Yō Takeyama

Hiroshi Takeyama (Yō Takeyama (竹山 洋 Takeyama Yō), (born June 28, 1946 in Saitama Prefecture),[1] Japan) is a Japanese screenwriter. Besides his work for television, he is best known for his screenplays for Hotaru (2001) and Shijushichinin no shikaku, Kon Ichikawa's 1994 version of the Forty-seven Ronin story. Both of these were nominated but did not win the Award of the Japanese Academy for 'Best Screenplay'.

Background

Takeyama graduated from the Literature program at Waseda University.[1] He then became a dramatist working in television production, and credited with screenplays beginning in 1979.[2] In the early 1980s, Takeyama worked in Nikkatsu's softcore Roman Porno films, writing three scripts for Shōgorō Nishimura, director of Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon (1971), the first entry in this long-running series.[3] For Nishimura, Takeyama penned Nurses' Journal: Nasty File (1980), Kōichirō Uno's Girl Dormitory (1980), and "My Girlfriend Wears a Uniform" (1981).[4]

Film

Takeyama co-wrote director Kon Ichikawa's 1994 film 47 Ronin, working on the screenplay with the director.[5] Variety writes of the film's storyline that it, "reportedly sticks closer to the historical events than other versions have," and that it is, "clean and uninflected, with the action zipping back and forth between a series of indoor locations (denoted by captions)." The review points out that the amount of historical detail given in the film is likely to alienate audiences who are not familiar with the story of the Forty-seven Ronin.[6]

With Ichikawa's wife, Natto Wada, Takeyama wrote the comedy-drama Kah-chan (2001).[5] As Ichikawa's 75th film, Variety writes that the film is a "career milestone of nonetheless minor artistic significance". Reviewed under the English title Big Mama Variety judged, "[t]hough smoothly done, 'Big Mama' never provides any compelling reason why its formula serio-comedy occupies the big-screen rather than the small -- or better yet, a legit stage matinee."[7]

Takeyama wrote the script for controversial director Takashi Miike's Sabu (2002), based on the novel of the same title by Shūgorō Yamamoto, the author upon whose work Kurosawa based his Sanjuro (1962) and Red Beard (1965). Originally a 90-minute TV film made to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Nagoya Broadcasting Network, the film was given a 121-minute theatrical release. In many ways atypical of director Miike's work, Sabu is a coming-of-age period drama set in the Edo period involving a friendship between two boys.[8]

Television

Takeyama was in charge of the writing of the yearly NHK Taiga dramas Hideyoshi (1996) and Toshiie to Matsu (2002).[9] Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs gave Takeyama an award for his script for Sabu, and the Grand Prize for his work on Ten to sen (2008).[10] His work for television is regularly included in the Writers Guild of Japan's annual anthology of the best writing for the medium. His teleplays were printed in the Guild's anthologies for 1983 (Shōnen H), 1987 (恋人たちのいた場所), 1994 (清左衛門残日録 第十回－夢), 2000 (Shōnen H), 2003 (Sabu), and 2008 (Ten to Sen).[10]

Filmography as writer

Awards & nominations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 日本有数 / 作者のことば: 竹山 洋 (in Japanese). www.docin.com. September 2003. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  2. ↑ 鉄道公安官 (in Japanese). www.tvdrama-db.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  3. ↑ Weisser, Thomas; Weisser, Yuko Mihara (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 47. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  4. ↑ 竹山洋 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Quandt, James, ed. (2001). "Filmography". Kon Ichikawa. Cinematheque Ontario Monographs. Toronto, Canada: Cinematheque Ontario. p. 437. ISBN 0-9682969-3-9.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "review: 47 Ronin (Shijushichinin no shikaku) (Japanese)". Variety staff writers. Variety. 26 September 1994. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Harvey, Dennis (14 September 2001). "review: Big Mama (Kah-Chan (Japan))". Variety. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Mes, Tom (2003). Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike. Godalming: FAB Press. pp. 280–285, 397. ISBN 1-903254-21-3.
  9. ↑ 樺太「真岡事件」ドラマ化　集団自決した９人の乙女. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 2008-08-21. 脚本の竹山は、ＮＨＫ大河ドラマ「秀吉」や「利家とまつ」などを担当した人気脚本家。
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 日本脚本家連盟「テレビドラマ代表作選集」掲載作品一覧 (in Japanese). Writer's Guild of Japan. 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  11. ↑ "School of Film and Television, August 2005" (PDF). The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. August 2005. p. 7. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "Japan Academy Awards, 2002 - 25th Complete winners list". Hoga Central. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  13. ↑ "25th Japan Academy Awards" (in Japanese). Japan Academy Awards. Retrieved 13 May 2010.

Sources

External links