SABU

SABU

  • Birthday: 1964-11-18
  • Place of birth: Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
  • Also know as: Hiroki Tanaka

Biography

Sabu (サブ, Sabu, born November 18, 1964) is the pseudonym of Japanese actor and director Hiroyuki Tanaka. Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 World Apartment Horror, a live-action film directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo of Akira fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 Dangan Runner, a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves." Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. Blessing Bell, starring Susumu Terajima (who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. Later films featured the J-pop band V6. In 2009, he directed The Crab Cannery Ship, a modern adaptation of a classic of Japanese proletarian literature written by Takiji Kobayashi. He has continued to work as an actor, such as in Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer (2001). His film Chasuke's Journey was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Filmography

Ichi the Killer

2001

As Kaneko

Zëiram 2

1994

As Fujikuro (as Sabu)

Kiriko

1994

As

Don't Look Up

1996

As Sekikawa

800 Two Lap Runners

1994

As Kyoichi Nakazawa

Kuma-chan

1993

As

Unlucky Monkey

1998

As Bank Robber

Postman Blues

1997

As Kurokawa

Sakuran

2006

As Patron

Silence

2016

As Samurai #1

Production

Postman Blues

1997

As Director

Monday

2000

As Director

Drive

2002

As Director

Bunny Drop

2011

As Director

Blessing Bell

2002

As Director

Unlucky Monkey

1998

As Director

Hold Up Down

2005

As Director

Dangan Runner

1996

As Director

Kanikôsen

2009

As Director

A1012K

2003

As Director

Hard Luck Hero

2003

As Director

Dead Run

2005

As Director

Miss ZOMBIE

2013

As Director

Chasuke's Journey

2015

As Director

Mr. Long

2017

As Director

Happiness

2017

As Director

Jam

2018

As Director

Dancing Mary

2019

As Director

Under Your Bed

2023

As Director

Dancing Mary

2019

As Editor

Jam

2018

As Editor

Unlucky Monkey

1998

As Writer

Miss ZOMBIE

2013

As Writer

Blessing Bell

2002

As Writer

Happiness

2017

As Screenplay

Postman Blues

1997

As Writer

Kanikôsen

2009

As Screenplay

Hard Luck Hero

2003

As Screenplay

Dead Run

2005

As Screenplay

Bunny Drop

2011

As Screenplay

Hold Up Down

2005

As Writer

Jam

2018

As Screenplay

Dangan Runner

1996

As Screenplay

Dancing Mary

2019

As Writer

Mr. Long

2017

As Screenplay

Drive

2002

As Screenplay

Chasuke's Journey

2015

As Screenplay

Monday

2000

As Screenplay

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