Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film [Paperback]

For years now, Japanese movie mavericks have been confessing their secrets to Chris D. The resulting book is packed with information, resonant with insight, and a must for anyone who's ever wanted to explore the fringes of Japanese film and beyond.' - Patrick Macius, author of TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion 'Profiling fourteen genre-defining and downright subversive filmmakers and actors who honed their craft on the wrong side of the cinematic tracks, Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film is long overdue. Chris D.'s boundless enthusiasm for and encyclopaedic knowledge of these films complement his probing interviews and informed commentary. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Japanese cinema.' - Stuart Galbraith IV, au thor of The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune ' Legends have a basis in both a perceived and a "virtual" reality. Chris D.'s book shows both sides, which is essential in understanding how filmmaking legends are born.' - Takashi Miike, director of Ichi, The Killer; Dead or Alive and Audition The Daily Yomiuri, 10th July 2005. Review by Colin Donald: 'With the fervour and diligence of the true film nerd, the tersely named Chris D. a writer, actor and rock band member, has collected the most comprehensive English guide in existence to this all-but-forgotten genre.' 'An excellent book by a knowledgeable and truly obsessed fan.' - The Japan Times

"Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film" offers an extraordinary close-up of the hitherto overlooked golden age of Japanese cult, action and exploitation cinema from the early 1950s through to the late 1970s, and up to the present day. Having unique access to the top maverick filmmakers and Japanese genre film icons, Chris D. brings together interviews with, and original writings on, the lives and films of such transgressive directors as Kinji Fukasaku ("Battles Without Honour and Humanity"), Seijun Suzuki ("Branded to Kill") and Koji Wakamatsu ("Ecstasy of the Angels") as well as performers like Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba ("The Streetfighter", "Kill Bill Vol. 1") and glamorous actress Meiko Kaji ("Lady Snowblood"). Bringing the story up-to-date with an overview of such Japanese 'enfants terrible' as Takashi Miike ("Audition") and Kiyoshi Kurasawa ("Cure"), this book also provides a compendium of facts and extras including filmographies, related bibliographies on genre fiction including Manga, and a section on female yakuzas. Illustrated with fantastic stills and posters from some of Japan's finest cult and action films, this is a veritable bible for fans and newcomers alike.

Chris D. is author of the forthcoming 'Gun and Sword: Yakuza Eiga - An Encyclopedia of Japanese Gangster Films 1956-1980'. He is a programmer at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, California and his first feature film as director, 'I Pass for Human', has recently had limited festival release in the US. He is also leader of the rock bands The Flesh Eaters and Divine Horsemen.