For his 27th film, the 'sensei' of Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa, transposes Shakespeare's KING LEAR to feudal Japan. RAN, which translates as 'chaos' or 'turmoil', is the tragic tale of Lord ... Read more
Just as many American studio-era directors found acclaim abroad that was denied them in their home country, by 1980 Akira Kurosawa's reputation outside Japan exceeded his esteem at home. As ... Read more
Based on King's Ransom, an 87th Precinct novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), High and Low stars Toshiro Mifune as Gondo, a wealthy industrialist. Gondo is contacted by a gang of kidnappers, who ... Read more
This film contains four distinct, separate stories. "Black Hair": A poor samurai who divorces his true love to marry for money, but finds the marriage disastrous and returns to his old wife, only to ... Read more
For his 27th film, the 'sensei' of Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa, transposes Shakespeare's KING LEAR to feudal Japan. RAN, which translates as 'chaos' or 'turmoil', is the tragic tale of Lord ... Read more
Set in the mid-19th century when the disintegration of a rigid social structure was turning the once wealthy into paupers, or vice-versa, this kinetic drama by acclaimed Akira Kurosawa features the ... Read more
A story of greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, the ... Read more
It is Tempo-era Japan in the nineteenth century. Zatoichi is on his travels again. They will bring him to a village where the Boss of All Bosses, Yamikubo, holds sway, a man known as the Prince of ... Read more
THE WOLVES, starring Japanese film great Tatsuya Nakadai, is a visually stunning and elaborate gangster film set in the late 1920s, when the yakuza still dressed in robes and carried swords. There is ... Read more
In this chilling film by Shiro Toyoda, a samurai warrior (Tatsuya Nakadai) is haunted by the apparition of his first wife. Toyoda also directed Nakadai in PORTRAIT OF HELL.