Masaki Kobayashi

(小林 正樹) Japanese director born February 14, 1916 and probably best known for Kwaidan (怪談), a collection of four ghost stories, each of which has a surprise ending. (Some versions in the U.S. have had the second story removed--look for the 164 minute version if you wish to see all four). Kobayashi also directed The Human Condition, a trilogy on war clocking in at nine and a half hours; the film is nearly impossible to find except in metropolitan areas.

No word on whether the film Kwaidan--or its director--influenced the name given for Keyser Soze's lawyer in The Usual Suspects.