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February 13, 2008
Kon Ichikawa, 1915-2008
"Kon Ichikawa, celebrated Japanese helmer whose career spanned more than seven decades, died on Feb. 13 of pneumonia. He was 92," obits Mark Schilling at Variety Asia. "Best known abroad for "The Burmese Harp" (1956) and "Fires on the Plain (1959), pics that vividly, if grimly, portrayed the human costs of WWII, as well as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics docu "Tokyo Olympiad" (1965), Ichikawa was the last directorial giant of Japan's now vanished studio studio system, which reached its peak in the 1950s and early 1960s, before succumbing to the advance of television. Born in 1915 in Ise City, in Western Japan, Ichikawa began his career as an animator, heavily influenced by Disney's "Silly Symphonies." In 1933 he joined the animation department of the predecessor of the Toho studio... He began making sophisticated comedies, with Hollywood as a model, but later became known for his powerfully told, vividly shot literary adaptations, including "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" (1958), "The Key" (1959) and "The Makioka Sisters" (1983). The scripter on many of the pics of his 1950s and 1960s creative peak was his wife, Natto Wada, who died in 1983, but largely laid down her pen after co-writing "The Tokyo Olympiad." [More at link.]
![[RIP] Kon Ichikawa.jpg](http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/archives/images/%5BRIP%5D%20Kon%20Ichikawa.jpg)
Posted by Ray Pride at February 13, 2008 01:03 PM
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