Crash Course in Japanese Cinema (19 titles)
A brief introduction to one of the most consistently interesting national cinemas to grace our screens. Limited myself to two films per director for the sake of brevity, leaving out some of my favourites in the process! Please enjoy!
81.6% from 20 members
The Life Of Oharu
Tragedy of pride and circumstance. Builds to an incredibly moving climax. Probably the bets introduction to Kenji Mizoguchi, a great of Japanese film, though not necessarily his best film.
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The Life Of Oharu
on DVD
(1952)
Starring: Kinuyo Tanaka, Toshiro Mifune
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Certificate:
The story chronicles the decline through exile, concubinage and prostitution of Oharu Okui. Her sufferings and treatment are analysed until she is finally discarded like an inanimate object. Japanese dialogue with subtitles.
69%
from 1,136 member
Ichi The Killer
Pretty repulsive Japanese shocker. Not a great film, but worth seeing as in introduction to the prolific Takashi Miike.
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Ichi The Killer
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto
Director: Takashi Miike
Certificate:
Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film ..read more »
64%
from 8,425 members
Hana-Bi
The incomparable Takeshi Kitano, ("Beat" Takeshi) at his elegant, violent best. A film that moves on so many levels. Highly recommended.
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Hana-Bi
on DVD
(1997)
Starring: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi
Director: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
Certificate:
Detective Nishi has just lost his infant daughter and is about to lose his wife to a fatal illness. He is advised by the doctors to take her home so she can die in peace. Nishi also finds out his partner Horibe has been seriously wounded and may be confined to a wheelchair. Nishi visits Horibe who ..read more »
67%
from 5,615 members
Seven Samurai
One of the most influential films of all time, a fast-paced (even at three hours) and action packed epic.
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Seven Samurai
on DVD
(1954)
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Yoshio Inaba
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Certificate:
Set in 16th Century Japan, Akira Kurosawa's epic SEVEN SAMURAI follows the plight of a defenseless farming village that lives in constant fear of marauding bandits. The farmers know that when their crops are harvested, the thugs will attack, so four men go to town in hopes of employing samurai to ..read more »
72%
from 33,342 members
Sansho the Bailiff
Mizoguchi tragedy at his very, very best. Compassionate and intelligent to the very last frame, with some of the most elegant camera work I've seen.
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Sansho the Bailiff
(1954)
Starring: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Certificate:
In mediaeval Japan a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
82%
from 145 members
Audition
Probably the most interesting of Miike's films, as far as I can see. Again, repulsive in the last reel, but far more well made than any other of his films that I've seen.
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Audition
on DVD
(1999)
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki
Director: Takashi Miike
Certificate:
AUDITION is an art-house cult horror film that will be talked about for a long time to come. Ryo Ishibashi stars as Aoyama, a single father who has not dated since his wife died seven years earlier. To help find another woman to bring joy into Aoyama's charmless life, his best friend, television ..read more »
62%
from 15,650 members
Zatoichi
Once again, Kitano proves incomparably, surprising all by producing a kinetic, lively and profoundly joyous samurai epic. Brilliant!
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Zatoichi
on DVD
(2003)
Starring: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano
Director: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
Certificate:
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Takeshi Kitano, best known for such gangster films as VIOLENT COP, BOILING POINT, and BROTHER, makes his first period drama with ZATOICHI, an updating of the classic Japanese character portrayed by Shintaro Katsu in movies and television from 1962 to 1989. Zatoichi is a blind samurai who shuffles ..read more »
70%
from 18,843 members
Tokyo Story
Actually has been voted the greatest film ever a number of times. Inaccessible to the casual viewer, it is nonetheless a very moving and restrained film.
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Tokyo Story
(1953)
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Chieko Higashiyama
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Certificate:
An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their children and are confronted by indifference, ingratitude and selfishness.
Not currently released
76%
from 1,212 member
Tetsuo - The Iron Man
Cyberpunk shocker, and shocking it certainly is. May not exactly make sense.
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Tetsuo - The Iron Man
on DVD
(1989)
Starring: Anthony Bevilacqua, Kei Fujiwara, Markus Greiner
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Certificate:
A visually arresting and highly disturbing urban flight of fancy from Japanese auteur Tsukamoto, who also starred, wrote, shot, and edited. A buttoned-up Japanese commuter accidentally rams his car into a cyberpunky 'metal fetishist' (Tsukamoto) whose jollies include transplating metal parts into ..read more »
57%
from 1,704 member
Zatoichi The Outlaw
Great introduction to one of the most enduring figures in Japanese cinema, Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman, Zatoichi.
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Zatoichi The Outlaw
on DVD
(1967)
Starring: Shintaro Katsu, Mikuni Rentaroo, Hamada Yunko
Director: Yamamoto Satsuo
Certificate:
The blind swordsman, who is always ready to fight for justice, returns in another adventure from the long running series of Japanese action films. This time Zatouchi finds himself in the middle of a feud between two rival gangs.
62%
from 424 members
Average rating for this collection:
81.6% from 20 members
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