Tag Archives: Japan

Violent Virgin / Gewalt! Gewalt: shojo geba-geba (1969) Kôji Wakamatsu, Eri Ashikawa, Toshiyuki Tanigawa, Miki Hayashi, Crime, Horror, Erotic

violent-virgin-1969
Filmed entirely in a desolate field, Violent Virgin opens with two cars travelling along a dusty road. Three men and three women, apparently members of a gang, have a couple bound and blindfolded. After they reach their demonstration, they drag the man and woman, whose names we soon learn are Hoshi and Hanako, out of the cars and dump them on the ground. It seems that Hanako was the boss’s girl, but she eloped with Hoshi. Captured, it seems that they are going to be murdered, but not before they are humiliated by the other gang members.
Read More »

Chichi ariki / There was a father (1942) Yasujirô Ozu, Chishû Ryû, Shûji Sano, Shin Saburi, Drama

chichi-ariki-aka-there-was-a-father-1942
A father and his son, a son and his father. Horikawa is a widower, a teacher, and a good father to Ryohei, who’s about 10. After a tragedy, Horikawa resigns from teaching and takes Ryohei from Tokyo to the town of Ueno, enrolling him in junior high; to the lad’s sorrow, he will be a boarder. Horikawa returns to work in Tokyo, their separation is complete. Jump ahead more than ten years: with dad’s help, Ryohei has finished college and has a teaching job in Akita. Horikawa considers living with his son, which Ryohei wants, but the elder’s notions of duty and hard work preclude it. Ryohei arranges a ten-day vacation with his father. Heartbreak comes quietly, nearly hidden by dignity.
Read More »

Moon Over Tao / Tao no tsuki (1997) Keita Amemiya, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Hiroshi Abe, Yûko Moriyama, Action, Fantasy

moon-over-tao-aka-tao-no-tsuki-1997
A retired warrior comes to see his former lord and learns that someone is making indestructible swords from some unknown metal. He is sent together with a swordsman to investigate the source. Along the way they meet a young girl working as a beekeeper. She is later witness to the appearance of three strange females from another dimension.
Read More »

The Clone Returns Home / Kurôn wa kokyô wo mezasu (2008) Kanji Nakajima, Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Eri Ishida, Hiromi Nagasaku, Drama, Sci-Fi

the-clone-returns-home-2008
The Clone Returns Home is a compelling meditation on the paradox of life and death, and the meaning of love and family. Set in an imaginary – yet utterly imaginable – future, this quietly provocative film skillfully transposes complex emotional drama into the realm of science fiction by exploring the influence of technology on human memory and experience. Filled with stunning imagery and haunting stillness, The Clone Returns Home deftly combines subtly nuanced sci-fi with a uniquely Japanese perspective on the universal themes of family, life, love, and death.
Read More »

Violent Cop / Sono otoko, kyôbô ni tsuki (1989) Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa, Action, Crime, Drama

violent-cop-1989
Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results. While investigating a series of drug-related homicides, Azuma discovers that his friend and colleague, Iwaki, is supplying drugs from within the police force. After Iwaki is murdered and Azuma’s sister is kidnapped, he breaks all the rules to dish out his particular form of justice.
Read More »

The Black Book / Kuroi gashû: Aru sarariman no shôgen (1960) Hiromichi Horikawa, Keiju Kobayashi, Chisako Hara, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Crime, Drama

the-black-book-1960
A forty-year-old office worker, Ishino get good income, nice family and a love affair with girl co-worker. His life is mostly perfect. One day, way home after affair, Ishino run across his neighbor, Sugiyama. They had known each other but not so close . Ishino hadn’t worry that his affair has catch. A few days later, police told Ishino that Sugiyama was arrested on charge of murder and claiming he had met Ishino in that day. If Ishino proved the Sugiyama’s alibi, Ishino’s life will be destroyed. If he give false evidence, Sugiyama will be hanged…
Read More »

Dororo (2007) Akihiko Shiota, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Ko Shibasaki, Kiichi Nakai, Action, Fantasy, Horror

dororo-2007
In the year 3048, the wounded Lord Kagemitsu Daigo proposes a deal to rule the whole world to forty-eight demons in their sealed temple. In return, the demons ask forty-eight parts of the body of his unborn son. When the mutilated baby is born, his mother puts him in a basket in the river flow to save his life. The baby survives and becomes the demon slayer Hyakkimaru that slash demons to retrieve his body parts. During his journey, he meets the female thief Dororo, who was raised as a boy after the death of her parents by the evil Lord Daigo, in a small town and she befriends Hyakkimaru and joins him in his quest seeking revenge against the Daigo’s clan.
Read More »