Born December 5th, 1912. Died December 30th, 1998. Birth name: KINOSHITA Shokichi.
Born in Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. Began working as a camera assistant at Shochiku's Kamata film studio in 1933. He transferred to Shochiku"s Ofuna film studio in 1936 and became the assistant director to SHIMAZU Yasujiro. Conscripted in to the military in 1940, he returned to Japan the following year. In 1943, he made his directorial debut with "A Port of Flowers" which won the YAMANAKA Sadao Prize and garnered high critical praise. His first post-war film, "Morning for the Osone Family" (46) was selected as the best film by Kinema Junpo. Thereafter, his subsequent works enjoyed great success both at the box office and with critics. Among these, 1954"s "Twenty-Four Eyes" was not only a commercial success, it also won America"s Golden Globe Award among many others and was ranked #1 on the Kinema Junpo Best Ten of that year along with "The Garden of Woman," also released in 1954, which was ranked #2. Furthermore, unfettered by existing filmmaking conventions, he actively experimented with new techniques such as Japan"s first technicolor film, "Carmen Comes Home" (51), the tilted camera angles of its sequel "Carmen"s Innocent Love" (52), and the white oval frame to express flashback scenes in "You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum" (55). This conviction to pursue new ways of expression naturally led to establishing KINOSHITA Keisuke Productions after leaving Shochiku in 1964. Even in the still developing field of television dramas he produced many programs, "The KINOSHITA Keisuke Hour" among them, as well as writing scripts and directing. In 1969, he along with KUROSAWA Akira, ICHIKAWA Kon, and KOBAYASHI Masaki, established "Yonki no Kai" (The Four Horsemen). 1988's "Father" was his final film. A great variety of notable filmmakers originated from KINOSHITA Keisuke's staff including KOBAYASHI Masaki, YOSHIDA Kiju, YAMADA Taichi, MATSUYAMA Zenzo, and TESHIGAHARA Hiroshi, to name a few.
