A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Read More »
Tag Archives: japanese
Sleepy Eyes of Death 9: Trail of Traps (1967) Kazuo Ikehiro, Raizô Ichikawa, Nobuo Kaneko, Toshio Kimura, Action, Drama
The Son of the Black Mass returns in this ninth installment in Daiei’s longstanding Nemuri Kyoshiro series. Read More »
Shiroi yajuu / White Beast (1950) Mikio Naruse, Mitsuko Miura, Sô Yamamura, Eiji Okada, Drama
The critical establishment was clearly not prepared to accept a woman’s prison film featuring former prostitutes recovering from venereal diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and estranged lovers. Read More »
Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki / She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955) Keisuke Kinoshita, Noriko Arita, Chishû Ryû, Haruko Sugimura, Drama, Romance
An old man, being rowed along a river, sees a field of daisies (or Wild Chrysanthemums, as they are described in the title, or starworts, as they are referred to in the subtitles), and thinks back to when he was fifteen. Read More »
Sleepy Eyes of Death 8: Sword of Villainy (1966) Kenji Misumi, Raizô Ichikawa, Shigeru Amachi, Shiho Fujimura, Action, Drama
Nemuri Kyoshiro discovers a conspiracy centering around a band of disgruntled samurai wanting to avenge the death of their sensei Read More »
Haruka naru yama no yobigoe / A Distant Cry from Spring (1980) Yôji Yamada, Ken Takakura, Chieko Baishô, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Drama
A mysterious stranger appears at the door of a farmhouse on a stormy night and asks for shelter. The young widow who owns the farm puts him up in the barn. Read More »
Nora Inu / Stray Dog (1949) Akira Kurosawa, Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Murukami, a young homicide detective, has his pocket picked on a bus and loses his pistol. Read More »
Sleepy Eyes of Death 7: The Mask of the Princess (1966) Akira Inoue, Raizô Ichikawa, Yaeko Mizutani, Ichirô Nakatani, Drama
The masked daughter of the Shogun wants to kill a samurai who has seen her scarred face. She sends waves of ninja warriors to kill the samurai and plots diabolical schemes / ambushes without much success. Read More »
Sleepy Eyes of Death 6 – Sword of Satan (1965) Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Raizô Ichikawa, Michiko Saga, Machiko Hasegawa, Action, Drama
Sixth film in the series. A little boy who just wants to be a carpenter is at the center of a plot that might topple — or save — a mighty Clan Read More »
Pikunikku / Picnic (1996) Shunji Iwai, Chara, Tadanobu Asano, Koichi Hashizume, Drama, Fantasy
Believing that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Read More »
Chikagoro naze ka Charusuton / At This Late Date The Charleston (1981) Kihachi Okamoto, Gô Rijû, Yû Fujiki, Ichirô Zaitsu, Comedy
A group of old men take over an empty house and proclaim it to be a new “country” they have founded, called Yama. Read More »
Nemuri Kyôshirô 5: Enjôken / Sleepy Eyes of Death 5: Sword of Fire (1965) Kenji Misumi, Raizô Ichikawa, Tamao Nakamura, Michiko Sugata, Action, Drama
Fifth film in the series. When Kyoshiro, in a moment of weakness, saves the life of a woman being attacked on the road, he quickly finds himself entangled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt chamberlain, a wily merchant, the survivors of a pirate gang, and a missing treasure trove. Read More »
Yôjinbô / Yojimbo (1961) Akira Kurosawa, Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Action, Drama, Thriller
Sanjuro, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. Read More »
Ikimono no kiroku / I Live in Fear (1955) Akira Kurosawa, Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Drama
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 »
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 »