Tomu Uchida

, born , was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Uchida chose the stage name Tomu, a transliteration of the English Tom, written in Kanji characters meaning "to spit out dreams".

Biography Early career After leaving junior high school in Okayama prematurely, Uchida started acting in films of the short-lived Taishō Katsuei studio in 1920, later moving to Nikkatsu in 1926. which film historians described as "a perfect pastiche, well ahead of its time" (Noël Burch) and "incredibly stylish" (Alexander Jacoby).

Uchida's films met with growing critical acclaim: Kagirinaki Zenshin (1937), based on an idea by Yasujirō Ozu, and Earth (1939) were elected by Kinema Junpo magazine as the best films of the respective year. The latter was praised for its realistic depiction of the lives of poor Meiji-period tenant farmers.

In 1941, Uchida quit the Nikkatsu studio and travelled to China for 80 days, stating that he "wanted to go and just went there".

Postwar career Upon his return, Uchida worked primarily for the Toei studio. His post-war reputation relies mostly on his jidaigeki films, starting with Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (1955), a "well-judged blend of comedy and violence and […] criticism of feudal values" (Jacoby), A "monumental crime thriller" (Jasper Sharp) received numerous national film awards Uchida left Toei protesting the distribution of a shortened version of the film without his approval,

Uchida died in 1970 of cancer.

Retrospectives on Uchida in the US have been held at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 2007 and in the Museum of Modern Art in 2016.

Selected filmography Ikeru Ningyo (lit. "Living Dolls") (1929, lost film) Adauchi Senshu (lit. "Vengeful Player") (1931, lost film) Policeman (Keisatsukan) (1933) Jinsei Gekijō (lit. "Theatre of Life") (1936, partially extant) Kagirinaki Zenshin (lit. "Limitless Advance") (1937) Hadaka no Machi (lit. "Naked Town") (1937, lost film) Earth (1939, partially extant) Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (Chiyari Fuji) (1955) A Hole of My Own Making (Jibun no Ana no Nakade) (1955) Twilight Saloon (Tasogare Sakaba) (1955) The Kuroda Affair (Kuroda Sōdō) (1956) The Horse Boy (Abarenbo Kaido) (1957) Swords in the Moonlight The Great Bodhisattva Pass (1957) The Outsiders (Mori to Mizuumi no Matsuri) (1958) Chikamatsu’s Love in Osaka (Naniwa no Koi no Monogatari) (1959) Hero of the Red-Light District, a.k.a. Yoshiwara: The Pleasure Quarter or Killing in Yoshiwara (1960) The Master Spearman (Sake to Onna to Yari) (1960) Miyamoto Musashi (1961–1965, series of 5 films) The Mad Fox Love, Thy Name Be Sorrow (Koiya Koi Nasuna Koi) (1962) A Fugitive from the Past (Kiga Kaikyō) (1965)