Ken ogata

Born on July 20, 1937, in Tokyo, Akinobu Ogata –real name of the actor– began acting in 1958, in a theater company that was dedicated to the genre known as Shinkokugeki, popular dramatic performances that included dueling swords. He soon began to intervene in series and films that gave him public notoriety in his country, especially in 1974, when he triumphed with the action film Okami yo rakujitsu o kire , known internationally as The Last Samurai , and the thriller Suna . no Utsuwa (The Castle of Sand) .

However, the great turning point in Ken Ogata’s career came as a result of his meeting with the prestigious filmmaker Shohei Imamura , who gave him the leading role of Vengeance Is Mine . In this film, Ogata gives a lesson in acting as a seemingly normal, middle-class guy who routinely hangs out with his friends, yet turns out to be a cold and cunning assassin. Shortly after, Imamura recruited him again for Eijanaika (What’s the difference) , an ensemble drama that is undoubtedly one of his lesser-known titles. The ballad of Narayama was much more successful around the world, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1983. Ogata gave a brilliant performance as Tatsuhei, forced by his elderly mother to take her to Mount Narayama, where she will perish, since she, despite being in perfect condition, wishes not to to be a nuisance and make room for a new son of Tatshuhei and his wife, who helps them with the tasks in the fields. Following this harsh but powerful depiction of old rural Japan, Imamura cast Ogata back in the lead role in Zegen, Lord of the Brothels , where he was a soldier who freed some female slaves, but decides to turn them into prostitutes. In Imamura’s last work, who died in 2006, he also featured Ogata. It was in the final episode of 11’09”01. 11 of September, cryptic account of a snake-man who crawled on the ground and ate rats, which was certainly one of the less interesting segments.

In Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters , by Paul Schrader , Ken Ogata plays the famous writer who gave the film its title, Yukio Mishima , who belonged to a lineage of noble samurai, and after delivering the last chapter of his last book, marched with four loyal men from his personal army to the air headquarters to kidnap their top leader. The film is famous for its theatrical staging, which inspired Lars von Trier for Dogville . Ogata also appeared in Peter Greenaway ‘s The Pillow Book and Yoji Yamada ‘s Love & Honor .. The actor has been active until the end, because on September 30 he gave a press conference in Tokyo to promote Kaze no garden (‘The Garden of the Wind’), a television series that he had just filmed.