Isao Kimura
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Isao Kimura (木村 功 Kimura Isao), also known as Kō Kimura, was a Japanese actor. He appeared in several films directed by Akira Kurosawa. The first was Stray Dog (1949) as Yusa the criminal. Perhaps his most notable collaboration with Kurosawa was in Seven Samurai as the youngest of the samurai, Katsushiro. During his career he also appeared in several films directed by Mikio Naruse as well as appearing in the famous Lone Wolf and Cub film series. In addition to a film career spanning almost thirty years, Kimura founded and directed an acting company which ultimately went bankrupt. He died of esophageal cancer at 57 years old.
Born: June 22, 1923
Place of Birth: Senda, Hiroshima, Japan
Known For
Hero of the Red Light District
A successful textile industrialist from the provinces, who is beloved by his employees for his kindness, cannot find a wife because of a disfiguring birthmark on his face. Even the courtesans in Yoshiwara refuse to entertain him, until an indentured peasant prostitute, Tamarazu, takes the unsavoury assignment and treats him with brash tenderness.
Yakuza of Seki
A young yakuza, Yatappe, wanders around the country in search of his long-lost little sister, Oito. While traveling, he rescues a young girl, Osayo, whose father entrusts her to him with his dying wish. To honor his promise to Osayo's deceased father, Yatappe brings her to safety, and from a distance keeps a watchful eye on her well being.
Seven Samurai
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
High and Low
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Ikiru
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Young Lord Yakuza
Young Lord Taihei goes to Edo to find the lost family treasure, a plover incense burner, under the disguise of a ronin.
Throne of Blood
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Stray Dog
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
Summer Clouds
A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her, the two begin an affair. He turns out to be married and won't leave his wife. Her older brother tries to marry off his children and hang on to/ extend his farm through an advantageous marriage in the face of threatened land confiscation and the desire of his children to get comfortable urban jobs instead of the backbreaking work in the paddy fields under parental control.
Pastoral: To Die in the Country
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
Filmography
as 木島先生
as Toshihiko Kurahashi
as Father
as Film Critic
as Tsuchigumo Hyoei
as Director Nose
as Kogoro Akechi / Matsukichi
as Goro Izawa
as Kazuo Imai
as Shingo, Ibuki
as Mitsuhuru
as Yagyu Genzaburo
as Inspector Enya
as Hon'iden Matahachi
as Shimamura
as Saitô
as Tadasaburo Sasaki
as Hon'iden Matahachi
as Morisuke of Hakoda
as Hon'iden Matahachi
as Tomokichi
as Hirotaro Iguchi
as Detective Arai
as Hon'iden Matahachi
as Shoji Ohtsu
as Yutaka Matsumoto
as Atsumichi Uda
as Kutsuda
as Hon'iden Matahachi
as Yoshihiko Takayama
as Okawa
as Ryokichi Urushiyama, the husband
as Iwase Shichiro
as Segawa Hospital doctor
as Kazuhiko Uematsu
as Phantom samurai
as Noboru Hiyoshi (Keiko’s Husband)
as Takeo Fujisaki
as Kashima
as Ensign Tamai
as Koroku Tate
as Kanji Sakata
as Katsushiro Okamoto
as Kitani
as Intern
as Nozu
as Mizuno
as Nomine
as Yusa