Sabu (director)
| Sabu | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 18, 1964 Wakayama, Wakayama, Japan |
| Occupation | Film director and actor. |
Sabu (サブ Sabu, born November 18, 1964) is the pseudonym of Japanese actor and director Hiroyuki Tanaka (田中博行[1] Tanaka Hiroyuki).
Contents |
[edit] Career
Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician.[2] It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 World Apartment Horror, a live-action film directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo of Akira fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 Dangan Runner, a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves."[3] Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. Blessing Bell, starring Susumu Terajima (who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival.[4] Later films featured the J-pop band V6. In 2009, he directed The Crab Cannery Ship, a modern adaptation of a classic of Japanese proletarian literature written by Takiji Kobayashi.
He has continued to work as an actor, such as in Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer (2001).
[edit] Selected filmography
[edit] Director
- Dangan Runner (1996)
- Postman Blues (1997)
- Unlucky Monkey (1998)
- Monday (2000)
- Drive (2002)
- Blessing Bell (2002)
- A1012K (2003 - short film)
- Hard Luck Hero (2003)
- Hold-Up Down (2005)
- Shisso (2005)
- The Crab Cannery Ship (Kanikōsen, 2009)
- Troubleman (2010)
- Usagi Drop (2011)
[edit] Actor
- Sorobanzuku (1986)
- World Apartment Horror (1991)
- Zeiram 2 (1994)
- 800 Two Lap Runners (1994)
- Dangan Runner (1996)
- Katte ni Shiyagare!! Gyakuten Keikaku (1996)
- Ghost Actress (1996)
- Postman Blues (1997)
- Ichi the Killer (2001)
- Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2003)
[edit] References
- ^ "Eiga kantoku Sabu, 6 sakuhin jōei". Yomitaimu. 14 January 2011. http://www.yomitime.com/011411/0501.html. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ Sōichirō, Matsutani. "PiC Interview VOL.001 ＳＡＢＵ". PiC Internet Magazine. http://www.naked.co.jp/pic/interview/sabu/sabu_01.html. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Sharp, Jasper (17 February 2003). "The Blessing Bell". Midnight Eye. http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/blesbell.shtml. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ "NETPAC Shō ni Nihon sakuhin". 47 News. 15 February 2003. http://www.47news.jp/CN/200302/CN2003021501000376.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
[edit] External links
- Sabu at the Internet Movie Database
- Sabu's Official Website
- Sabu at the Japanese Movie Database (Japanese)
