
記憶ただ陽炎のゆらめき
Asian Docs
- Documentary in Japan and Asia
http://storiadocgiappone.wordpress.com
- Film writer for Il Manifesto
http://ilmanifesto.it

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