Jūzō Itami

Biography

Jūzō Itami (1933–1997) was a Japanese actor and, later, a popular modern screenwriter and film director. Many critics came to regard him as Japan's greatest director since Akira Kurosawa. His ten feature-length movies and one short film, all of which he wrote himself, are comic satires on elements of Japanese culture. He died under suspicious circumstances in December 1997 and may have been murdered by the yakuza.

Directed

1. Tampopo (1985) — Director
2. A Taxing Woman's Return (1988) — Director
3. The Funeral (1984) — Director
4. A Taxing Woman (1987) — Director
5. Supermarket Woman (1996) — Director
6. Minbo, or The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) — Director
7. Tales of a Golden Geisha (1990) — Director
8. The Last Dance (1993) — Director
9. Woman in Witness Protection (1997) — Director
10. A Quiet Life (1995) — Director
11. Rubber Band Pistol (1962) — Director

Also appeared in

1. 55 Days at Peking (1963) — Col. Shiba
2. Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) — Ransui Tokunaga
3. Lord Jim (1965) — Waris
4. The Makioka Sisters (1983) — Tatsuo
5. Sweet Home (1989) — Kenichi Yamamura
6. Private Collections (1979) — (segment "Kusa-Meikyu")
7. Grass Labyrinth (1979) — Principal / Priest / Old man
8. Sing a Song of Sex (1967) — Ôtake
9. The Family Game (1983) — Kosuke Numata
10. Her Brother (1960) — Son of Factory Owner
11. Bumpkin Soup (1985) — Professor Hirayama
12. Ten Dark Women (1961) — Hanamaki
13. MacArthur's Children (1984) — Hatano
14. The False Student (1960) — Sozo
15. Rubber Band Pistol (1962)
16. Island of the Evil Spirits (1981) — Ryuhei Ochi
17. The Making of "A Taxing Woman's Return" (1988) — Self
18. The Flame of Devotion (1964) — Takuji Yoshii
19. I Am a Cat (1975) — Meitei
20. My Way (1974) — Dr. Takagi
21. Safari 5000 (1969)
22. Choji Snack Bar (1983) — Kawara
23. The Notorious Concubines (1968) — Ximen Qing
24. No More Easy Life (1979) — Takamizawa
25. The Young Eagles of the Kamikaze (1968)
26. Great SFX Adventure: Take Me to 'Sweet Home' (1989) — Self
27. Kidnapping Blues (1982) — Walking Man
28. Heat Wave Island (1969) — Iino
29. By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him (1966) — Shunji Amemiya
30. Play it, Boogie-Woogie (1981) — Lawyer
31. Baian the Assassin (1981) — Sahei Oumiya
32. A Young Man's Stronghold (1970)
33. "Utsukishiki Shizuka na Seikatsu" + satsuei genba hōmonki (2012) — Self
34. Juzo Itami: The Man with 13 Faces (2007) — Self (archive footage)
35. Human Torpedoes (1968)
36. Parole (1967) — Kenji Kijima
37. Until Evening (1980) — Sasa
38. The Big Wave (1961) — Toru
39. The Gentle Japanese (1971)
40. Make-Up (1984) — Kumakura