Directing

Nobuhiko Obayashi

Born January 9, 1938 · Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Died April 10, 2020 · aged 82

Nobuhiko Obayashi (January 9, 1938 – April 10, 2020) was a Japanese director, screenwriter and editor of films and television advertisements who is well known for his surreal visual style. He began his career as a pioneering figure in Japanese experimental film during the 1960s before transitioning to directing more mainstream works such as television and feature films. Though he remains mostly un…

Known For

The Unspoiled Diamond

The Unspoiled Diamond · 1982

The Unspoiled Diamond

MovieRomanceDrama

A college student has an affair with a married, middle-aged teacher.

House

MovieComedyFantasy

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

His Motorbike, Her Island

His Motorbike, Her Island · 1986

His Motorbike, Her Island

MovieRomanceDrama

Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city wandering the Japanese countryside, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. When Miyo proves herself a biker prodigy, Ko begins to fear she's destined to crash.

Song of Goodbye

Song of Goodbye · 2007

Song of Goodbye

It is the second work of the Oita trilogy of Obayashi . Following " Nigori Snow ", Ise Masazo draws a song written by composers and songwriter "Farewell of 22 years old " as a motif and draws a story of love that spans two generations of mother and daughter.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time · 1983

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

MovieScience FictionRomance

Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.

Sada

On 17 May 1936–during a period of war, economic depression, public unease and growing militarism, a time of unrest and confusion when public opinion was, at best, unpredictable–Sada Abe killed and emasculated her lover. Condemned by the law, Sada finds herself lionised by the press and hailed as a 'saint' of love. Because hers was a crime of passion, the purity of her motivation elevates her from criminal to heroine.

Labyrinth of Cinema

Labyrinth of Cinema · 2020

Labyrinth of Cinema

MovieHistoryFantasy

When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.

I Are You, You Am Me

I Are You, You Am Me · 1982

I Are You, You Am Me

MovieComedyDrama

9th-graders Kazuo and Kazumi take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.

Filmography

Sort

The Unspoiled Diamond

The Unspoiled Diamond · 1982

The Unspoiled Diamond

MovieRomanceDrama

A college student has an affair with a married, middle-aged teacher.

Meeting Host

House

MovieComedyFantasy

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

Director

His Motorbike, Her Island

His Motorbike, Her Island · 1986

His Motorbike, Her Island

MovieRomanceDrama

Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city wandering the Japanese countryside, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. When Miyo proves herself a biker prodigy, Ko begins to fear she's destined to crash.

Director

Song of Goodbye

Song of Goodbye · 2007

Song of Goodbye

It is the second work of the Oita trilogy of Obayashi . Following " Nigori Snow ", Ise Masazo draws a song written by composers and songwriter "Farewell of 22 years old " as a motif and draws a story of love that spans two generations of mother and daughter.

Director

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time · 1983

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

MovieScience FictionRomance

Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.

Director

Sada

On 17 May 1936–during a period of war, economic depression, public unease and growing militarism, a time of unrest and confusion when public opinion was, at best, unpredictable–Sada Abe killed and emasculated her lover. Condemned by the law, Sada finds herself lionised by the press and hailed as a 'saint' of love. Because hers was a crime of passion, the purity of her motivation elevates her from criminal to heroine.

Director

Labyrinth of Cinema

Labyrinth of Cinema · 2020

Labyrinth of Cinema

MovieHistoryFantasy

When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.

Producer

I Are You, You Am Me

I Are You, You Am Me · 1982

I Are You, You Am Me

MovieComedyDrama

9th-graders Kazuo and Kazumi take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.

Director

Samurai Kids

Samurai Kids · 1993

MovieAdventureFantasy

With the help of a six-inch-tall ancient samurai warrior, a lonely young environmentalist finds self-confidence and new companionship in protecting Japan's beautiful naturality from human mismanagement.

Director

Chizuko's Younger Sister

Chizuko's Younger Sister · 1991

Chizuko's Younger Sister

MovieDramaFantasy

The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.

Editor

Beijing Watermelon

Beijing Watermelon · 1989

Beijing Watermelon

Shunzo is a popular greengrocer in a town near Tokyo. His life, and the lives of his wife Michi, and their two children, undergoes a dramatic change when he encounters Li, a poor college student from China.

Director

The Rocking Horsemen

The Rocking Horsemen · 1992

The Rocking Horsemen

It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.

Director

The Discarnates

The Discarnates · 1988

The Discarnates

MovieFantasyDrama

A recently divorced writer is reunited with the ghosts of his parents who died when he was a boy. However, every time he sees them he loses more life energy. Now, he must choose between starting a new life or staying forever in the past.

Director

Four Sisters

Four Sisters · 1985

Four sisters with no consanguinity are living together since childhood. When facing misfortune and grievances in lives, they give support and encouragement to each other, even sacrifice oneself to help others.

Director

Kenya Boy

Kenya Boy · 1984

MovieAnimationAdventure

An 11-year-old boy who goes to Africa with his father in 1941. Because he is Japanese, the father is detained by the British. The boy joins up with a beautiful native girl, and the adventure begins.

Director

Death at an Old Mansion

Death at an Old Mansion · 1975

Death at an Old Mansion

MovieDramaHorror

A woman and her bridegroom are found murdered in their bed the day after their wedding. It had snowed overnight and the killer left no tracks. It is up to an amateur detective to figure out what happened. Carefully and systematically, he pieces together the clues in this locked room mystery.

Original Music Composer

Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast

Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast · 1986

Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast

MovieDramaComedy

During the fervently nationalist months leading up to World War II, a rebellious teenager is transferred to a new primary school in a small Inland Sea town. He vies with the school’s reigning bully, who takes a romantic interest in his older stepsister. When they learn she’s going to be sold to a brothel to pay off her father’s debts, they form an uneasy alliance to free her.

Director

Aiko 16-sai

Aiko 16-sai · 1983

MovieDramaRomance

Aiko 16 years old is a novel by Akemi Hotta, set in Nagoya this story depicts the school life of Aiko Mita, a high school student who belongs to the Japanese archery club.

Executive Producer

Casting Blossoms to the Sky

Casting Blossoms to the Sky · 2012

Casting Blossoms to the Sky

MovieFantasyDrama

In the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a city decimated during a WWII air raid and by the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, to report on the disaster; there, she learns about the experiences of its inhabitants and stumbles upon a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend.

Director

Making of 'Dreams'

Making of 'Dreams' · 1990

Making of 'Dreams'

MovieDocumentary

This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.

Editor

Lonely Heart

Lonely Heart · 1985

MovieRomanceComedy

Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?

Director

Hanagatami

Hanagatami · 2017

MovieDramaRomance

Spring, 1941: 16-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.

Director

Haruka, Nostalgia

Haruka, Nostalgia · 1993

Haruka, Nostalgia

Ayase Shinsuke, a popular writer of a series of girl novels, visits Otaru, the town he grew up in. He meets a strange boy who calls himself by the author's real name.

Director

The Mouse and His Child

The Mouse and His Child · 1977

The Mouse and His Child

MovieAnimationAdventure

A mouse and his child, the two parts of a single small wind-up toy, go on a quest to become "self-winding".

Lyricist