Person
Tomu Uchida
Okayama, Okayama, Japan
Uchida started out at the Taikatsu studio in the early 1920s, but came to prominence at Nikkatsu, adapting literary works with the screenwriter Yasutarō Yagi in a realist style. H…
IMDbKnown for
Popular titles
Biography
A closer look
Read full biography
Uchida started out at the Taikatsu studio in the early 1920s, but came to prominence at Nikkatsu, adapting literary works with the screenwriter Yasutarō Yagi in a realist style. His 1929 film A Living Puppet (Ikeru ningyo) was selected as the fourth best film of the year by the film journal, Kinema Junpo. Many of his 1930s films featured the actor Isamu Kosugi. One such work, Policeman (Keisatsukan), has been called "a tremendously stylish gangster movie about the love-hate relationship between a cop and a criminal, once childhood friends" It is Uchida’s only surviving complete silent film. Uchida borrows from Hollywood gangster films and expressionist techniques in a story of a young policeman tracking down an old friend who is now a criminal. His work from the 1920 and 1930s possess a leftist social commentary and were often some of the most critically acclaimed films of the time. Kinema Junpo selected Jinsei Gekijo as the number two film of 1936, Karininaki Zenshin as the best film of 1937, and Tsuchi as the best film of 1939. The latter was praised for its realistic depiction of the lives of poor Meiji-period tenant farmers. Unfortunately, few of Uchida's prewar works survive in their entirety. In 1941, Uchida quit the Nikkatsu studio, and after failing to start his own production company, in 1943 began to work with the Manchukuo Film Association, although he never completed a film there. In 1945 he was taken prisoner and held in Manchuria until 1954, when he returned to Japan. Upon he return, he joined the Toei studio. His post-war movies reveal a strong genre stylist with no immediately discernible themes, much like many golden-age Hollywood directors. Uchida effortlessly directed chamber dramas, comedies, and samurai epics, often in color, and with a forward-looking dose of irony.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
1971
Miyamoto Musashi VI: Swords of Death
Movie Director
-
1968
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
Movie Director
-
1965
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
Movie Director
-
1965
A Fugitive from the Past
Movie Director
-
1964
Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
Movie Adaptation
-
1963
Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style
Movie Director
-
1962
Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights
Movie Adaptation
-
1962
The Mad Fox
Movie Director
-
1961
Miyamoto Musashi
Movie Director
-
1960
Hero of the Red Light District
Movie Director
-
1960
The Master Spearman
Movie Director
-
1959
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
Movie Director
-
1959
Souls in the Moonlight III
Movie Director
-
1958
The Outsiders
Movie Director
-
1958
Souls in the Moonlight II
Movie Director
-
1957
The Eleventh Hour
Movie Director
More credits
-
1957
Souls in the Moonlight
Movie Director
-
1957
The Horse Boy
Movie Director
-
1956
Rebellion from Below
Movie Director
-
1956
The Kuroda Affair
Movie Director
-
1955
We Never Let You Go
Movie Supervising Producer
-
1955
A Hole of My Own Making
Movie Director
-
1955
Twilight Saloon
Movie Director
-
1955
Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji
Movie Director
-
1954
Sorcerer’s Orb
TV show Director
-
1940
History - Part I
Movie Director
-
1939
Earth
Movie Director
-
1937
Unending Advance
Movie Director
-
1937
The Naked Town
Movie Director
-
1936
The Crown of Life
Movie Director
-
1936
Theater of Life: Youth Version
Movie Director
-
1934
Sun over the River
Movie Director
-
1933
Police Officer
Movie Director
-
1931
The Revenge Champion
Movie Director
-
1931
Jean Valjean: Part Two
Movie Director
-
1931
Jean Valjean: Part One
Movie Director
-
1930
Return to Heaven
Movie Director
-
1929
Sweat
Movie Director
-
1929
A Living Puppet
Movie Director
-
1927
The King of Rowing
Movie Director
