Shinji Kuma

Directing

Shinji Kuma

Born January 4, 1968 (age 58)

Film and television director.

Known For

BlueBlue · 2003
Blue
★ 6.52003
MovieDramaRomance
An introverted schoolgirl falls in love and starts a relationship with one of her classmates. Set in a small seaside town in Japan.
Married Stewardess: Uniform AscensionMarried Stewardess: Uniform Ascension · 1998
Married Stewardess: Uniform Ascension
★ 4.71998
Movie
Today is last working day stewardess, she recalls life these days days ago…And, it is the first of a memorable day in life.
Dreams for SaleDreams for Sale · 2012
Dreams for Sale
★ 7.32012
MovieDramaCrime
After losing their restaurant in a fire, a husband and wife come up with a strange plan to rebuild their shattered finances: marrying the husband off to a series of lonely women and defrauding them.
UnforgivenUnforgiven · 2013
Unforgiven
★ 7.02013
MovieActionCrime
An old swordsman, his former comrade and a young braggart are hired by prostitutes to track down bandits who mutilated one of the women.
SwaySway · 2006
Sway
★ 5.92006
MovieDramaCrime
A psychologically thrilling portrait of the severe dysfunction behind a family clinging to decorum and pride.
The Long ExcuseThe Long Excuse · 2016
The Long Excuse
★ 6.82016
MovieDrama
A recently widowed writer whose wife died in a bus crash comes to terms with his grief—or lack of it—in caring for the children of a working man who also lost his wife in the same accident.
Strobe EdgeStrobe Edge · 2015
Strobe Edge
★ 6.12015
MovieDramaRomance
Ninako Kinoshita has never been in love until an encounter with the school's most popular boy, Ren Ichinose, leads the two to befriending each other. Ren's patient and kind personality is a far cry from his unapproachable idol status at school, and soon Ninako falls in love with him. However, she must cope with the fact that he already has a long-time girlfriend.
Blue HourBlue Hour · 2019
Blue Hour
★ 6.92019
MovieDramaComedy
Trapped in her anemic career and love relationship, a 30-year-old TV commercial director returns to her countryside home in the company of a free-spirited friend. In a bittersweet reunion with an alienated family, her childhood memories of freedom and yearnings creep in the dreamlike blue hour, transcending into a lyricism of self-realization – at once whimsical, agonizing and yet hopeful.

Filmography

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Spring Has ComeSpring Has Come · 1990
Spring Has Come
1990
Movie
High school girls are the chrysalises who hide their "female" form under their school uniforms and wait for the time to hatch. They are sensitive, fragile, and the cruellest of creatures. The protagonist, Mizuki, is a third-year student at an all-girls school. She secretly has feelings for her classmate Terumi. When Terumi's boyfriend breaks up with her, Mizuki gently hugs her and comforts her as she cries... Mizuki's keen observation of the pseudo-romance between girls, combined with the natural acting of the girls in the cast, makes for a very realistic "picture book of high school girl life". The softly beautiful scenes of the two girls walking through a residential area in midsummer, wearing yukata at a fair, and on a Christmas night are as impressive as a painting.

Director of Photography

Onna TomodachiOnna Tomodachi · 2020
Onna Tomodachi
2020
SeriesDrama
Setsu and Chisato have been good friends since high school. On this day, Setsu comes to the dining bar where Chisato works. Setsu is a shoe designer and bothered about an offer for a temporary posting that she got from an Italian workshop. The wife of Setsu’s lover Hirai Tamotsu has found out about Setsu’s relationship with him. Even so, Hirai says they will stay together. Setsu’s first marriage failed because of her perfection and she seems to have found comfort in her relationship with the devil-may-care Hirai. Although Chisato listens sympathetically to Setsu’s story, she is troubled by her own husband’s infidelity. Chisato’s husband Mitsuru is a popular photographer. He has always had the habit of having affairs. But her intuition gives her the hunch that his affair might be a serious one this time. She is tormented by hallucinations that the family will be hijacked in her absence. Meanwhile, Setsu is hit with an unexpected incident…

Director