Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is so frightened and obsessed with the idea of nuclear extermination that his family decides to have him ruled incompetent. Read More »
Author Archives: rarefilm
Kazoku gêmu / The Family Game (1983) Yoshimitsu Morita, Yûsaku Matsuda, Jûzô Itami, Saori Yuki, Comedy, Drama
A sendup of the stereo-typical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife Read More »
Jiang shi shu shu / Mr. Vampire 4 (1988) Ricky Lau, Anthony Chan, Wu Ma, Kar Lok Chin, Comedy, Horror
A Taoist Priest isn’t too happy when his Buddhist Priest colleague moves in next door. Read More »
Chuji Tabinikki Daisanbu Goyohen / A Diary of Chuji’s Travels (1927) Daisuke Itô, Denjirô Ôkôchi, Hideo Nakamura, Kichiji Nakamura, Drama
The Japanese equivalent of penny dreadfuls glorifying Jesse James, A Diary of Chuji’s Travels gives a unique gloss to the tale of Chuji Kunisada, the legendary bakuto (or gambler, the precursors to modern-day yakuza). Read More »
Dama s sobachkoy / The Lady with the Dog (1960) Iosif Kheifits, Iya Savvina, Aleksey Batalov, Nina Alisova, Drama, Romance
In the Nineteenth Century, at the seaside resort of Yalta, the upper class Dimitri Gurov from Moscow meets Anna Sergeyovna walking with her little dog. Read More »
Mystery Submarine (1950) Douglas Sirk, Macdonald Carey, Märta Torén, Robert Douglas, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller, War
Posing as an ex-German medical officer, a U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer sets out to rescue a kidnapped scientist, and sink a Nazi submarine, hiding off the coast of South America. Read More »
Yama no oto / Sound of the Mountain (1954) Mikio Naruse, Setsuko Hara, Sô Yamamura, Ken Uehara, Drama
The businessman Ogata Shingo works with his son Shuichi, who is his secretary, and they live together in the suburb with their wives Yasuko and Kikuko respectively. Read More »
Marathon (2002) Amir Naderi, Sara Paull, Trevor Moore, Rebecca Nelson, Drama
A woman continuously solves crossword puzzles everywhere she goes; in subway trains, on buses, and on the streets of New York City. Read More »
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) Louis Malle, Wallace Shawn, Phoebe Brand, George Gaynes, Comedy, Drama, Romance
An uniterrupted rehersal of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” played out by a company of actors. The setting is their run down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. Read More »
Secrets (1971) Philip Saville, Jacqueline Bisset, Per Oscarsson, Shirley Knight, Drama
Jacqueline plays a housewife who has some problems with her husband. The movie takes place in the course of one day. Read More »