Why this filmmaker matters
Takao Saitō has 0 features photographed in the Nutevio catalogue.
Performer
Cinematographer in the Nutevio catalogue.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Takao Saitō has 0 features photographed in the Nutevio catalogue.
The recognisable elements are rewatchability, visual style, originality. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same eye, re-tuned for different registers. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is staged.
Saitō set terms other filmmakers now work against: the structures, the pacing and the refusal to explain. Awards bodies have often been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Catalogue work still being written up by our editors.
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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Canonical people credited alongside this name across multiple titles.

Akira Kurosawa
Director
18 shared titles · High and Low

Ryuzo Kikushima
Producer
6 shared titles · High and Low

Tatsuya Nakadai
Actor
4 shared titles · High and Low
Hideo Oguni
Screenplay
4 shared titles · High and Low

Tomoyuki Tanaka
Producer
4 shared titles · High and Low

Toshirō Mifune
Actor
3 shared titles · High and Low

Asakazu Nakai
Director of Photography
3 shared titles · High and Low

Masaru Satō
Original Music Composer
3 shared titles · High and Low
Shoji Ueda
Director of Photography
3 shared titles · Dreams
Masato Ide
Screenplay
3 shared titles · Kagemusha

Kyōko Kagawa
Actor
2 shared titles · High and Low

Takashi Shimura
Actor
2 shared titles · High and Low
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