Kon Ichikawa's diverse artistic influences range from Walt Disney to Jean Renoir, resulting in a wide spectrum of moods in his films, from comedic to overwhelmingly ironic and even perverse.
Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, which is evident in his skillful use of the widescreen format and the strong, angular patterns seen in many of his compositions.
He has directed a variety of films, including Mr. Pu (1953),a popular adaptation of Jun'ichi Yokoyama's comic strip, and has demonstrated his ability to appeal to a broad audience without compromising his artistic vision.
As a great visual stylist and perfectionist, Ichikawa excels at screen adaptations of literary masterpieces, including The Heart (1955),Conflagration (1958),Odd Obsession (1959),I Am a Cat (1975),and The Outcast (1962).
He has also remade classic films, such as Ashi ni sawatta onna (1926) and Yukinojô henge: Daiippen (1935),transposing them to contemporary settings.
The West was first introduced to Ichikawa's work when his film The Burmese Harp (1956) won the San Giorgio Prize at the 1956 Venice Film Festival.
His epic documentary Tokyo Olympiad (1965) and Alone on the Pacific (1963) explore the limits of human endurance with dignity and imagination.
Ichikawa has also worked in the thriller genre, with films such as The Hole (1957),The Inugami Family (1976),and The Devil's Island (1977).
He is known for presenting strongly etched, complex characters, including a stuttering acolyte who desires to preserve the "purity" of the Golden Pavilion, an elderly husband who resorts to injections and voyeurism to remain sexually active, and a member of a pariah class who tries to deny his identity and "pass" in regular society.
More recently, Actress (1987) is a tribute to the fiercely independent Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, who starred in many of Kenji Mizoguchi's films and was herself a director in later life.
Ichikawa's characters also include a 19th-century cat, a good-hearted but hapless teacher, and a baby who narrates how the world looks from his vantage point.
He is particularly adept at mixing comedy and tragedy within the same story, and until 1965, his close collaborator was his wife, screenwriter Natto Wada, with whom he produced most of his finest films.
