All About Lily Chou-Chou follows two childhood friends, Shusuke Hoshino and Yuichi Hasumi, from the end of their junior high school run until the beginning of high school. Read More »
Tag Archives: japanese
Sanjûsangen-dô, tôshiya monogatari / A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo (1945) Mikio Naruse, Kazuo Hasegawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sensho Ichikawa, War, Drama
After a renowned archer commits harakiri because he’s lost the big tournament, innkeeper Kinuyo Tanaka takes in his boy and sees to his training so he can compete in the next big contest.
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100 Monsters (1968) Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Shinobu Araki, Jun Fujimaki, Ryûtarô Gomi, Horror
A greedy developer, in league with a corrupt Shrine Magistrate, brutally tries to drive people out of a tenement building and destroy the shrine in back. Read More »
Gan / Wild Geese / The Mistress (1953) Shirô Toyoda, Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa, Jûkichi Uno, Drama, Romance
A young woman is forced to become a mistress to a married, middle-aged man in order to support her father, in this meiji period drama directed by Shiro Toyoda. Read More »
Manhunt / Kimi yo fundo no kawa wo watare (1976) Jun’ya Satô, Ken Takakura, Yoshio Harada, Ryô Ikebe, Action, Crime, Drama
A tough police detective is falsely accused of corruption, and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.
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Kokoro / The Heart (1955) Kon Ichikawa, Masayuki Mori, Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Drama
Kon Ichikawa’s rich adaptation of Natsume Soseki’s classic novel depicts a complex relationship between a student and an older man he calls “sensei.” Read More »
Hiroshima (1953) Hideo Sekigawa, Eiji Okada, Yumeji Tsukioka, Yoshi Katô, Drama
“Hiroshima” is a feature film directed by Hideo Sekigawa and was independently produced outside of major studio system in 1953. Read More »
Ranbô to taiki / Vengeance Can Wait (2010) Masanori Tominaga, Tadanobu Asano, Minami, Eiko Koike, Drama
Director Tominaga Masanori (Pandora’s Box) brings Motoya Yukiko’s offbeat play Ranbo to Taiki to the big screen in a juicy, neurotic tangle of love, hate and voyeurism. Read More »
Otôto / Her Brother (1960) Kon Ichikawa, Keiko Kishi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Drama
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
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Yuyake-gumo / Farewell to Dream (1956) Keisuke Kinoshita, Shinji Tanaka, Yûko Mochizuki, Takahiro Tamura, Drama
A coming-of-age story portrayed as the loss of all youthful illusions. Sixteen-year-old Yoichi dreams of becoming a sailor. Read More »
Shin shikôtei / The Great Wall (1962) Shigeo Tanaka, Shintarô Katsu, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ken Utsui, Adventure
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang conquered the rest of China. Qin’s great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Read More »
Rengoku eroica / Heroic Purgatory (1970) Yoshishige Yoshida, Mariko Okada, Kaizo Kamoda, Naho Kimura, Drama, Fantasy
Rikiya Shoda is an engineer working for the Atomic Agency in Japan. One day, his wife Nanako returns home with a lost teenager called Ayu. Read More »
Yabure-daiko / Broken Drum (1949) Keisuke Kinoshita, Hiroshi Aoyama, Tsumasaburô Bandô, Chieko Higashiyama, Drama
When the future of his construction company falls into danger, a controlling father pushes his children into unsatisfying marraiges and careers in order to regain financial stability.
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Ôsaka no yado / An Inn at Osaka (1954) Heinosuke Gosho, Shûji Sano, Nobuko Otowa, Mitsuko Mito, Drama
An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. Read More »
Big Time Gambling Boss (1968) Kôsaku Yamashita, Sumiko Fuji, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin’ichirô Mikami, Action
The oyabun (yakuza capo) of the clan controlling gambling in the Tokyo district dies suddenly and his followers have to decide who will take his place. The mafiosos choose the honest and loyal Nakai, but he refuses the offer alleging that he’s not a direct disciple of the dead oyabun, and suggesting that they choose the next person in the line of succession, Matsuda, who’s currently doing time in prison.
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