Ishirō Honda
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Ishirō Honda (本多猪四郎 Honda Ishirō), sometimes miscredited in foreign releases as "Inoshiro Honda", (May 7, 1911, in Yamagata Prefecture – February 28, 1993) was a Japanese film director. His early film career included working as an assistant under the famed director Akira Kurosawa.
Alongside his film duties, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II in China and was a prisoner there when the war ended.
Life
He is probably best known for his tokusatsu films including several entries in the Godzilla series. He directed the original Godzilla along with King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), All Monsters Attack (1969), and many others until 1975. He also directed such tokusatsu films such as Rodan and Mothra. His last feature film was Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).
The following years were spent directing various science fiction TV shows. The superhero shows Return of Ultraman, Mirrorman, and Zone Fighter were also his. In addition, he directed the cult film Matango.
At the end of his career, he returned to working as an assistant director for his old friend Akira Kurosawa. Allegedly one segment of the Kurosawa film Dreams was actually directed by Honda following Kurosawa's detailed storyboards.
His most memorable quotation: "Monsters are born too tall, too strong, too heavy—that is their tragedy," when he spoke of his film Rodan. This statement alone would give fans the impression that his intent was to give all kaiju a distinct personality instead of just being a monster-on-the-loose.
Filmography
- A Story of a Co-Op (1949)
- Ise Island (1950)
- The Blue Pearl (1951)
- The Skin of the South (1952)
- The Man Who Came to Port (1952)
- Adolescence Part II (1953)
- Eagle of the Pacific (1953)
- Farewell Rabaul (1954)
- Godzilla (1954)
- Love Makeup (1955)
- Cry-Baby (1955)
- Half Human (1955)
- Night School
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)
- People of Tokyo, Goodbye (1956)
- Rodan (1956)
- Young Tree (1956)
- A Teapicker's Song of Goodbye (1957)
- A Farewell to the Woman Called My Sister (1957)
- A Rainbow Plays in My Heart (1957)
- Be Happy, These Two Lovers (1957)
- The Mysterians (1957)
- Song for a Bride (1958)
- The H-Man (1958)
- Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
- Battle in Outer Space (1959)
- The Human Vapor (1960)
- Mothra (1961)
- Gorath (1962)
- King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
- Matango (1963)
- Atragon (1963)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- Dogora, the Space Monster (1964)
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
- Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)
- Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965)
- The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
- King Kong Escapes (1967)
- Destroy All Monsters (1968)
- All Monsters Attack (1969)
- Latitude Zero (1969)
- Space Amoeba (1970)
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Collaborations with Akira Kurosawa
- Stray Dog, (1949)
- Kagemusha (1980)
- Ran (1985)
- Dreams (1990)
- Rhapsody in August (1991)
- Madadayo (1993)
