Kon Ichikawa, the Japanese director whose work on 1956’s The Burmese Harp earned him an Oscar nomination, has passed away at the age of 92.
The news was announced by the Toho Corporation, the company that released many of Ichikawa’s films. Chizuko Wagatsuma, a Toho spokesperson, told reporters that Ichikawa died of pneumonia after a brief hospitalization.
Known as much for his technique as for his catholic tastes, Ichikawa won a number of awards during his long career, including a Cannes jury prize for 1960’s Kagi and a 2001 lifetime achievement award from the World Film Festival of Montreal. Japanese film critic Tadao Sato released a statement praising Ichikawa’s work, excerpted below:
“Ichikawa surely stands alongside Akira Kurosawa and Keisuke Miyashita as one of Japan’s great directors. He made not just art films, but also melodramas, documentaries, mysteries and others … and he brought to all of them a technique and craft that showed he took the works seriously no matter the subject. Even his light entertainments had class.”
Ichikawa is survived by two sons.
Source: Associated Press
