- Born
- Died
- The director and screenwriter Sadao Yamanaka (1909-1938) is a key figure in the development of early Japanese cinema. Although he made 27 films over a six-year period, only three of them survived in nearly complete form: Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935), Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937), and Priest of Darkness (1936). These films represent the diversity of genres and elegant visual style Yamanaka chose. Moreover, he contributed to the establishment of the jidaigeki genre, or historical drama. After being drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army, Yamanaka tragically died of dysentery on the front in Manchuria aged 28.
- IMDb mini biography by: NigiW
- RelativesTai Katō(Niece or Nephew)
- He completed 23 films in seven years.
- Only three out of his 23 films are known to exist.
- Because he depicted the samurai as less than heroic, he was sent to fight on the Chinese front and was killed there.
- ALong with Daisuke Itō, he popularized a genre of movies that depicted the plight of the poor with unprecedented realism.
- He was one of eight Japanese filmmakers who was part of the Nautaki Gumi (Narutaki Gang), which was named after the area of Kyoto where they all lived and worked under the joint pseudonym of Kimpachi Kajiwara.
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