Shusuke Kaneko

Shūsuke Kaneko
cropped headshot of Kaneko at Tokyo International Film Festival 2023
Kaneko in 2023
Born (1955-06-08) June 8, 1955 (age 69)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupation(s)Film director, Screenwriter
Years active1978–present
Websitewww.shusuke-kaneko.com

Shūsuke Kaneko (金子 修介, Kaneko Shūsuke, born June 8, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker.

Life and career

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Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955.[1] According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. He became involved in amateur film making in his teen years, but majored in education when he attended Tokyo Gakugei University.[1] After graduation, he found a job at the major Japanese movie studio Nikkatsu.[1] By 1982 he was a screenwriter and assistant director for Nikkatsu's Roman Porno film series.[2][3]

Kaneko made his debut as a director with Nikkatsu in February 1984 with Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging, part of a long-running Nikkatsu series based on the works of erotic novelist Kōichirō Uno.[3][4] That work along with two other Roman Porno films he directed for Nikkatsu that year, OL Yurizoku 19-sai (ＯＬ百合族・19才) and Eve-chan-no hime (イヴちゃんの姫), won him the Best New Director award at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival.[4][5] The next year, his manga-based April 1985 movie for Nikkatsu, Minna Agechau, took the award as the 9th Best Film of the year at the 7th Yokohama Film Festival.[6] In July 1986, still at Nikkatsu, he directed Mischievous Lolita: Attacking the Virgin From Behind (いたずらロリータ　後からバージン, Itazura Lolita: Ushirokara virgin), which despite its strange title, was a fantasy about a sex-doll coming to life as a woman.[7][8] Kaneko's final film for Nikkatsu was the appropriately named Last Cabaret, the second to last of the studio's Roman Porno series. The film, released in April 1988, about a cabaret forced to close has been taken as a metaphor for the demise of the studio itself.[9][10]

The year 1988 marked a watershed in Kaneko's career as a director. At the 10th Yokohama Film Festival, he was given the Best Director award for his two films of 1988, the Roman Porno Last Cabaret for Nikkatsu and Summer Vacation 1999, a mainstream film for the Shochiku studio.[11] Nikkatsu ceased their Roman Porno film line that year and filed for bankruptcy a few years later[12] and Kaneko moved full-time into mainstream film.

During the mid-to-late 1990s, Kaneko received widespread acclaim and recognition for directing the kaiju films Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999). The following decade, he directed Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), which is now regarded as one of the greatest Godzilla films ever made.

Filmography

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Year Title Director Writer Notes
1984 Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging Yes No
1985 Minna Agechau Yes No
1988 Last Cabaret Yes No
Summer Vacation 1999 Yes No
1989 Who Do I Choose? Yes Yes
1990 Hong Kong Paradise Yes Yes
1991 My Soul Is Slashed Yes Yes
No Worries on the Recruit Front Yes Yes
1993 Graduation Journey: I Came from Japan Yes No
Necronomicon Yes No Segment "The Cold"
1994 It's a Summer Vacation Everyday Yes No
1995 Gamera: Guardian of the Universe Yes No
1996 Gamera 2: Attack of Legion Yes No
1997 Haunted School 3 Yes No
1999 Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Yes Yes
2000 Pyrokinesis Yes No
2001 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Yes Yes
2005 Azumi 2: Death or Love Yes No
2006 Death Note Yes No
God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand Yes No
Death Note 2: The Last Name Yes Yes
2009 Pride Yes No
2011 Messiah Yes No
2012 The Centenarian Clock Yes No
2013 The Sacrifice Dilemma Yes No
Jellyfish Yes No
2014 Danger Dolls Yes No
2016 Scanner Yes No
2017 Linking Love Yes No
Matchmaking Cruise Yes No
2018 Xi Bo Li Ya feng yun Yes No
2021 Nobutora Yes No
Iké Boys No No Actor (Japanese producer)
2022 When the Rain Falls[13] Yes No
2024 Gold Boy[14] Yes No

Assistant director

  • From Orion's Testimony: Formula for Murder (1978)
  • Rape and Death of a Housewife (1978)
  • Koko dai panikku (1978)
  • Female Teacher Hunting (1982)
  • Gigolo: A Docu-Drama (1982)
  • Ecstasy Sisters (1982)
  • Oh! Takarazuka (1982)
  • The Family Game (1983)
  • Girl Rape Case: Red Shoes (1983)
  • Madam Scandal - Final Scandal: Madam Likes It Hard (1983)
  • Main Theme (1984)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Biography". Shusuke Kaneko Official Website. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  2. ^ 金子修介 (in Japanese). JMDB. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  3. ^ a b Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Godalming, Surrey, England: FAB Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.
  4. ^ a b Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books: Asian Cult Cinema Publications. pp. 447–449. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  5. ^ 第６回ヨコハマ映画祭: １９８４年日本映画個人賞 (in Japanese). Yokohama Film Festival homepage. 2005-10-30. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  6. ^ １９８５年度 日本映画ベストテン (in Japanese). Yokohama Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  7. ^ Weisser, pp. 272-273
  8. ^ いたずらロリータ 後からバージン (in Japanese). JMDB. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  9. ^ Weisser, p. 227
  10. ^ ラスト・キャバレー(1988) (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  11. ^ 第１０回ヨコハマ映画祭 １９８８年日本映画個人賞. homepage3.nifty.com/yokohama-eigasai (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  12. ^ Sharp. pp. 129-130
  13. ^ "百合の雨音". eiga.com. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  14. ^ "ゴールド・ボーイ". eiga.com. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
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