Yoshimitsu Morita (森田 芳光, Morita Yoshimitsu, 25 January 1950 – 20 December 2011) was a Japanese film director who was born in Tokyo.

Self-taught, first making shorts on 8 mm film during the 1970s, he made his feature film debut with No Yōna Mono (Something Like It, 1981).

In 1983 he won acclaim for his movie Kazoku Gēmu (The Family Game), which was voted the best film of the year by Japanese critics in the Kinema Junpo magazine poll. This black comedy dealt with then-recent changes in the structure of Japanese home life. It also earned Moritahim the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award.

The director has been nominated for eight Japanese Academy Awards, winning the 2004 Best Director award for Ashura no Gotoku (Like Asura, 2003). He also won the award for best director at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for 39 keihō dai sanjūkyū jō (Keiho, 2003) and the award for best screenplay at the 18th Yokohama Film Festival for Haru (1996). Sanjuro (2007) is a remake of the Kurosawa film

Yoshimitsu Morita died from acute liver failure in Tokyo. His last film Bokukyû: A ressha de iko (Take the "A" Train, 2011), a romantic comedy about two male train enthusiasts, is scheduled for a Spring 2012 general release in Japan.

Biography

Autodidacte, il débute dans la profession en 1981. En 1983, son film Jeu de famille (家族ゲーム, Kazoku gēmu) est unanimement apprécié et élu Meilleur Film de l'Année par la critique japonaise. Cette comédie sombre reflète les récents changements survenus dans la structure de la cellule familiale japonaise.

Cinq fois nommé pour le prix du meilleur réalisateur aux Japan Academy Prize, il remporte le prix en 2004 pour son film Ashura no gotoku (2003).