Japanese Cinema
Incomplete list of Japanese movies I enjoyed. In no specific order.
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- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMimi KozakuraMichio AkiyamaYôko YamamotoAfter being raped in an unknown rooftop, seventeen year-old girl Poppo meets a mysterious boy, and both share their sexual traumas and fears, with fatal consequences.
- DirectorGen SekiguchiStarsTadanobu AsanoReika HashimotoKyôko KoizumiFive bizarre stories with no apparent connection to one and other eventually become intertwined, resulting in surreal circumstances.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiHajime IshimineShunichirô MikiStarsAndrew AlfieriHideaki AnnoMoyoco AnnoAn outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.
- DirectorKazuo HaraStarsKazuo HaraSachiko KobayashiHiroshi YokotaAn intimate documentary about a group of people with cerebral palsy in Japan that confronts our preconceptions and prejudices about who they are, what they feel, and how they view their lives.
- DirectorKazuo HaraStarsKazuo HaraMiyuki TakedaSachiko KobayashiIn this uncomfortably intimate film, documentary filmmaker Kazuo Hara visits his ex-girlfriend Miyuki and records her new relationships.
- DirectorKôji YamamuraStarsSensaku ShigeyamaShigeru ShigeyamaDoji ShigeyamaSurreal events occur when a hapless country doctor visits an ill boy one cold night.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsShin'ya TsukamotoKirina ManoTatsuya NakamuraA man sees his life changed forever when his fiancee shoots herself. Baffled, he wants by all means to obtain such a weapon of destruction and he finds himself caught in the middle of a violent group of young vicious punks. They first beat him severely and then he seeks revenge with his fist, then with a gun. Everything from then on is a complete downward spiral.
- DirectorKazushi WatanabeStarsDaijirô KawaokaKazushi WatanabeTakeo NoroStylish road movie in which a kidnapped youth becomes friends with his abductors.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKen'ichi EndôShungiku UchidaKazushi WatanabeA troubled and perverted family find their lives intruded by a mysterious stranger who seems to help find a balance in their disturbing natures.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTadanobu AsanoNami TsukamotoKikiAfter a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryôko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a book about dissection, he decides to join the medical school with the support of his parents. In the dissection class, his group participates of the autopsy of a young woman, and while cutting apart the tissue, he partially recalls his accident. Later, when he sees a tattoo in the arm of the corpse, he discloses that she was his girlfriend and becomes obsessed to go further in the examination of the body.
- 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.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsMasahiro MotokiRyôYasutaka TsutsuiA successful doctor, Yukio's picture perfect life is gradually wrecked, and taken over by his avenging twin brother, who bumps off his family members one by one and reclaims his lover who is now Yukio's wife.
- DirectorShozin FukuiStarsHaji SuzukiOnn-chanKôji ÔtsuboPinocchio 964, lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, memory-wiped, homeless girl. Meanwhile, the corporate entity who manufactured and sold him plots to kill him because of his malfunction.
- DirectorShozin FukuiStarsNaoNorimizu AmeyaYôta KawaseScientists use a brain-altering drug to conduct experiments, after one such project goes astray, they need to find another test subject in this Japanese splatter-punk film.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyûhei MatsudaMasanobu AndôShunsuke KubozukaA visually stylish tale of two male prisoners bonded by emotion, love and murder.
- DirectorToshio MatsumotoStarsPîtâOsamu OgasawaraYoshimi JôThe trials and tribulations of Eddie and other transvestites in Japan.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsYoshiki ArizonoTadanobu AsanoMasakatsu FunakiA violent, guitar-playing, electrically charged boxer faces off against an electronic wizard half-merged with a metallic Buddha.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHayato IchiharaShûgo OshinariAyumi ItoThe problematic lives of teenager students for whom the singer Lily Chou-Chou's dreamy music is the only way to escape an alienating, violent and insensitive society.
- DirectorToshiaki ToyodaStarsYoshio HaradaRyûhei MatsudaMichio AkiyamaNine convicts escape from prison; most are convicted murderers. They commandeer a van from a strip club.
- 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.
- DirectorMitsuo YanagimachiStarsKin'ya KitaôjiKiwako TaichiNorihei MikiThe villagers in a beautiful remote area of Japan are divided into the woodsmen, who worship the mountain goddess, and the fishermen, who worship the goddess of the sea. These traditions are threatened by a planned marine park. Tatsuo is a macho lumberjack who hunts boars and monkeys with the young Ryota. Tatsuo is married with two children, has four elder sisters, and is under pressure to sell the family land to the developers. When the fish pens are deliberately contaminated by oil, the fishermen suspect Tatsuo. Kimiko, an old girlfriend of Tatsuo, returns to the village to find money to pay off her debts. During the annual fire festival, Tatsuo becomes angry when the old traditions are not preserved.
- DirectorHiroshi HaradaStarsMinako NakaNorihiko MorishitaKeinosuke OkamotoThe story based off of the controversial manga by Suehiro Maruo takes place where a little orphaned girl joins a freak-show circus troupe whose members rape and abuse her. She then finds a glimmer of hope in the enigmatic magician who joins the group.
- DirectorRyû MurakamiStarsMiho NikaidoYayoi KusamaSayoko AmanoA submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
- DirectorAkio JissôjiAtsushi KanekoHisayasu SatôStarsTadanobu AsanoYûko DaikeChisako HaraThis four-part anthology takes its cue from the short fiction of legendary horror writer Edogawa Rampo.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsTadanobu AsanoSie KohinataShingo TsurumiIn dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMasatoshi NagaseAkemi KobayashiYoshinori OkadaSeven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. Who will end up with the money?
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsTatsuya NakadaiMikijirô HiraKyôko KishidaA businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMiharu ShimaHatsuo YamayaA man keeps a young employee tied up in his small apartment and tortures her. She is undressed, subjected to various types of bondage, whipped, and tortured with a razor blade.
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsEiji FunakoshiMako MidoriNoriko SengokuA blind sculpter and his mother kidnap a young model.
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsAyako WakaoAkio HasegawaGaku YamamotoA seductive woman gets kidnapped into prostitution. After getting a spider tattoo made on her back, she grows vengeful, leaving several men in her path.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsKaho MinamiTakeshi WakamatsuEtsushi ToyokawaEvery Monday at 6 pm a young woman is murdered in the subway. The psychiatrist Setsuko Suma is called in to assist the police. The trail leads to another psychiatrist - Dr Rei Aku - who Setsuko used to date. As she get closer to the solution, she gets more and more convinced that Aku's deprogramming of former sectmembers is important.
- DirectorTatsushi ÔmoriStarsHirofumi AraiLeona HirotaMegumi Sawara
- DirectorTeruo IshiiStarsTadanobu AsanoMiki FujitaniYûko FujimoriIt has been two years since unsuccessful cartoonist, Tsube (Asano), started to live with Kuniko (Fujitani) casually in a small apartment. They are in the depths of poverty and can no longer pay the rent. As a result, they are forced to leave the apartment. Kuniko manages to find a live-in job and starts to work at a company dormitory as a cook. On the other hand, Tsube, being in a pitiful state without a penny to his name, winds up crashing at his friend, Kimoto's (Kanayama) place known as "Taihei Apartment" where Tsube himself used to live. One day Kuniko visits Tsube at the apartment while Kimoto is out. Tsube secretly tries to steal some money from Kuniko's purse and surprisingly finds a condom instead. He starts to suspect her infidelity. He imagines Kuniko having an affair with another man while reminiscing about his experiences with her. Eventually he discovers that she has been unfaithful and tried to kill himself by overdosing on pills. He wakes up in the hospital, where, lacking money, he is discharged. Despondent he decides to go to the mountains to keep himself distracted from his disconsolate feelings of Kuniko. He runs across a local girl, Chiyoji (Tsugumi), and becomes fascinated by her local dialect and follows after her to the bar she works at. At this point the film becomes increasingly surreal, with Tsube having more and more alienated erotic experiences, culminating with him staggering wounded across a beach, desperately searching for a doctor.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsJunko IwaoRica MatsumotoShinpachi TsujiA pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsKaori FujiiShin'ya TsukamotoKôji TsukamotoSuspecting that his childhood friend, a professional boxer, is having a love affair with his fiancée, a businessman starts training rigorously in order to take him down.
- DirectorMitsuru MeikeStarsKyôko HayamiKikujirô HondaYukijirô HotaruSachiko Hanai is a call girl. One day she is caught up in a gunfight and is shot in the forehead. Instead of killing her, the bullet in her head gives her psychic powers. She also accidentally comes into possession of a cylinder containing George W. Bush's finger, whose fingerprint is designed to launch a nuclear missile, and international spies are soon chasing her.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraNobuo KanekoShin'ichi HimoriA bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsKen WatanabeTsutomu YamazakiNobuko MiyamotoA truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business. The story is intertwined with various vignettes about the relationship of love and food.
- 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.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsRentarô MikuniChôichirô KawarasakiHideko OkiyamaAn engineer from Tokyo arrives on a drought-ridden tropical island to drill a well to power a nearby sugar mill. He meets the inbred Futori family, hated by the locals for breaking religious customs.
- DirectorKensaku WatanabeStarsMasatoshi NagaseAoi MiyazakiHirofumi AraiA story about a hitman named Hayamada who carries a distinctive red gun and his reason for his work, and how he came to be alone. His aim right now is to reach a destination, but he's late. Along the way, having injured himself in a vehicular accident, he runs into Miyuki, who as also become alone due to tragic events within her family. As Hayamada collapses from his injuries Miyuki takes him to a hospital.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsShima IwashitaMasao KusakariRie YokoyamaA freestyle, imagined telling of the life of shaman queen Himiko, who falls in love with her half-brother, making her powers weaken thus putting her position to risk.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraSôji KiyokawaIchirô SugaiWorld War II film about female volunteer workers at an optics plant who do their best to meet production targets.
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsNobuo NakamuraRuriko AsaokaAkira YamanouchiEtsuko, after her husbands death, moves in with her in-laws. With ambivalence, she finds herself sexually involved with her father-in-law. She then finds herself desiring young gardener Saburo, who has a relationship with the maid Miyo.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTatsuya FujiEiko MatsudaAoi NakajimaA passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsYuichi MikamiYûki KudôTomokazu MiuraThe movie takes place in the five-day period before, during and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which several students endure while marooned in their school gymnasium.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsShima IwashitaYoshio HaradaTomoko NaraokaA blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed while she tours the country, even though the modern world imposes changes on people's behavior.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaTokuko WatanabeJiro KawarazakiThe story tells of the adoration of Sasuke for his mistress, the blind Shamisen teacher Shunkin, who treats him imperiously and subjects him to cruel beatings.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsTomisaburô WakayamaShima IwashitaHiroko IsayamaA mountain man captures a beautiful, but a manipulative city woman and goes to excessive lengths to please her every whim.
- DirectorNaomi KawaseStarsJun KunimuraMachiko OnoSachiko IzumiDepicts the dissolution of a small family in a remote Japanese timber village.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsEiji OkadaKyôko KishidaKôji MitsuiAn entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.