Masaki Tamura

Japanese cinematographer (1939–2018)

Masaki Tamura
たむらまさき
Born	田村正毅 (1939-01-26)26 January 1939 Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Died	23 May 2018(2018-05-23) (aged 79)^[1] Tokyo, Japan^[2]
Occupation	Cinematographer

Masaki Tamura (たむらまさき, Tamura Masaki, 26 January 1939 – 23 May 2018)^[3] was a Japanese cinematographer. He was also credited as Masaki Tamra.^[4]

Career

Born in Aomori Prefecture, Tamura early on worked at Iwanami Productions (Iwanami Eiga), where as an assistant he helped photograph documentary films.^[5] He became a full-fledged cinematographer working on many of the documentaries of Shinsuke Ogawa. At the same time, he began photographing feature fiction films by directors such as Kazuo Kuroki, Yōichi Higashi, and Toshiya Fujita. He particularly became known for his collaborations with Mitsuo Yanagimachi. After working with many famous directors such as Juzo Itami, Sōgo Ishii, Gō Takamine, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Kaizō Hayashi, he began working in the 1990s with a new generation of directors, such as Nobuhiro Suwa, Naomi Kawase, and Makoto Satō. His collaborations with Shinji Aoyama were notable in his final years.

Awards

In 1982, he won the Mainichi Film Award for best cinematography for the film Farewell to the Land.^[6] The same year, he won the best cinematography award at the Yokohama Film Festival for Farewell to the Land and A Japanese Village - Furuyashikimura.^[7]

Selected filmography

Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress (1971)
Heta Village (1973)
Lady Snowblood (1973)
Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)
Ryoma Ansatsu (1974)
Farewell to the Land (1982)
A Japanese Village: Furuyashikimura (1982)
P.P. Rider (1983)
The Crazy Family (1984)
Fire Festival (1985)
Tampopo (1985)
Magino Village: A Tale (1987)
Evil Dead Trap (1988)
Untamagiru (1989)
Helpless (1996)
2/Duo (1997)
Suzaku (1997)
Serpent's Path (1997)
Eyes of the Spider (1997)
Shady Grove (1999)
Eureka (2000)
Desert Moon (2001)
Mike Yokohama: A Forest with No Name (2002)
A Boy's Summer in 1945 (2002)
Lakeside Murder Case (2004)
My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? (2005)
Crickets (2006)
Sad Vacation (2007)
Tokyo Rendezvous (2008)
I Am a Cat Stalker (2009)
The Wife of Gegege (2010)
Drive-In Gamo (2014), and director

Notes

^ "撮影監督たむらまさきが79歳で死去、小川紳介や青山真治らの作品で活躍". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 May 2018.
^ "撮影監督たむらまさきさんが死去「竜馬暗殺」など". どうしん電子版（北海道新聞） (in Japanese). 28 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
^ Tamura, Masaki; Aoyama, Shinji (2007). Suigan no Machi (in Japanese). Asahi Shinsho. p. 8.
^ Weissberg, Jay (18 May 2005). "Review: 'Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani?'". Variety.
^ Tamura, Masaki; Katsu Kanai (3 October 1995). "Documentarists of Japan, No. 8: Tamura Masaki". Documentary Box. 8.
^ "Mainichi Konkūru no ayumi: 1982-nen". Mainichi Film Awards. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
^ "Dai 4-kai Yokohama Eigasai". Retrieved 4 October 2011.