Masaru Kobayashi

Movies

Chocolate and Soldiers
Story
Chocolate and Soldiers (チョコレートと兵隊, Chokorēto to Heitai) is a 1938 Japanese war film directed by Sato Takeshi and one of the most effective Japanese propaganda films of the late 1930s. The American director Frank Capra said of Chocolate and Soldiers "We can't beat this kind of thing. We make a film like that maybe once in a decade. We haven't got the actors. It shows the common Japanese soldier as an individual and as a family man, presenting even enemy Chinese soldiers as brave individuals. It is considered to be a "humanist" film, paying close attention to the human feelings of both the soldier and his family. Cinema theorist Kate Taylor-Jones suggests that Chocolate and Soldiers provided "a vision of the noble, obedient and honourable Japanese army fighting to defend the emperor and Japan.
I Am a Cat
Adaptation
1936 P.C.L. adaptation of Natsume's novel.
Drifting
Screenplay
Adaptation of Fumiko Hayashi's novel.
Botchan
Adaptation
1935 P.C.L. adaptation of Natsume's novel.
The Frightful Era of Kurama Tengu
Shinkichi
The Frightful Era of Kurama Tengu is a 1928 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Teppei Yamaguchi. It is part of the Kurama Tengu series and features the battle between the title character, Kurama Tengu, and his impostor. The last scene, featuring sword fights of exhilarating speed, is one reason this series was very popular, especially with children.