Based on actual events, taken from a woman doctor’s story of life in a remote leper colony. Read More »
Tag Archives: Shirô Toyoda
Snow Country AKA Yukiguni (1957) Shirô Toyoda, Ryô Ikebe, Keiko Kishi, Kaoru Yachigusa
It’s a man’s world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. Read More »
Madame White Snake AKA Byaku fujin no yoren (1956) Shirô Toyoda, Ryô Ikebe, Shirley Yamaguchi, Kaoru Yachigusa
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form. Read More »
Illusion of Blood AKA Yotsuya kaidan (1965) Shirô Toyoda, Tatsuya Nakadai, Mariko Okada, Junko Ikeuchi
Illusion of Blood takes place in the mid-19th century and concerns a masterless samurai named Iuemon Tamiya (Tatsuya Nakadai) Read More »
Jigokuhen / Portrait of Hell (1969) Shirô Toyoda, Hideyo Amamoto, Yôko Naitô, Tatsuya Nakadai, Drama
A rebellious Korean artist tests the limits of his sadistic patron, an omnipotent feudal Japanese lord. Read More »
Neko to shozo to futari no onna / Shozo, a Cat and Two Women (1956) Shirô Toyoda, Hisaya Morishige, Isuzu Yamada, Kyôko Kagawa, Comedy, Drama, Family
A timid man who has spent much of his life attempting without success to get out from under the domination of his mother, finds that marriage is no answer. Read More »
Meoto zenzai / Marital Relations (1955) Shirô Toyoda, Hisaya Morishige, Chikage Awashima, Yôko Tsukasa, Drama
Ryukichi, the young master of a cosmetic wholesale dealer, leaves his wife and child to live with Choko, a popular geisha, with whom he has fallen in love. 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 »
The Twilight Story / Bokutô kitan (1960) Shirô Toyoda, Fujiko Yamamoto, Hiroshi Akutagawa, Michiyo Aratama, Drama
A village girl goes to Tokyo and becomes a hooker to support her ailing mother. While there she meets an unmarried teacher (at least he says he’s unmarried) and falls in love. When she learns that he lied and is married to a woman whose child was fathered by another man, she is crushed. He returns to his wife. The woman becomes more distraught when she learns her uncle has misused the money she has sent. As the final straw, her mother dies, and the girl becomes sick.
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