Izo Okada, a ronin (masterless samurai), desperately seeks a way out of his financial straits. Read More »
Tag Archives: Japan
Appassionata AKA Jo no mai (1984) Sadao Nakajima, Mariko Okada, Yûko Natori, Morio Kazama, Kei Satô
Tsuya Shimamura, is born in Kyoto as the second daughter of a tea trader who dies before her birth. Read More »
Yellow Line AKA Ôsen chitai (1960) Teruo Ishii, Teruo Yoshida, Yôko Mihara, Shigeru Amachi
A criminal drama told in a semi-documentary fashion. The murder of the chief official of Kobe city’s Customs triggers Read More »
The Ballad of Narayama AKA Narayama bushikô (1983) Shôhei Imamura, Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Tonpei Hidari
In a poor 19th century rural Japanese village, everyone who reaches the age of 70 has to climb a nearby mountain to die. Read More »
Sure Death! Brown, You Bounder! AKA Hissatsu! Buraun-kan no kaibutsutachi (1985) Joe Hirose, Makoto Fujita, Izumi Ayukawa, Masaki Kyômoto
Each member of a band of assassins has a cover. The leader, Mondo Nakamura, is an officer of the law who bumbles through his assignments. Read More »
Sex and Fury AKA Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô (1973) Norifumi Suzuki, Reiko Ike, Akemi Negishi, Ryôko Ema
Reiko Ike stars as Ocho, a gambler and pickpocket in Meiji Era Tokyo. Read More »
Four Sisters AKA Shimaizaka (1985) Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, Misako Konno, Atsuko Asano, Yasuko Sawaguchi
Four half-sisters share an unusually close bond during tumultuous times of post-war Japan. Read More »
Kekkô Kamen: Surprise (2004) Takafumi Nagamine, Shôichirô Akaboshi, Jiro Dan, Noriko Higashide
A special agent is sent to a music school. There she discovers that the faculty is torturing the students Read More »
Kekko Kamen Returns AKA Kekkô Kamen: ritânzu (2004) Takafumi Nagamine, Aki Hoshino, Kenjirô Ishimaru, Ryûji Komiya
The evil is back and this terrorizing the swim team at an all girl school. Read More »
Tokyo Trial AKA Tôkyô saiban (1983) Masaki Kobayashi, Kei Satô
”THE TOKYO TRIAL” is a 4 1/2-hour account of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East that is visually satisfying but historically empty. Read More »
Kekko Kamen: The MGF Strikes Back AKA Kekkô Kamen: Mangurifon no gyakushû (2004) Takafumi Nagamine, Shino Saitô, Juri Inahara, Hiromitsu Suzuki
When good-natured Mayumi finds herself at the mercy of her sadistic, panty-crazed teachers Read More »
Kekko Kamen New AKA Kekkô Kamen (2004) Takafumi Nagamine, Nao Eguchi, Kie Ikuta, Juri Inahara
A school that teaches young boys and girls how to become famous anchorpeople in the media. Read More »
Bu su (1987) Jun Ichikawa, Yasuko Tomita, Michiyo Yasuda, Kazue Itô
Suzume moved in Tokyo where she will live in aunt’s house, basically a geisha house. Read More »
Play it, Boogie-Woogie AKA Slow na boogie ni shitekure (1981) Toshiya Fujita, Atsuko Asano, Masato Furuoya, Tsutomu Yamazaki
A young cat burglar begins a love triangle with a reckless older man and her on-again-off-again bonehead biker boyfriend. Read More »
Okuni to Gohei (1952) Mikio Naruse, Michiyo Kogure, Tomoemon Otani, Sô Yamamura
Kogure is the widow of an assassinated samurai and Otani was that man’s pupil. Read More »