Shohei Imamura, who died on May 30, had one of the great careers of postwar Japanese film, winning the Cannes Palme d'Or twice, as well as many other awards and honors. But he spent much of that career on the fringes of the industry, like a bull elephant who separates himself from the herd and goes his own solitary, majestic, utterly distinctive way.
Born in Tokyo in 1926, Imamura was the son of a medical doctor and a graduate of Waseda University. While in college he had ambitions to become a stage director, but after seeing Akira Kurosawa's "Yoidore Tenshi (Drunken Angel)," he decided to enter the film world.
After graduating in 1951, Imamura joined the Shochiku studio as an assistant director. He worked with Yasujiro Ozu on several films, including his masterpiece "Tokyo Monogatari (The Tokyo Story)," but grew dissatisfied with Ozu's highly determined style and middle-class subject matter. In 1954, Imamura moved to the famed Nikkatsu studio right after postwar film production restarted there, and in 1958 made his directorial debut with "Nusumareta Yujo (Stolen Desire)."