Midnight Eye's Best Japanese Films of the Decade: Midnight Eye Crew (2000s)
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- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMaki SakaiArata IuraAkie NamikiThe film outlines Japanese students movements in the 60s, then shows the formation of the Japanese United Red Army, a communist armed resistance group.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsTeruyuki KagawaKyôko KoizumiYû KoyanagiAn ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsShinobu TerajimaEtsushi ToyokawaAkira EmotoYuko is 35 years old, single, out of work, and on medication from her psychiatrist to combat her manic depression. Living in Kamata Town, Yuko divides her time between a variety of men friends, each with his own peculiarities. Her university classmate, Homma, suffers from impotence. "K", whom she meets on the net, is a self-confessed pervert. Then, there is a young gangster, Yasuda, who is a fellow manic depressive. Her cousin, Shoichi, is also on the scene, having left his family to pursue his mistress, only to be given the cold shoulder by her, too. Yuko seems to create a different persona depending on whom she is talking to at the time. Human contact is just as important for her as for anyone else, but sometimes her condition makes it difficult for others to relate to her for as long as she would like.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
- DirectorJun IchikawaStarsIssei OgataRie MiyazawaShinohara TakahumiWhen technical illustrator Tony Takitani asks his wife to resist her all-consuming obsession for designer clothes, the consequences are tragic.
- DirectorMasaaki YuasaKôji MorimotoStarsKôji ImadaSayaka MaedaTakashi FujiiAfter a deadly encounter with two yakuza, a loser with a crush on his childhood girlfriend goes to heaven and back, embarking on a psychedelic self-discovery experience with her and his friends.
- DirectorYuki TanadaStarsYoshikazu EbisuNoriko EguchiAkira EmotoWhen an alluring young woman joins an erotic writing class, she begins a game of sexual cat and mouse with a naive college student. As they venture into more and more unpredictable territory in the bedroom, he begins to think she might be using him as a test subject for her fiction more than anything else.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsYûya YagiraAyu KitauraHiei KimuraIn a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
- DirectorToshiaki ToyodaStarsKyôko KoizumiAnne SuzukiItsuji ItaoA family struggling to live together even with the outrageous behaviors from each family members.
- DirectorHitoshi YazakiStarsChizuru IkewakiNoriko NakagoshiYûko NakamuraStrawberry Shortcakes (2006) is a Japanese film by director Hitoshi Yazaki. The film, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Kiriko Nananan, concerns the life of four girls, as they deal with their own insecurities while living in the metropolis of Tokyo. This movie ranked 7th Best Film at the 2006 Yokohama Film Festival and got Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography prizes from the same festival.
- DirectorAkihiko ShiotaStarsHôshi IshidaMitsuki TanimuraHidetoshi NishijimaBased on the true events of the deadly gas attacks perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system, CANARY tells the moving story of two children, each abandoned by their families, who come together in the wake of the scarring event. Twelve-year-old Koichi has grown up within the confines of a religious cult whose violently instilled dogma has all but destroyed his sense of identity. After a murderous attack, the cult disbands and Koichi finds himself abandoned by his mother and forcibly separated from his sister. To reunite his broken family, Koichi breaks out of the child welfare system and sets off to Tokyo. While on the run, he meets Yuki, a girl desperate to flee from her abusive father. Koichi and Yuki travel together in search of his sister, facing the inevitable troubles of children making their way in the world without the guidance or protection of adults. The separate scars of their pasts cause friction between the two, but their struggles develop a familial bond that allows them to confront both their pasts and the future ahead. Beautiful and poignant, Akihiko Shiota's film illustrates the resiliency of forgotten youth in forging their own destiny from a tragic past. For more information, please visit www.canarythemovie.com
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsAsuka KurosawaYûji KôtariShin'ya TsukamotoA woman is being stalked by a stranger. His stalking turns to blackmail when he sends her copies of photos of her in an embarrassing position. Now he controls her and she has to do anything he says. Anything.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsBae DoonaArata IuraItsuji ItaoA life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsYoshiki ArizonoTadanobu AsanoMasakatsu FunakiA violent, guitar-playing, electrically charged boxer faces off against an electronic wizard half-merged with a metallic Buddha.
- DirectorSatoshi MikiStarsJoe OdagiriTomokazu MiuraKyôko KoizumiTakemura has no friends and no family. He's a law student but he doesn't have any particular ambitions. A thug offers to pay Takemura's considerable gambling debt if the student accompanies him on a trip across Tokyo.
- DirectorRyosuke HashiguchiStarsLily FrankyTae KimuraMasaaki AkahoriIn 1993 Kanao and Shoko are a Tokyo couple awaiting the arrival of their first child. Although both have studied art, Kanao works as a shoe repairman, which doesn't stretch his rather laid-back style, and Shoko works in a small publishing firm. Their home life is marked by some clashes between her attempts at regimentation, including scheduling their sex life on a calendar, and his flirting with other women. Kanao is offered work as a courtroom sketch artist and becomes a witness to the most sensational murder trials of Japan through the next eight years. He must cope with the ugliness and breakdown in civility he encounters. Shoko also re-discovers her artistic side as she confronts the dark side of life when struggling with depression over the loss of a child and the dysfunctional aspects of the lives of her mother and brother.
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsMalgorzata ForemniakWladyslaw KowalskiJerzy GudejkoIn a dystopian world, a woman spends her time playing an illegal and dangerous game, hoping to find meaning in her world.
- DirectorNaoko KusumiMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAkio ÔtsukaAtsuko TanakaTamio ÔkiIn the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.
- DirectorToshiaki ToyodaStarsRyûhei MatsudaHirofumi AraiSôsuke TakaokaA group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsJoe OdagiriTadanobu AsanoTatsuya FujiTwo young guys work in a plant that manufactures oshibori (those moist hand-towels found in some Japanese restaurants). Their weird bond is based on uncontrollable rage--something neither can articulate or control--and the strange jellyfish that they keep as a pet.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShô AikawaRiki TakeuchiNoriko AotaTwo contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends.
- DirectorYôichi SaiStarsTsutomu YamazakiTeruyuki KagawaTomorô TaguchiA man serving a sentence in a minimum-security prison. Life in the jail is rigid and organized, eventually leading all of the cell-mates to abandon their individuality.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsGorô KishitaniRyôsuke MikiNarimi ArimoriA barkeeper saves a Yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsJun'ichi OkadaRie MiyazawaArata FurutaA troubled young samurai seeks revenge for the death of his father.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsRyô KaseAsaka SetoKôji YamamotoA young man is falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.
- DirectorKôji YamamuraStarsSensaku ShigeyamaShigeru ShigeyamaDoji ShigeyamaSurreal events occur when a hapless country doctor visits an ill boy one cold night.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsKyôko FukadaAnna TsuchiyaHiroyuki MiyasakoMomoko, a strange and seemingly emotionless girl obsessed with 18th century France, befriends a Yanki biker and the two experience the ups and downs of their unusual lives in a rural Japanese town.
- DirectorGô ShibataStarsAriko AritaToshihisa FukunagaNaozô HottaA wheelchair bound man goes on a killing spree to ease his hurt when a local college coed rebuffs his amorous advances.
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsYoshikazu FujikiShinji HiguchiMako HyôdôA fictional documentary about changing Japanese eating habits and the colorful thieves that swindle the restaurants which serve them.
- DirectorKihachirô KawamotoStarsKyôko KishidaTetsuko KuroyanagiRie MiyazawaThe story takes place as Buddhism is being introduced to Japan from China. Iratsume, a woman of noble descent, one night sees a luminous vision that she believes to be the Buddha, compelling her to leave home and journey to a sacred temple.
- DirectorYasutomo ChikumaStarsYasutomo ChikumaYoshiharu FujisawaMasato ShigaA socially reclusive 20 year old NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) is forced to deal with the world when his mother takes the matter into her own hands and finds a job for him through one of her coworkers. Everything seems to be going well towards integration of Satoru into society as a productive member but a tragedy and the pressure of the new job finally push Satoru over the edge.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
- DirectorRyô NakajimaStarsShinmon AkahoArisa HataNatsu KasyuRyo is a boy broken on an emotional level, doesn't go to school anymore and locks himself inside at home. Hiroki is a student constantly talking about changing the world, but struggles to keep up with his friends. Ami, an isolated girl, comes into the life of both boys. The three of them get alienated from society and slowly, but surely, from each other and themselves.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsShinobu TerajimaNao ÔmoriRiho MakiseAfter meeting a handsome truck driver (Nao Omori) in the midst of an urban mini-mart, a 30-something freelance writer (Shinobu Terajima) embarks on a life-changing emotional journey of sexual self-discovery.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsSatoshi TsumabukiHiroshi TamakiAkifumi MiuraIn a Japanese high school, a class of adolescent geeks joins the new synchronized swimming teacher and takes up the challenge to take part in the competition, in spite of the mockeries of the "real sportsmen".
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoTadanobu AsanoYui NatsukawaThe blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.