Jun Kurosawa
| Jun Kurosawa | |
|---|---|
| File:Jun Kurosawa from Tokyo Angel Hospital.jpgJun Kurosawa from Tokyo Angel Hospital.jpg Jun Kurosawa from Tokyo Angel Hospital | |
| Born | October 3, 1964 Saitama, Japan |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Japanese |
| 💼 Occupation | film director ,cinematographer |
| Notable work | NEKO-MIMI (experimental / avant-garde film) |
Jun Kurosawa (黒澤 潤 Kurosawa Jun, born October 3, 1964) is a Japanese experimental film and cinematographer. He was born in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture. He graduated from Saitama Prefectural Kumagaya High School and Tama Art University, Faculty of Art and Design.[1].
As a film director, he is responsible for directing, writing, cinematography, art direction, editing, acting, etc., and unlike typical commercial films, he pursues a style that "does not rely on language or story, but pursues a unique, independent, pure expression of the image[2], which is known as avant-garde cinema, experimental film, and underground film.
Biography
Born and raised in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture. The scene of the magical ritual in the children's TV show Akuma Kun (Mr. Devil) that he watched as a child was so terrifying that it traumatized him, and the grainy black-and-white 16mm film footage remains burned into his mind[2]. He loved drawing from an early age, and was strongly influenced by rock music in middle and high school. He was particularly fascinated by David Bowie during the glam rock era and punk rock , and says that the Sex Pistols's "Pretty Vacant" is still playing in his head[2].
After entering Tama Art University, he formed the indie band Gekkou Imonkyaku[3] with fellow student Mayumi Yaegashi. They perform mainly at live houses, with an original sound that combines jinta (japanese circus music) and techno, and a theatrical stage[4].
In 1985, he attempted his first feature film on 8mm film with In the fight between you and the world, back the world (One of The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka) (starring Shino Kuraishi and others), which he made with his university classmates, but he took a temporary leave of absence from university to focus on his music career and left film[2].
In 1987, he was recommended by Hideki Sugimoto, who would later become a wax doll maker, to provide the music for Aquatic 水棲 (Suisei), a film made by Koji Yamamura, who would later become a world-famous animation artist, as his graduation project at Tokyo Zokei University. He went on to provide sound for several of Koji Yamamura's films[5].
In 1988, he returned to Tama Art University and resumed filmmaking, studying under Sakumi Hagiwara, one of the founding members of Tenjo Sajiki, a theater company led by Shuji Terayama[2].
As a film director
In his early works, he produced many works in a " Structural film style that manipulates light and objects (or the film itself) by editing frame by frame". Eventually, his works began to incorporate narrative elements and moved more toward analyzing his own inner world[6].
His first feature film, NEKO-MIMI (Cat Ears) 猫耳 (1993), was invited to the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 1993, and was subsequently curated by film director Ian Kerkhof (now Aryan Kaganof), who was living in the Netherlands at the time, and toured 33 cities in Europe. The following year, in 1994, the film's Japanese premiere was held in the basement of the Ebisu East Gallery, where a row of hospital beds were lined up in the venue, creating a unique space in which the audience watched the film on their beds, drawing a record number of viewers[4].
Since then, he has continued to explore new forms of visual expression, such as collaborating with performance groups and directing the posthumous opera Satyricon [7] by the master of contemporary music, Bruno Maderna, at the Tokyo Kinema Club, a former cabaret venue in Uguisudani, Ueno.
His work has been more highly acclaimed overseas than in Japan, and his film The god crippled with one leg (JESUS WITH ONE LEG) 片足の神様(1994) is considered a holy text of Goth subculture, especially in Europe, but has also received mixed [8].
As a cinematographer
In Akihiro Suzuki's first feature film, "Looking for an Angel" 天使の楽園 (1999), he attempted to shoot the entire film using a handheld camera without using a tripod, and the innovative camerawork, which was conscious of natural light, was praised for its fresh and beautiful film footage [9] In "SHABONDAMA ELEGY" シャボン玉エレジー (1999) which was filmed in Japan by Ian Kerkhof (now Aryan Kaganof), he participated from the planning stage and began filming with a video camera for the first time as a cinematographer, but he had a disagreement with the director towards the end of filming and had to step down.
Influential films
He lists the films that influenced him as "Muddy River" 泥の河 (Doro no kawa) by Kōhei Oguri 小栗康平, "8 1/2" by Federico Fellini, "Last Year at Marienbad" by Alain Resnais, and "Edogawa Ranpo no Inju" 江戸川乱歩の陰獣 by Tai Kato 加藤泰, which he watched in high school.
Filmography
| Year | Title (English) | Title (Original) | Running time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | In the fight between you and the world, back the world | 君と世界との戦いならば、世界を支援せよ | 20 min. |
| 1988 | ETUDE OF DISTANCE | ETUDE OF DISTANCE | 5 min. |
| 1988 | STILL DISTANCE | STILL DISTANCE | 5 min. |
| 1988 | GOOD-BYE BLUE SKY | GOOD-BYE BLUE SKY | 5 min. |
| 1988 | The Moon in the One Eye | 片方の目の中に月 | 15 min. |
| 1988 | DADA MORE THAN GAGA | DADA MORE THAN GAGA | 5 min. |
| 1988 | hi ka ri | hi ka ri | 5:37 min. |
| 1988 | Wish You Were Summer | Wish You Were Summer | 4:13 min. |
| 1988 | SKY'S GONE OUT | SKY'S GONE OUT | 3 min. |
| 1988 | now-here | now-here | 7:31 min. |
| 1988 | A Film That Uses a Cheap Wine Glass to Consider Light | 安価なワイン・グラスを用いて光について考察するフィルム。 | 2:21 min. |
| 1988 | Crystal Ship | 水晶の舟は光の海を泳ぐ | 4:35 min. |
| 1988 | MONOLOGUE IN MY BAD TASTE | 悪趣味な私の一人称 | 3 min. |
| 1989 | SURFACE | SURFACE | 2:57 min. |
| 1989 | COMPOSITION | COMPOSITION | 2:28 min. |
| 1989 | Tokyo Angel Hospital | 東京天使病院 | 14:00 min. |
| 1989 | IN HEAVEN | IN HEAVEN | 7:08 min. |
| 1989 | REQUIEM | REQUIEM | 13:35 min. |
| 1989 | BYE-BYE | BYE-BYE | 3:03 min. |
| 1989 | La Dance Macabre | La Dance Macabre | 3:43 min. |
| 1989 | Parlez-moi d’amour | Parlez-moi d’amour (聞かせてよ愛の言葉を) | 2:52 min. |
| 1989 | Lenz of Spinoza | スピノザのレンズ | 13:00 min. |
| 1994 | The God Crippled With One Leg (JESUS WITH ONE LEG) | 片足の神様 | 11:25 min. |
| 1993 | NEKO-MIMI (Cat Ears) | 猫耳 | 80 min. |
| 1989 | Un Ange Passe(An Angel Passing) | Un Ange Passe | 14 min. |
| 2003 | pb | pb | 2 min. |
Director of photography
Film
- "Looking for an Angel" 天使の楽園 (1999, color, 61min) directed by Suzuki Akihiro
- "SHABONDAMA ELEGY" シャボン玉エレジー (1999, color, 85min) directed by Ian Kerkhof (now Aryan Kaganof)
Stage direction
Opera
- Tokyo Chamber Opera 35th Special Performance Satyricon by Bruno Maderna (2004)
Film music
Animation
Award: High Vision Promotion Association Chairman's Award: High Vision Award '92
- Yamamura Koji's "Heavenly Bodies' Score" 天体譜 (Tentaifu) (1987, 16mm version, 2min)
- Yamamura Koji's "Little Lunar Jug" 月の小壜 (Tsukino Kobin) (1988, 16mm, HD, 4min)
- Yamamura Koji's "Japanese-English Pictionary" ひゃっかずかん (Hyakkazukan)(1988, 16mm, HD, 4K, 12min) [2]YouTube
Award: Jury Special Award: Image Forum Festival '90
- Yamamura Koji's "The Elevator" ふしぎなエレベーター (Fushigina The Elevator) (1991, SD, DCP, 8:24min) [3]YouTube
Award: 1st place in the children's animation category: 4th International Animation Festival Hiroshima
- Yamamura Koji's "Heavenly Bodies' Score" 天体譜 (Tentaifu) (2020, HD version, 2min) [4]YouTube
Supervision and coordination
Documentary
- Ian Kerkhof (now Aryan Kaganof) director "Beyond Ultra Violence: Uneasy Listening by Merzbow" (1998, color, 72min)
Cell video, Blu-ray disc
- NEKO-MIMI 猫耳 (Cat Ears) (VHS) (1998, MISTRAL JAPAN)
- Jun Kurosawa Short Stories (VHS) (1998, MISTRAL JAPAN)
- Jun Kurosawa Selected Works Vol.1: The One-Legged God (Jun Kurosawa Selected Works Vol.1) (Blu-ray Disc) (2018, KRAUT FILM)
- Jun Kurosawa Selected Works Vol.2: The Metaphysics of Light (Jun Kurosawa Selected Works Vol.2) (Blu-ray Disc) (2020, KRAUT FILM)
References
- Monthly Image Forum, September 1994 issue, No. 176 "Interview with Kurosawa Jun, Interviewer: Akira Tochigi"
- Seibu Museum of Art Studio 200, 30 Years of Japanese Film History (1990) Catalogue
References
- ↑ Seibu Museum of Art Studio 200, 30 Years of Japanese Film History (1990) Catalogue
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Interview about early works by Jun Kurosawa, Interviewer: Hirotaka Kitazawa Jun Kurosawa Works Vol. 2 The Metaphysics of Light
- ↑ Discogs Gekkou Imonkyaku
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Interview with Jun Kurosawa, Interviewer: Akira Tochigi Monthly Image Forum, September 1994 issue, No. 176
- ↑ Archive of YAMAMURA Koji's Works
- ↑ Hirofumi Sakamoto: Materializing Body and Consciousness - Jun Kurosawa Collection Vol. 1: The God Crippled With One Leg (JESUS WITH ONE LEG)
- ↑ Opera Information Center Satyricon
- ↑ REVIEWS OF The God Crippled With One Leg
- ↑ REVIEWS OF Looking for an Angel
External links
- [5]KRAUT FILM
- [6]Letterboxd Limited.
- [7]BankART Station Theater Vol.2
- [8]SensCritique
- [9]Rate Your Music
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