Based on renowned Japanese writer Natsume Soseki’s same-titled short story collection Read More »
Tag Archives: Kon Ichikawa
Queen Bee AKA Joôbachi (1978) Kon Ichikawa, Koji Ishizaka, Mieko Takamine, Keiko Kishi
Private detective Kindaichi investigates a series of murders in scenic rural Japan. Read More »
Lonely Heart AKA Kôfuku (1981) Kon Ichikawa, Yutaka Mizutani, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Rie Nakahara
The plot of ”Lonely Heart” concerns a gunman who murders all the occupants of a bookstore. Read More »
Conflagration (1958) Kon Ichikawa, Raizô Ichikawa, Ganjirô Nakamura, Tatsuya Nakadai
Goichi Mizoguchi, an aspiring Buddhist monk who became involved in the temple that was owned by his father Read More »
Firebird: Daybreak Chapter (1978) Kon Ichikawa, Tomisaburô Wakayama, Toshinori Omi, Masao Kusakari
This extraordinarily complex film is not only a send-up of every samurai film ever made Read More »
An Actors Revenge (1963) Kon Ichikawa, Kazuo Hasegawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao
While performing in a touring kabuki troupe, leading female impersonator Yukinojo comes across the three men who drove his parents to suicide twenty years earlier Read More »
Alley Cat (2000) Kon Ichikawa, Kôji Yakusho, Yûko Asano, Tsurutarô Kataoka
Samurai Koheita Mochizuki, who goes by the nickname Dora-Heita, meaning “alley cat” or “playboy” Read More »
The Inugamis (2006) Kon Ichikawa, Kôji Ishizaka, Nanako Matsushima, Kikunosuke Onoe
A web of deceit, adultery and greed manifests in Kon Ichikawa’s remake of his own 1976 hit about a murder investigation that reveals years of hidden skeletons and a shocking family secret. Read More »
Being Two Isnt Easy (1962) Kon Ichikawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Hiroo Suzuki, Eiji Funakoshi, Comedy, Drama
The trials, tribulations, and joys of raising a child. The film follows the everyday events of a family with one boy Read More »
Biruma no tategoto / The Burmese Harp (1956) Kon Ichikawa, Rentarô Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Tatsuya Mihashi, Drama, Music, War
Koto / Ancient City (1980) Kon Ichikawa, Momoe Yamaguchi, Tomokazu Miura, Keiko Kishi, Drama
Koto is a 1980 film directed by Kon Ichikawa starring Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura in an adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata’s story The Old Capital. Read More »
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 »
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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Fires on the Plain / Nobi (1959) Kon Ichikawa, Eiji Funakoshi, Mantarô Ushio, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Drama, War
It is the Philipines, 1945. The Japanese Imperial Army has been reduced to a ragtag mob hiding in the jungles. Among them is Pvt. Tamura.
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Matatabi / The Wanderers (1973) Kon Ichikawa, Isao Bitô, Tadao Futami, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Drama
Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three friends in feudal Japan who are ronin: masterless warriors, who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill their rice bowls. These are not the YOJIMBO Super Samurai but rather the rank and file, the spear-carriers. The irony is that even though they use the servants’ entrance, they still feel themselves bound by the samurai code of Bushido; and this tension leads to tragedy.
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