Juzo Itami Biography

Juzo Itami

Widely considered the finest Japanese filmmaker since Akira Kurosawa, Juzo Itami was a boxer, commercial designer, magazine editor, and talk-show host before—at the age of fifty—he wrote and directed the first of his ten movies. His satirical and often whimsical films, such as Ososhiki (The Funeral) (1984) and Tampopo (Dandelion) (1986), won popular as well as critical acclaim, though Minbo (1992), about Japanese gangster culture, led to his being brutally attacked by gangsters.