Jūzō Itami

Jūzō Itami (1933–1997) was a Japanese actor and, later, a popular modern screenwriter and film director. Many critics came to regard him as Japan's greatest director since Akira Kurosawa. His ten feature-length movies and one short film, all of which he wrote himself, are comic satires on elements of Japanese culture. He died under suspicious circumstances in December 1997 and may have been murdered by the yakuza.
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- 1933-05-15 · Kyoto, Japan
- Died
- 1997-12-20
Known for
- Tampopo (1985) — Producer
- 55 Days at Peking (1963) — Col. Shiba
- Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) — Ransui Tokunaga
- Lord Jim (1965) — Waris
- A Taxing Woman's Return (1988) — Director
- The Funeral (1984) — Director
- The Makioka Sisters (1983) — Tatsuo
- A Taxing Woman (1987) — Writer
- Sweet Home (1989) — Kenichi Yamamura
- Private Collections (1979) — (segment "Kusa-Meikyu")
- Grass Labyrinth (1979) — Principal / Priest / Old man
- Supermarket Woman (1996) — Director
- Sing a Song of Sex (1967) — Ôtake
- The Family Game (1983) — Kosuke Numata
- Minbo, or The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) — Writer
- Bumpkin Soup (1985) — Professor Hirayama