Hisayasu Satô
Birthday: 1959-08-15 Place of Birth: Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Synopsis
Hisayasu Sato is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the pinku eiga genre. He is known for his "sledgehammer" filmmaking style, and using his exploitation career to tackle serious subjects like obsession, alienation, perversion and voyeurism. He is famous for his "guerilla shooting technique" in which his actors appear on location in public and incorporate unknowing bystanders into the film. Hisayasu Sato’s often violent but highly visual works utilised a multitude of multimedia devices to reflect upon issues such as the power of the gaze, the dehumanising effects of technology and the loss of the individual’s sense of “self” that accompanied Japan’s period of economic boom in the late 80s.
Acting
Tokyo Elegy
This transnational production featuring a South African- born director, a Dutch leading man, and a Japanese cast and crew tells the story of a passionate love affair between a convict and a porn star, which is undone by greed and private ghosts. Escaping from the Japanese police, Jack meets Keiko, a money-hungry adult film actress and the younger sister of his ex-wife. He takes refuge in her flat and soon they fall in love. Jack is unable to leave her apartment because he quickly learns that both the police and the dreaded yakuza are after the criminal. He grows distraught and despondent, spending hour upon hour alone as Keiko works long hours on the set. At one point, Keiko visits the yakuza don who placed the hit on Jack and agrees to hand him over in exchange for a pile of cash. But she has one stipulation: that she get to spend three days with her soon-to-be deceased lover. The boss agrees only if she engages in kinky sex with him. The deal seems set until unforeseen events occur.
