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Yoichi Sai is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Assistant Director Japonais born on 6 july 1949 at Nagano Prefecture (Japon)

Yoichi Sai

Yoichi Sai
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Nationality Japon
Birth 6 july 1949 at Nagano Prefecture (Japon)
Death 27 november 2022 (at 73 years)

Yoichi Sai (崔 洋一, Sai Yōichi, born 6 July 1949 in Nagano Prefecture) is a Japanese film director. His mother is Japanese and his father is Zainichi Korean. He is the president of the Directors Guild of Japan.

Biography

Yōichi Sai commence sa carrière dans le cinéma à l'âge de 27 ans comme premier assistant du réalisateur Nagisa Oshima, sur son film L'Empire des sens. En 1983, il réalise son premier long métrage : Jyukkai no mosukito qui est primé dans de nombreux festivals asiatiques ainsi qu'à la Mostra de Venise. Son second long-métrage qui sort la même année est un film érotique: Seiteki hanzai. Peu après, il s'installe à Okinawa pour y étudier le milieu de la pègre locale dont il tire un film, A Sign Days , qui sort en 1989.

En 1993, son nouveau film De quel côté est la lune ?, qui brosse le portrait d'un chauffeur de taxi coréen, est récompensé par de nombreux prix. Son film de 2004 Blood and Bones (Chi to hone) avec Takeshi Kitano remporte quatre Japan Academy Prizes, dont deux récompenses pour lui-même : celle du meilleur réalisateur et celle du meilleur scénario.

Comme acteur, il est apparu dans le film de 1999 Tabou, de Nagisa Oshima.

Best films

In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
(Assistant Director)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Yoichi Sai (9 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Taboo
Taboo (1999)
, 1h40
Directed by Nagisa Ōshima
Origin Japon
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Historical
Themes Seafaring films, Films about sexuality, Sports films, Transport films, LGBT-related films, Martial arts films, Samurai films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Ryūhei Matsuda, Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Tomorowo Taguchi, Shinji Takeda, Susumu Terajima
Roles Isami Kondo
Rating67% 3.397393.397393.397393.397393.39739
At the start of the movie, the young and handsome Kanō Sōzaburō (Ryuhei Matsuda) is admitted to the Shinsengumi, an elite samurai group led by Kondō Isami (Yoichi Sai) that seeks to defend the Tokugawa shogunate against reformist forces. He is a very skilled swordsman, but it is his appearance that makes many of the others in the (strictly male) group, both students and superiors, attracted to him, creating tension within the group of people vying for Kanō's affections.

Director

Kamui
Kamui (2009)
, 2h
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Origin Japon
Genres Drama, Action
Themes Seafaring films, Sports films, Transport films, Martial arts films
Actors Kenichi Matsuyama, Koyuki Katō, Kaoru Kobayashi, Koichi Sato, Hideaki Itō, Suzuka Ōgo
Rating56% 2.81022.81022.81022.81022.8102
The young Kamui is a runaway ninja who has abandoned his clan, now constantly pursued by assassins. His travels bring him to a seashore village where he meets Hanbei, a fisherman who shares the former ninja's sense of honor. Though Hanbei's wife is wary of the stranger, the fisherman and Kamui become good friends. Life at the seaside seems idyllic but Kamui does not get to enjoy the peace for very long when his past life is catching up on him, and everything and everyone is not as it seems. Now he must draw upon his shadowy arts if he hopes to escape with his life.
Soo
Soo (2007)
, 2h2
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Actors Ji Jin-hee, Oh Man-seok, Kang Sung-yeon, Moon Sung-keun, Lee Ki-young, Choi Jung-woo
Rating60% 3.013283.013283.013283.013283.01328
Tae-soo tries to steal from a gang. The gang catches Tae-soo's brother Tae-jin instead. The incident causes the brothers to separate. Tae-soo becomes a mob fixer and an assassin. Tae-jin becomes a police detective. When a call brings the brothers together, they get ready for brotherly bonding, but Tae-jin is killed. Tae-soo decides to get revenge on his brother's killer.
Blood and Bones, 2h20
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Origin Japon
Genres Drama
Actors Takeshi Kitano, Kyōka Suzuki, Joe Odagiri, Yutaka Matsushige, Tomoko Tabata, Mari Hamada
Rating69% 3.4917953.4917953.4917953.4917953.491795
In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community, where he exploits his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him.
Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog, 1h40
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Genres Drama
Themes Films about animals, Seafaring films, Transport films, Films about dogs
Actors Kaoru Kobayashi, Teruyuki Kagawa, Shinobu Terajima, Keiko Toda, Kippei Shiina, Kenji Mizuhashi
Rating70% 3.5443453.5443453.5443453.5443453.544345
One day in Tokyo, a yellow Labrador Retriever puppy is born among a litter of five. This puppy is unique, wherein he has a bird-shaped mark on his left side. Following a simple communication test, he is selected to become a guide dog; hence his first parting. After being picked up by dog trainer Satoru Tawada, the puppy is flown to Kyoto to live with Isamu and Mitsuko Nii - a married couple who are "puppy walkers", people who raise guide dogs for a year. There, the couple name him "Quill", after discovering the word in an English-Japanese dictionary. As soon as Quill reaches the age of one, he is handed back to Tawada to undergo guide dog training; this becomes his second parting. At first, Quill has difficulty learning the basic skills, but one day, while tending to another dog, Tawada notices that Quill is excellent in waiting - an important trait in a guide dog.
Doing Time
Doing Time (2002)
, 1h33
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Seafaring films, Prison films, Transport films
Actors Tsutomu Yamazaki, Teruyuki Kagawa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige, Kenichi Endō, Kippei Shiina
Rating70% 3.511843.511843.511843.511843.51184
Hanawa is a middle aged gun enthusiast, but is jailed for three years for possession of illegal firearms. He is placed in a low security prison in Hokkaidō.

Scriptwriter

Kamui
Kamui (2009)
, 2h
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Origin Japon
Genres Drama, Action
Themes Seafaring films, Sports films, Transport films, Martial arts films
Actors Kenichi Matsuyama, Koyuki Katō, Kaoru Kobayashi, Koichi Sato, Hideaki Itō, Suzuka Ōgo
Rating56% 2.81022.81022.81022.81022.8102
The young Kamui is a runaway ninja who has abandoned his clan, now constantly pursued by assassins. His travels bring him to a seashore village where he meets Hanbei, a fisherman who shares the former ninja's sense of honor. Though Hanbei's wife is wary of the stranger, the fisherman and Kamui become good friends. Life at the seaside seems idyllic but Kamui does not get to enjoy the peace for very long when his past life is catching up on him, and everything and everyone is not as it seems. Now he must draw upon his shadowy arts if he hopes to escape with his life.
Soo
Soo (2007)
, 2h2
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Actors Ji Jin-hee, Oh Man-seok, Kang Sung-yeon, Moon Sung-keun, Lee Ki-young, Choi Jung-woo
Roles Writer
Rating60% 3.013283.013283.013283.013283.01328
Tae-soo tries to steal from a gang. The gang catches Tae-soo's brother Tae-jin instead. The incident causes the brothers to separate. Tae-soo becomes a mob fixer and an assassin. Tae-jin becomes a police detective. When a call brings the brothers together, they get ready for brotherly bonding, but Tae-jin is killed. Tae-soo decides to get revenge on his brother's killer.
Blood and Bones, 2h20
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Origin Japon
Genres Drama
Actors Takeshi Kitano, Kyōka Suzuki, Joe Odagiri, Yutaka Matsushige, Tomoko Tabata, Mari Hamada
Rating69% 3.4917953.4917953.4917953.4917953.491795
In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community, where he exploits his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him.
Doing Time
Doing Time (2002)
, 1h33
Directed by Yoichi Sai
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Seafaring films, Prison films, Transport films
Actors Tsutomu Yamazaki, Teruyuki Kagawa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige, Kenichi Endō, Kippei Shiina
Roles Writer
Rating70% 3.511843.511843.511843.511843.51184
Hanawa is a middle aged gun enthusiast, but is jailed for three years for possession of illegal firearms. He is placed in a low security prison in Hokkaidō.