Takahisa Zeze (瀬々敬久, Zeze Takahisa, born 24 May 1960[1]) is a Japanese film director and screenwriter first known for his soft-core pornographic pink films of the 1990s. Along with fellow directors, Kazuhiro Sano, Toshiki Satō, and Hisayasu Sato, he is known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Pink" (ピンク四天王, pinku shitennō).[2] In recent years, he has directed such major commercial hits as 64: Part I, 64: Part II, and The 8-Year Engagement, while continuing to make independent art films like Heaven's Story and The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine.

Takahisa Zeze
Born (1960-05-24) 24 May 1960 (age 64)
Occupation(s)Film director
Screenwriter
Years active1989–present
MovementPinku eiga

Life and career

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"I try to show relationships, I make films about love. It's not just about the act of having sex, but what leads up to it and what comes after. What are the feelings of the people before, while they do it and after they did it? It's this development that interests me. I don't care very much about rape, because it's very one-sided and doesn't allow for this kind of development... I don't want to depict characters as having sex, but as making love."
-- Takahisa Zeze[3]

Takahisa Zeze was born in 1960 and graduated from Kyoto University in 1986. While attending this prestigious university, Zeze began making experimental films. He began his career in the film industry working for Shishi Productions as a screenwriter and assistant director for various pink film directors, including Hisayasu Satō.[4]

Zeze usually writes the scripts for his films, which often contain examinations of social concerns not usually found in the pink film genre. His style is much less violent than Sato's, and rarely includes rape, one of the traditional thematic staples of the pink film from earliest times. Zeze also engages in more satire and self-conscious humor than is typical in the genre. He has the habit of giving his films eccentric titles during their production which the studios replace with a more commercially exploitable name before release. For example, Zeze's title My Existence Is a Phenomenon Based on the Hypothesis of Blue Light Generated by Organic Currency was changed to Amazon Garden: Uniform Lesbians.[4] He sometimes uses whimsical pseudonyms in his directorial credit, such as "Jean-Luc Zeze" or "South Pole #1". After a decade of making pink films, Zeze turned to mainstream releases in 1997 with Kokkuri.[4] While continuing to work in the pink film genre, he has since directed several mainstream successes such as Rush!, Hysteric and Dog Star.[5] In 2002 Zeze was honored with a career retrospective at Italy's Far East Film Festival.[5]

He often works with the cinematographer Kōichi Saitō.

Partial filmography

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Release title[6] Zeze's title Release date Studio
Extracurricular Activity: Rape!
課外授業 暴行
Kagai Jugyo: Boko
Go to Haneda and You Will See Kids Dressed like Pirates Ready to Attack 1989-06-24 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Beast Lust: Devil Rampage
獣欲魔 乱行
Juyoku-ma Ranko
Blue Sky 1989-12-02 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Indecent Tongue Technique
破廉恥舌戯テクニック
Harenchi Zetsugi Technique
Moon Over the Desert June 1990 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Molester's Train: Rie's Fundoshi Underwear
痴漢電車 りえのフンドシ
Chikan Densha: Rie no Fundoshi
Coconut Crush June 1990 Media Top/Shintōhō Eiga
Obscene Runaway Gang: Beast
猥褻暴走集団 獣
Waisetsu Boso Shudan: Kemono
Noman's Land 1991-05-18 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Amazon Garden: Uniform Lesbians
禁男の園 ザ・制服レズ
Kindan no Sono: The Seifuku Les
My Existence Is a Phenomenon Based on the Hypothesis of Blue Light Generated by Organic Currency 1992-10-10 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Molester's Train: Mischievous Wives
痴漢電車 いけない妻たち
Chikan Densha: Ikenai Tsuma-tachi
My Train Is Supposed to be Going North But It's Going South 1992-11-28 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Widow: Bliss on the Seventh Day of Mourning
未亡人 初七日の悶え
Mibojin: Shonanuka no Modae
The Monk Farted 1993-03-19 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Widow: Bliss in a Mourning Dress
未亡人 喪服の悶え
Mibojin: Mofuku no Modae
Modern Story About Bandits 1993-11-19 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
High Class Bathhouse Sex Technique: Blissful Secret Acts
高級ソープテクニック4 悶絶秘戯
Kokyu Soap Technique: Monzetsu Higi
The Dream of Garuda
Dream of the Phoenix 1994-04-22 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Genuine Lesbian: Embarrassing Position
本番レズ 恥ずかしい体位
Honban Les: Hazukashii Taii
Fallen Angels in September 1994-11-25 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Lots of Dirty Stuff
すけべてんこもり
Sukebe Tenkomori
End of the World 1995-07-28 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Endless Sex
終わらないセックス
Owaranai Sex
Night-Chirping Locust 1995-09-15 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Red Love Affair
赫い情事
Akai Joji
The Expected Scene 1996-01-12 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Kokkuri / Fox Spirit
KOKKURI・こっくりさん
Kokkuri-san
1997-05-24 Nikkatsu
Woman with Black Underwear: Snake-Headed Fish
黒い下着の女 雷魚
Kuroi Shitagi no Onna: Raigyo
1997-05-31 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Anarchy in Japansuke: The Woman Who Comes When Watched
アナーキー・インじゃぱんすけ 見られてイク女
Anaakii in jyapansuke: mirarete iku onna
1999-04-23 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Hysteric I Don't Want to Let You Go Until Dawn 2000-05-06 Legend Pictures
Tokyo X Erotica
トーキョー×エロティカ 痺れる快楽
Tokyo X Erotica: Shibireru Kairaku
2001-08-31 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Rush! 2001-06-23 ElkInfinity
Dog Star
ドッグ・スター
2002-04-27 Omega Micott Inc./Legend Pictures
SF Whipped Cream 2002-12-14 Twins Japan
Moon Child 2003-04-19 Shochiku/Mainichi Shimbun/WoWow
Yuda
「エロス番長」シリーズ ユダ
"Eros Honban" Series: Yuda
2004-08-21 EuroSpace
A Gap in the Skin
肌の隙間
Hada no Sukima
2004-12-07 Kokuei/Shintōhō Eiga
Sanctuary 2006-10-07 Legend Pictures
Shisei: Ochita Jorōgumo 2007-01-13 NTT Resonant/Art Port
Heaven's Story 2010-10-02
Antoki no Inochi 2011-11 Shochiku
Strayer's Chronicle 2015-06-27
64: Part I 2016-05-07
64: Part II 2016-06-11
Nariyuki na Tamashii 2017
The 8-Year Engagement 2017 Shochiku
The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine 2018
My Friend "A" 2018
The Promised Land 2019 Kadokawa
Threads: Our Tapestry of Love 2020 Toho
In the Wake 2021 Shochiku[7]
Tomorrow's Dinner Table 2021 Kadokawa
Fragments of the Last Will[8] 2022 Toho
One Last Bloom[9] 2023 Gaga
The Boy and the Dog[10] 2025 Toho

References

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  1. ^ "Zeze Takahisa". Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus. Kōdansha. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  2. ^ Domenig, Roland (2002). "Vital flesh: the mysterious world of Pink Eiga". Archived from the original on 18 November 2004. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  3. ^ Zeze, Takahisa quoted in "Takahisa Zeze interview". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). "Spotlight: Four Kings of Pink (Takahisa Zeze)". Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 487. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  5. ^ a b "Takahisa Zeze interview". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  6. ^ Filmography from Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). "Spotlight: Four Kings of Pink (Takahisa Zeze)". Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. pp. 487–492. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.; Takahisa Zeze at IMDb and "瀬々敬久 (Takahisa Zeze)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  7. ^ "護られなかった者たちへ". eiga.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ "二宮和也が捕虜に希望の火を灯す「収容所から来た遺書」映画化、監督は瀬々敬久". Natalie. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  9. ^ "佐藤浩市×横浜流星W主演! 瀬々敬久監督映画『春に散る』公開". Cinema Cafe. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  10. ^ "高橋文哉×西野七瀬がW主演、監督・瀬々敬久で人間と犬の絆を描く「少年と犬」映画化". Natalie. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
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Awards and achievements
Pink Grand Prix
Preceded by Pink Grand Prix for Best Director
Takahisa Zeze

1995
for Endless Sex
Succeeded by
Takahisa Zeze
for Upcoming Scenery
Preceded by
Takahisa Zeze
for Endless Sex
Pink Grand Prix for Best Director
Takahisa Zeze

1996
for Upcoming Scenery
Succeeded by