Masahiro Makino
Biography
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.
Directing (128 movies)
Histories of the Chivalrous
1968
53 Stages of Action
1963
Keai-dori
1928
Rônin-gai - Dai-san-wa: Tsukareta hitobito
1929
Goronbo-gai
1936
Waiting Woman
1946
Singing Lovebirds
1939
Jirocho's Home-Coming
1953
Casebook of Dandy Sashichi: Blind Wolf
1955
Evil Man of Edo
1959
Samurai Town Story Part II
1929
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
1967
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
1970
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
1969
Yakuza Official
1962
Divorce
1952
honchō kai neko Tsutō
1937
Yaji And Kita's Traveling Diary
1938
Kurama Tengu
1938
Oda Nobunaga
1940
Jirocho Rises in Fame
1952
Lady Sen and Hideyori
1962
Jiraiya
1937
Peonies And Dragons
1970
Goblin in Stirrups
1959
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: Boss of the Tokai Region
1960
Miss Hanako
1943
武蔵と小次郎
1952
One Man's Chivalry
1965
Gambler Tales of Hasshu: A Man's Pledge
1963
Tale of the Last Japanese Yakuza
1969
Samurai Town Story Part I
1928
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
1972
Saheiji’s Casebooks: The Purple Hood
1949
Sozenji Baba
1928
Rogue
1968
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
1950
The Domain
1964
Onna keizu
1942
Last of the Wild Ones
1954
Jirocho Strikes a Daring Blow
1953
The Kingdom of Jirocho 2
1963
The Kingdom of Jirocho 4
1965
Jirocho's New Year
1954
Her Captive Gamblers
1953
The Kingdom of Jirocho 1
1963
Jirocho, the Hunted
1953
Jirocho in Disgrace
1954
Jirocho Begins His Roving Life
1953
Yakuza of Ina
1960
A Thousand Standards of Stone
1950
The Path of the King
1971
Blood Festival of Akagi
1955
Such is Life
1955
Fencing Master
1950
Pure-Hearted Unit
1957
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
1968
Sinking the Unsinkable
1944
A Revengeful Raid
1962
Echo of Love
1937
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: The Youngest Boss in the Tokai Region
1961
An Actor's Revenge
1959
The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday
1941
Runway to Hell
1960
豪快三人男
1951
Victory Song
1945
Kanbei's Bargain Sale
1958
Golden Devil
1948
Golden Devil Part 2
1948
Whirlwind Magistrate
1959
Edo Purebreed
1961
Street of Ronin
1957
The Traveling Ruffian
1958
Zoku Shimizu Minato
1940
Blood Spilled at Takadanobaba
1937
Iemitsu and Hikoza
1941
The Man Who Waited
1942
Night in Hawaii
1953
Mask of the Moon
1961
Bull's Eye of Love
1958
Echo in the Mountains
1959
The Last Embrace
1953
The Chivalrous Life
1967
Sennichimae fukin
1945
Sugawara denju tenarai kagami
1950
Daikichi Konomura
1954
Kunisada Chūji: Shinshū komoriuta
1936
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
1969
Banquet Under the Midnight Sun
1932
Beheading Place
1929
Ghosts Die at Dawn
1948
Tattoo of Love
1963
Iki na fûraibô
1946
Nonkina tosan
1946
Yakuza bayashi
1954
Kyu-chan, Draw Your Sword
1963
Woman Boss
1970
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
1965
Fighting Disposition
1958
Chushingura
1938
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Kunisada Chūji: Shinshū komoriuta | 1936 | Screenplay |
| Dancers of Awa | 1941 | Writer |
| The Sword | 1945 | Executive Producer |
| Victory Song | 1945 | Producer |
| Iki na fûraibô | 1946 | Producer |
| Yakuza bayashi | 1954 | Screenplay |
| Daikichi Konomura | 1954 | Screenplay |
| Such is Life | 1955 | Screenplay |
| Street of Ronin | 1957 | Screenplay |
| Bull's Eye of Love | 1958 | Screenplay |
| The Traveling Ruffian | 1958 | Screenplay |
| Yakuza of Ina | 1960 | Screenplay |
| Jirocho’s Days of Youth: Boss of the Tokai Region | 1960 | Writer |
| Jirocho’s Days of Youth: The Youngest Boss in the Tokai Region | 1961 | Screenplay |
| Yakuza Official | 1962 | Screenplay |
| A Revengeful Raid | 1962 | Screenplay |
| 53 Stages of Action | 1963 | Screenplay |
| The Kingdom of Jirocho 1 | 1963 | Screenplay |
| The Kingdom of Jirocho 2 | 1963 | Screenplay |
| The Kingdom of Jirocho 3 | 1964 | Writer |
| The Kingdom of Jirocho 4 | 1965 | Writer |
| Tale of the Last Japanese Yakuza | 1969 | Screenplay |
| Bad Reputation: Showdown of the Best | 1969 | Writer |
| Woman Boss | 1970 | Screenplay |