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Kōji Mitsui

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For the baseball player, see Koji Mitsui.
Kōji Mitsui
Kōji Mitsui in The Bad Sleep Well
Born6 March 1910
Yokohama, Japan
Died20 April 1979(1979-04-20) (aged 69)
Kamakura, Japan
Other namesHideo Mitsui (三井秀男)
OccupationActor
Years active1925–1978
SpouseShinobu Omori (one daughter)

Kōji Mitsui (三井弘次, Mitsui Kōji, 6 March 1910 – 20 April 1979) was a Japanese movie, TV, and stage actor. He appeared in more than 150 films from 1925 to 1975, including 29 of Kinema Junpo’s annual Top-10 winners and three of its 10 best Japanese films of all time.[1] In 2000 the magazine named him one of the 60 most important Japanese actors of the 20th century.[2]

Career

Kōji Mitsui (as Hideo Mitsui) in Dragnet Girl.

The son of a Shochiku movie theater owner, Mitsui joined the studio in 1924, making his film debut in 1925 under the name Hideo Mitsui (三井秀男).[3] His short stature, soft features, and expressive face and voice suited him for rebellious “younger brother” roles, and he appeared as a youth lead in many silent and early sound films, notably in several Yasujirō Ozu classics[4] and the “Yota” series, about the antics of a trio of young idlers that also included Akio Isono and Shōzaburō Abe.[3]

Mitsui left Shochiku in 1935 to help found the independent studio Tokyo Hassei (Sound), which was largely staffed by talent who had left Shochiku to bring prestige to the new talkie phenomenon.[5] After the studio folded into Toho in 1941, Mitsui returned to Shochiku, adopting the stage name Kōji Mitsui (三井弘次) after the war and transitioning into character roles.[3] In 1954 he joined other Shochiku performers to create the Madoka (Picture-Perfect) Group, a film production company intended to provide stability to the lives of actors.[6]

Like many popular character actors of post-war Japan, Mitsui occasionally headlined minor films[7][8][9] but most often shone in key supporting parts. In 1957, Akira Kurosawa borrowed Mitsui from Shochiku to play the pivotal role of Yoshisaburo the gambler in The Lower Depths, whose final line in the film—annoyed that the suicide of one of the characters has ruined their party—is “always shocking, always devastating when viewed,” and Mitsui's delivery, which breaks the fourth wall, is “absolutely on target: ironic, cruel, funny, horrible.”[10] Kurosawa subsequently borrowed Mitsui (who had appeared in a small part in the director's 1950 Shochiku film Scandal) for five more of his Toho films.[10]

Mitsui often played showy drunken scenes, notably in Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). Life sometimes imitated art; confronted by director Kaneto Shindo over increasingly unusable takes during a drinking scene, Mitsui said, “What’s the difference between doing what you say and actually doing it?”[11] Notoriously, he was the actor (unnamed in Stuart Galbraith IV’s The Emperor and the Wolf[10]) who drunkenly called Kurosawa a “coward” at his home for not wanting to make any more movies following the failure of 1970's Dodes'ka-den (in which Mitsui had a cameo), after which the director tried to commit suicide; upon learning the news the next day while appearing on a live television program, a horrified Mitsui stopped the interview and rushed to Kurosawa's side.[12]

Mitsui's stage career included prestige productions at the Toho Geijutsuza (Art Theater), which was located in the studio's Tokyo office building.[13] He also created brushed ink sketches of popular co-stars such as Hideko Takamine that were published in entertainment magazines.[14]

In 1971, Mitsui underwent gastric ulcer surgery, further affecting a film career that had slowed by the late 1960s. He increasingly guest-starred on television programs, having appeared on more than 100 shows by the time he played his final role in 1978, on the TV Asahi adaptation of the manga series Haguregumo.[15] When he died of heart failure[13] in 1979, among the survivors was his younger brother Tadao Mitsui, a renowned anatomist who had studied as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Washington[16] and served as the president of the Japanese Association of Anatomists from 1975 to 1982.[17]

Honors

In 1957 Mitsui won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Lower Depths as well as his performances in two films directed by Minoru Shibuya, Kichigai buraku (The Unbalanced Wheel) and Seigiha (Righteousness).[3]

That year he also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Lower Depths and Kichigai buraku.[3] With these two awards for The Lower Depths, Mitsui was able to distinguish himself among the top performers in Japanese cinema, whom Kurosawa had selected and dress-rehearsed on-set for 60 days to create the ultimate acting ensemble.[18]

On May 24, 1960, Mitsui was the subject of the Asahi Shimbun Interview, an honor reserved for notable members of the arts, sports, political, and business communities.[19]

In 1993, Mitsui was named one of the 50 all-time greatest Japanese actors in a film-industry survey conducted and published by Bungei Shunjū magazine.[20]

In 2000, Kinema Junpo designated Mitsui as one of the top 60 Japanese male stars of the 20th century as determined by a committee of 74 critics, writers, and journalists.[2]

Mitsui was one of the actors commemorated in Seven Supporting Characters, a 2008 film festival held at the now-defunct[21] Cinema Artone in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa entertainment district.[22]

Distinctions

Mitsui was a voice actor in Japan's first sound cartoon, Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka (1933; now lost), and appeared in Japan's first color film, Carmen Comes Home (1951).

A star of Ozu's 1934 original silent version of A Story of Floating Weeds, he was stunt-cast in the director's own widely acclaimed 1959 color remake, Floating Weeds, which Roger Ebert named as one of the ten greatest films of all time.[23]

Mitsui was featured as a seppuku second in footage pulled from pre-war jidaigeki films that was edited into Frank Capra's World War II propaganda film Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945).

In addition to his many performances for prominent directors such as Kurosawa, Ozu, Kobayashi, and Kinoshita, Mitsui is best known to Western audiences as the duplicitous village elder in Hiroshi Teshigahara's Oscar-nominated[24] Woman in the Dunes (1964), for which he received above-the-title billing on the original film poster along with stars Eiji Okada and Kyōko Kishida.[25]

Legacy

The "always effectively weaselly Kōji Mitsui"[26] received an onscreen credit in the trailer for the first film in Kobayashi's The Human Condition trilogy.

Mitsui's portrayal of the lazy nihilist in The Lower Depths is well-remembered as a showcase for his improvisational talents and his “oboe-like,”[10] “beautiful voice with its unique charm and sense of rhythm.”[27] The film's final act becomes a tour de force for Mitsui, who mockingly impersonates Bokuzen Hidari (whose character's humanistic influence has been defeated by the gambler's cynicism), leads the remaining denizens in song, and ends the film with his brutal remark. According to frequent co-star Kyōko Kagawa, he was “fabulous” in the film and “great in any role.”[10] Contemporary film reviewers continue to discover Mitsui as “an incredible actor with no sense of fear [whose gambler] is a visceral treat. He is real and relaxed, with no sense of pride or regret.”[28]

Mitsui's largest part for Kurosawa after The Lower Depths was the lead journalist who comments on the wedding reception that opens The Bad Sleep Well (1960); his role as a sarcastic observer was noted by Kurosawa scholar Donald Richie to parallel traits of Yoshisaburo the gambler in the prior film,[29] and Mitsui's “particularly enthralling”[30] performance helped to associate his legacy with sardonic characters as well as boozy ones.

In her 1976 memoir My Professional Diary, Hideko Takamine recalled working with the 23-year-old Mitsui as a child actress on a 1933 "Yota" film, remembering him as "petite, sharp-eyed, and rather quirky. [He] left an impression on me, [and] since then, for more than 40 years, I have been watching [him] obsessively."[31] She referred to him as "Ibushi Gin," a term of respect for distinguished elder actors likening them to rich, oxidized silver.[32]

A 1995 issue of the Bungeishunjū monthly No Side commemorating Japan's great postwar actors included a full-page essay by the writer Midori Nakano celebrating the clear-eyed urban attitude of the characters Mitsui played for Kurosawa, particularly his role in The Lower Depths.[33]

In 2000, the rakugo star and film critic Shiraku Tatekawa named Mitsui one the top three Japanese actors of the 20th century, calling him "addictive," "haunting," and "unforgettable."[2]

At a 2017 event, the actor Tatsuya Nakadai stated that during the filming of Kurosawa's 1963 High and Low, he felt added pressure having to deliver a 10-minute monologue because Mitsui was in the scene.[34] The two also appeared onscreen together in Kobayashi's The Human Condition (1959) and The Inheritance (1962), as well as Okamoto's Battle of Okinawa (1971); in 1975, Nakadai appeared in a stage production of Gorky's The Lower Depths as the gambler character who was closely associated in Japan with Mitsui's portrayal in Kurosawa's 1957 film version.

In media coverage of the 2017-2018 TV Tokyo reality series “The Supporting Actors,” which featured six popular character actors living together, the stars repeatedly cited Kōji Mitsui as a major influence and an example of a distinctive and superlative member of their profession.[35][36]

The November 15, 2022 installment of the cat-oriented manga Mon-chan and Me, published in Fusosha's popular[37] webzine Joshi Spa! (Women's Spa!), featured several panels with a guest character designed as a caricature of Mitsui.[38]

Partial Filmography

Film
Year Title Director Role Notes
1933 Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka Kenzō Masaoka Voice First Japanese sound cartoon (lost); as Hideo Mitsui
Dragnet Girl Yasujirō Ozu Hiroshi Silent; as Hideo Mitsui
1934 Street Without End Mikio Naruse Café Patron Silent; as Hideo Mitsui
A Story of Floating Weeds Yasujirō Ozu Shinkichi Silent; as Hideo Mitsui
A Mother Should be Loved Yasujirō Ozu Kosaku Silent; as Hideo Mitsui
1935 A Hero Of Tokyo Hiroshi Shimizu Hideo Nemoto as Hideo Mitsui
1938 Children of the Sun Yutaka Abe Okubo as Hideo Mitsui
1940 Urban Torrent Kôjirô Sasaki Kirō as Hideo Mitsui
1946 The Elegant Vagabond Masahiro Makino Gentarō as Hideo Mitsui
1950 The Bells of Nagasaki Hideo Ōba Yamashita
1951 Carmen Comes Home Keisuke Kinoshita Oka First Japanese color film
1952 General Pork Chop Yuzo Kawashima Gintsuki
1955 The Vassal's Neck Daisuke Itō Izari
1956 I Will Buy You Masaki Kobayashi Tamekichi Kurita
Early Spring Yasujirō Ozu Hirayama
1957 The Lower Depths Akira Kurosawa Yoshisaburo (the gambler) Mainichi, Blue Ribbon awards (best supporting actor)
The Unbalanced Wheel Minoru Shibuya Sukeo Aoki Mainichi, Blue Ribbon awards (best supporting actor)
Righteousness Minoru Shibuya Aoki Mainichi award (best supporting actor)
Times of Joy and Sorrow Keisuke Kinoshita Mr. Kanemaki
1958 The Hidden Fortress Akira Kurosawa Pit guard Cameo appearance
1959 Floating Weeds Yasujirō Ozu Kichinosuke Mitsui played the youth lead in the 1934 original
The Human Condition Masaki Kobayashi Furuya First film in trilogy (No Greater Love)
Kiku and Isamu Tadashi Imai Yasube
1960 The Bad Sleep Well Akira Kurosawa Lead journalist
1961 My Face Red in the Sunset/Killers on Parade Masahiro Shinoda Knife assassin
1962 Gang vs. Gang Teruo Ishii Yanagisawa
1963 High and Low Akira Kurosawa Journalist Cameo appearance
Legends of Showa Yakuza Teruo Ishii Ikegami
1964 Woman in the Dunes Hiroshi Teshigahara Village elder
1965 A Fugitive from the Past Tomu Uchida Motojima
Red Beard Akira Kurosawa Heikichi
1967 Japan's Longest Day Kihachi Okamoto Weeping reporter Cameo appearance
1971 Battle of Okinawa Kihachi Okamoto Old man Cameo appearance
1975 The Great Jailbreak Teruo Ishii Ryota Final film role

English-language reference works frequently cite Mitsui as a performer in the film Nanami: The Inferno of First Love, but the role is played by a different actor whose name's Kanji characters (満井幸治) also translate to "Kōji Mitsui," and whose only film credit is that role.[39]

References

  1. ^ "Japanese Movies All Time Best 200 (Kinejun Readers)". MUBI. mubi.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "20th Century Movie Star, Actor Edition". Kinema Junpo (in Japanese). Kinema Junposha KK. May 2000.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Mitsui Kōji". Kotobanku (in Japanese). Asahi Shinbun. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Mitsui Kōji". allcinema (in Japanese). allcinema. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  5. ^ Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1983). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry - Expanded Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780691007922.
  6. ^ Yamamoto, Satsuo (1984). My Life as a Filmmaker. University of Michigan Press. p. 170. ISBN 0472053337.
  7. ^ "It's Sunny Tonight". Movie Walker (in Japanese). movie.walkerplus.com. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Please Scratch My Back". Movie Walker (in Japanese). movie.walkerplus.com. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Love Blooms Under The Money Tree". Movie Walker (in Japanese). movie.walkerplus.com. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e Galbraith IV, Stuart (2002). The Emperor and the Wolf – The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. Faber. pp. 240–241, 488. ISBN 0-571-19982-8.
  11. ^ "The One and Only Voice". Hatena Blog (in Japanese). hatenablog.com. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  12. ^ Yano, Seiichi (1997). Days of Sake, Gambling, and Applause. Bungeishunju. ISBN 978-4167460051.
  13. ^ a b "Kōji Mitsui". Japanese Film Database. Chuo Eigaboeki Co., Ltd. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  14. ^ Mitsui, Kōji (March 20, 1959). "Entertainment Salon". Yomiuri Entertainment Weekly. Japan: Yomiuri Publishing. p. 7.
  15. ^ "Mitsui Kōji". TV Drama Database (in Japanese). tvdrama-db.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Professor Emeritus Dr. Tadao Mitsui". J-STAGE. Japan Science and Technology Agency. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  17. ^ "JAA Organization". Japanese Association of Anatomists. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Donzoko (The Lower Depths)". Senses of Cinema. sensesofcinema.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Asahi Interview". Getty Images. gettyimages.co.jp. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  20. ^ 150 Best Actors. Bungei Shunjū. 1993. ISBN 978-4168116193.
  21. ^ "(Closed) Cinema Arton Shimokitazawa". Shibuya Bunka. Shibuya Bunka Project. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Comedy Limited Express Act 9: Seven Supporting Characters". Intro Creators Movie Magazine (in Japanese). Intro Cinema. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  23. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 1, 1991). "Ten Greatest Films of All Time". Roger Ebert. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  24. ^ "The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  25. ^ "Woman in the Dunes (1964)". IMDb. imdb.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Humanity and Wire Fences". Setsuled. livejournal.com. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Donzoku". Samedasu (in Japanese). Dream.jp. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Criterion: The Lower Depths (****) Life By The Drop". Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews. coolpapae.com. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  29. ^ Richie, Donald (1998). The Films of Akira Kurosawa. University of California Press. p. 126. ISBN 0520220374.
  30. ^ Wild, Peter (2014). Akira Kurosawa, Critical Lives. Reaktion Books. p. 119. ISBN 978-1780233802.
  31. ^ Takamine, Hideko (1976). My Professional Diary. Asahi Shimbun. ISBN 978-4167587024.
  32. ^ "Thorough explanation of how to use 'Ibushi Gin'". Words Notebook (in Japanese). tutitatu.com. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  33. ^ "The Clear-Eyed Urbanite". No Side (in Japanese). Bungeishunjū. February 1995.
  34. ^ "Tatsuya Nakadai: 'Director Akira Kurosawa had a relentless attention to visuals'". Logmi (in Japanese). logmi.co.jp. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  35. ^ "Entertainment Idol". Smart Flash (in Japanese). smart-flash.jp. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  36. ^ "Tomorowo Taguchi: 'The Supporting Players' To Feature 'The Scene of the Chaos'". Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). sponichi.co.jp. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  37. ^ "Fans In Japan Don't Want These Anime Turned Into Live-Action Movies". Kotaku. G/O Media Inc. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  38. ^ "Who Did The Mysterious Cat and Human Meet In The Forest One Day?". Joshi Spa! (in Japanese). Fusosha Publishing. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  39. ^ "Nanami: The Inferno of First Love". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). jmdb.ne.jp. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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