News

She smokes, she drinks, she fights back: here is Oshima. Do not trust her angelic face and her calm Nippon manners; beneath her kimono beats the fiercest determination. Nothing remarkable by today’s standards, but it was undeniably subversive attitude in a movie shot in 1957, especially for a story set in pre-war Japan at the height of tradition and paternalism.

Sincerity is screening at Japan Society as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

After her first marriage ends in divorce following her escape from the marital home, Shima remarries Tsuru: a handsome but inept canned goods store owner based in Kanda, Tokyo. As he married only to secure someone to run the business in place of his late wife, the loveless marriage does not last long; soon, he begins a relationship with a concubine, Oyuri, a former lover he had not dared marry because of higher social standing.

The samurai archetype is as enduring an image worldwide as that of the Wild West gunslinger, embodying an entire genre and romanticized bygone time period. As long as Japan has been making movies, it's been making films featuring samurai characters and tropes. These range from adaptations of classic literary stories and historical accounts to postmodern tales that subvert the established samurai conventions. What remains consistent are largely stoic sword fighters who use their skills with the blade to cut through their enemies, often on a moral quest.

Some of the absolute best in Japanese cinema are samurai movies, taking full advantage of the country's history and cultural backdrop. Whether it's legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and his extensive work in the samurai genre or 21st century reinventions of the tropes, there are plenty of great samurai movies to check out. Without further ado, here are the 15 best samurai movies of all time ranked.

"One of the most exquisite spectacles ever made." Rialto Pictures has unveiled a new trailer for the 40th anniversary re-release of the Japanese medieval epic called Ran, one of the final films made by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa. Ran originally premiered and hit theaters in 1985, playing at the Tokyo, San Sebastian, and New York Film Festivals. Now it will debut again in theaters as a 4K restoration starting in May - playing at art house cinemas during the summer. "A grand and visually breathtaking reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Ran explores themes of power, betrayal & the devastating consequences of human folly. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, Kurosawa employs sweeping landscapes, intricate battle sequences, and vivid color symbolism to create a world teetering on the edge of chaos." Ran considers the disastrous consequences of Lord Hidetora Ichimonji’s decision to split his kingdom among his three sons. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai,...

Ghost of Tsushima‘s success in 2020 came as a surprise to a lot of us. The game was more than a samurai action-adventure; it was a cinematic masterclass with gameplay to match. The tale of Jin Sakai’s transformation into the Ghost was a story that many of us connected with. And with Ghost of Yotei coming out this October, expectations for the new Ghost are high.

The new standalone sequel trades Tsushima’s battle-scarred shores for Hokkaido’s wild beauty and replaces Jin with a new underdog warrior named Atsu. Her journey is one of vengeance, growth, and perhaps, legend. We’re gonna explore a new story, but fear not, a lot of our favorite parts will remain.

Ghost of Yotei is giving us the legend of a new Ghost, and we can’t help but compare

Atsu’s quest begins not just with the desire for revenge, but with a devastating personal tragedy.

Jim Jefferies hosts ‘The Snake’ (Photo Courtesy of Fox)

Fox has added The Snake to its summer 2025 primetime lineup. Comedian, actor, and writer Jim Jefferies has been tapped to host the series that’s tagline reads, “Befriend, Betray, or Be Gone.”

“I’m thrilled to be hosting The Snake! A show about making friends and faking friends,” said Jefferies. “I’ve been training for this job my whole life. Growing up in Australia and now living in Hollywood, I’ve been around plenty of snakes.”

Season one has SallyAnn Salsano (Jersey Shore) serving as showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Frank Miccolis and Kim Green.

“SallyAnn brings her uniquely original voice to Fox with this fresh take on the strategy competition series and a universally appealing concept that will captivate audiences,” stated Michael Thorn, President of Fox Television Network. “Trust me … The Snake lives up to its name.

Fox has picked up the competition series “The Snake,” with comedian Jim Jefferies onboard to host.

The series will air on Fox this summer and stream next day on Hulu. An exact premiere date will be announced at a later time. The series is wholly owned by Fox Entertainment and produced by 495 Productions. SallyAnn Salsano serves as executive producer and showrunner. Frank Miccolis and Kim Green also serve as executive producers.

“I’m thrilled to be hosting ‘The Snake!’ A show about making friends and faking friends,” said Jefferies. “I’ve been training for this job my whole life. Growing up In Australia, and now living in Hollywood, I’ve been around plenty of snakes.”

In the show, 15 people from what Fox describes as “very persuasive professions” will compete in a variety of challenges. The winner of each challenge becomes The Snake, the person who decides who stays and who leaves the game.

Fox is mounting its own entry into the burgeoning subgenre of unscripted TV that involves people playing a game, some of whom are secretly working to control the rest of the group.

Shorter version: Fox is doing its take on The Traitors.

The network’s show is called The Snake, and like its titular animal it contains a number of twists and turns (more on that in a couple of paragraphs). Comedian Jim Jefferies will host the series, which comes from Jersey Shore creator SallyAnn Salsano. It’s set to premiere in the summer.

“SallyAnn brings her uniquely original voice to Fox with this fresh take on the strategy competition series and a universally appealing concept that will captivate audiences,” said Fox Television Network president Michael Thorn in a statement. “Trust me — The Snake lives up to its name.”

Fox is calling The Snake a “social survival of the fittest” competition.

Japan Society and Metrograph have teamed up to co-present “Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us,” a rare 30-film retrospective devoted to the “fourth great” master of Japanese cinema. Co-organized with the Japan Foundation, New York, the two-part series, running May 9 to June 29, will offer the first major New York survey of the landmark filmmaker’s work in 20 years, presented in commemoration of the 120th anniversary of his birth and screened entirely on rare prints imported from collections and archives in Japan. Notable series highlights include all six of Naruse’s adaptations of celebrated feminist author Fumiko Hayashi’s work (Floating Clouds, Repast, Lightning, Wife, Late Chrysanthemums, A Wanderer’s Notebook), as well as some of Naruse’s rarest films, including the New York premieres of three pre-war gems unscreened in previous retrospectives: Morning’s Tree-Lined Street, A Woman’s Sorrows, and Sincerity.

With an oeuvre spanning nearly four decades and...

Filmmaker Spike Lee took to his Instagram account to give fans a first glimpse of his upcoming Highest 2 Lowest, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic film noir High and Low, starring Denzel Washington. In the post, Lee thanked "the judge and jury for the not guilty verdict," referring to rapper and Highest 2 Lowest co-star A$AP Rocky's acquittal on felony assault charges on Feb. 18, 2025.

Alongside the caption, Lee shared a still of Rocky from the film, wearing what appears to be an orange prison uniform. Very little is know about the project other than it's a "reinterpretation of the great Kurosawa," according to Lee (via Variety). The original film, High and Low, follows Kingo Gondo (frequent Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune), a wealthy shoe company executive whose chauffeur's son is mistakenly kidnapped and ransomed for 30 million yen.

Lee stated in an interview with Deadline that Washington will play a new version of Mifune's character,...

Japanese cinema has a long, rich tradition of acting excellence. From the early days of the silent era until the present, Japan has birthed some of the greatest film actors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Many of Japan's best actors have managed to transcend their native borders, obtaining stardom throughout the rest of Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Japanese actors are well-known for their versatility, shining across multiple genres, which include yakuza films, jidaigeki, samurai movies, horror, and kaiju. Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, and Takashi Shimura are among Japan's greatest actors, but there are many more who deserve to have their contributions to the medium acknowledged.

Updated on December 29, 2024, by Jenny Melzer: Japanese film has been equally important to the growth and definition of the industry over the last century, with numerous actors contributing their talents to some of the most memorable movies in history. As such, this...

Spike Lee spoke about his upcoming film, Highest 2 Lowest--which will reunite the director with Denzel Washington--and the Japanese director that inspired it.

Spike Lee has long been an acclaimed director. Films like Do The Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman are searing examinations of the impact of racial politics in the United States, while works like She's Gotta Have It and 25th Hour show his versatility as a director, covering wildly different subjects and genres. According to Variety, he spoke about his newest film, Highest 2 Lowest, during an on-stage talk Tuesday at the Red Sea Film Festival, for which he is president of the competition jury. He talked about how the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was a key inspiration for his film career.

Related 'I Didn't Give a F—': Spike Lee Defends Madonna's Casting in 1996 Comedy

Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee breaks down his thought process...

An influence on the likes of Takashi Miike and Yoshiaki Kawajiri, director Hideo Gosha has often gone overlooked in the pantheon of Japanese directors, despite his samurai features Sword of the Beast and Three Outlaw Samurai getting the Criterion treatment. Now is a great time to discover his filmography as his 1966 crime drama Cash Calls Hell has been restored and is arriving at the end of the month. Led by legendary actor Tatsuya Nakadai, we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the new trailer ahead of Film Movement’s digital release beginning November 29.

Here’s the synopsis: “Facing the final days of his prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter, Oida (Tatsuya Nakadai) dreads reentering society as a ruined man with no future prospects. Sensing his street smarts, Oida’s cellmate promises him a pile of loot if he tracks down and kills three men whose names are on a list. Reluctantly accepting the task,...

Harakiri contains a "highly realistic" fight scene, according to an expert. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, the 1962 Japanese jidaigeki film follows a rnin who requests to perform seppuku, also called harakiri, at a feudal lord's manor and uses the moment to recount the circumstances that led him to seek death in front of an audience of samurai, set between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate. The film's cast includes Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentar Mikuni, Shima Iwashita, Tetsur Tamba, Ichir Nakatani, Kei Sat, and Yoshio Inaba.

In an Insider video, a martial arts and katana instructor, Seki Nobuhide Sensei, rated the portrayal of samurai battles in movies and TV shows, including the scene in Harakiri in which the protagonist battles multiple opponents at once. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 20:36 minute mark:

Seki Nobuhide Sensei praised the scene's realism, highlighting the protagonist's strategic movements to...

Denzel Washington and Spike Lee's next movie, High and Low, gets a major update from Lee before its release. The upcoming A24 remake celebrates the end of production, with Lee offering a first look behind the scenes.

On Instagram, Lee shared an image featuring the High and Low cast and crew, confirming principal photography wrapped on May 31. Lee credited the cast and crew for being "hardworking" while reminiscing on his previous collaborations with Washington as he expressed excitement about the movie. High and Low filming began in April.

Spike Lee has wrapped his remake of Akira Kurosawas High & Low starring Denzel Washington. pic.twitter.com/4mSXgNLVZ6 The Film Stage (@TheFilmStage) June 2, 2024

Related Spike Lee Explains Key Scene That Oppenheimer Was Missing

Spike Lee feels that a very important scene was missing in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

High and Low is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's titular 1963 thriller,...

There’s something about a doppelganger that feels uniquely cinematic. A person who looks like you, thinks like you, and maybe even lives like you has always been a subject of fascination and dread in literature and philosophy, a concept that raises questions about individuality and the collective. But on the screen, seeing the effect of one person mimicked and duplicated proves all the more uncanny and unnerving. Science fiction, horror, and a multitude of other genres have used duality as a means to terrify, unsettle, and provoke.

And then, of course, there’s the acting challenge. For an experienced actor or an up-and-comer alike, playing dual roles is the ultimate flex, a way to show your range in a single project. Whether playing twins or identical strangers, an actor who takes on a dual role has to manage the trick of being both an individual and a duo, of...

Legal drama A Guilty Conscience took the top award for best film at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, while crime thriller The Goldfinger was the biggest winner overall with six prizes, including best actor for Tony Leung Chiu-wai.

A Guilty Conscience, produced by Edko Films, holds the record for the highest-grossing Hong Kong film ever with a gross of around $15M. It tells the story of a lawyer trying to free a client convicted due to his own negligence, who has to go up against one of Hong Kong’s most powerful business families.

Emperor Motion Pictures’ The Goldfinger, about one of Hong Kong’s biggest financial scandals, also picked up awards for best cinematography, best art direction, best costume and make-up design, best sound design and best visual effects.

In Broad Daylight, about a reporter exposing cases of abuse in a care home, scooped three acting awards for actress Jennifer Yu,...

The Gentlemen soundtrack features a mix of old-school and energetic modern music that matches the movie's style and adds to its energetic and quick-witted journey. The songs in the soundtrack are well-placed and establish a specific vibe, while the score by composer Christopher Benstead underlines the overall atmosphere of the film. The soundtrack includes classic rock 'n' roll tracks and independent music, creating a unique selection that enhances the narrative pacing of The Gentlemen.

The Gentlemen soundtrack includes old-school music and energetic modern tunes to match the main characters' collective style in the slick Guy Ritchie movie. Oscar-winning composer and mixer Christopher Benstead (Gravity) scores the crime thriller with numerous atmospheric tracks. However, it's the mainstream and independent music that punctuates key moments throughout The Gentlemen, both comedic and dramatic. Both the soundtrack and the score add to the energetic style of the movie while matching its fast-paced and quick-witted...

“Kagemusha” is one of the best films Akira Kurosawa ever shot and is considered one of the definite masterpieces of world cinema. However, its production was one of the most difficult accomplishments in the master's filmography. Initially, the film was not considered financially viable, and it took the influence of both George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to get additional funds for it to be completed, since Toho, the initial production company, had given up on the film. However, the problems continued during the shooting, with probably the most significant being that Kurosawa had to replace Shintaro Katsu, who was originally cast as Takeda Shingen, with Tatsuya Nakadai, after the two of them had a falling out. The production faced many additional problems, but Kurosawa eventually managed to complete the movie, with its premiere taking place in Tokyo. His struggles, however, paid off, since “Kagemusha” was a huge hit both critically and financially.

“High and Low” received nominations for the Golden Lion at the 24th Venice Film Festival, and the Best Foreign Film at the 21st Golden Globe Awards. It was also awarded at the Mainichi Film Awards for the Best Film, and for the Best Screenplay. Upon its release in Japan, it earned approximately $1.3 million and became the top-grossing film of 1963.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The script, written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisaita, and Ryuzo Kikushima, is loosely based on Evan Hunter's novel from 1959, “King's Ransom”. Toho, the film company that Kurosawa was working with at the time, acquired the film rights for $5,000. The first half of the story revolves around Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a board member of a Japanese shoe company, facing a critical dilemma. He must decide whether to use his considerable wealth to secure executive control in the company or help his chauffeur,...

“Goyokin,” which translates to “Official God,” is perhaps Hideo Gosha's finest film. Written by Gosha and Kei Tasaka, many of the director's regular players, including Tatsuya Nakadai and Tetsuro Tamba, star here. Toshiro Mifune was initially cast as the character Samon Fujimaki. However, production difficulties resulted in him being replaced by Kinnosuke Nakamura. “Goyokin” was a critical and financial hit upon release and remains a highly regarded piece of Japanese cinema.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

In snowy feudal Japan, Sado Island is home to gold mines that provide riches offered to the Tokugawa clan via ship delivery, which can be jeopardized due to poor weather on the waters. Meanwhile, a reclusive samurai named Magobei Wakizaka wanders, clearly troubled by something. The ronin finds himself the target of an assassination attempt, which he survives. He learns this attack was orchestrated by his former clan master,...

Hellboy as a samurai in feudal Japan would be a charming and fitting concept for a "What If?" scenario. Japan has been featured in Hellboy stories before and could provide a rich setting for new adventures. Francesco Francavilla, known for his pulp-inspired art, would be a perfect fit to illustrate a Hellboy story set in any historical setting.

Hellboy has traveled the world fighting monsters, but one piece of fan art from Francesco Francavilla has Big Red actually becoming a samurai in feudal Japan in an epic reference to famed actors like Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai.

Shared to Instagram, celebrated artist Francesco Francavilla posted the sketch he did from 2009, which sees Hellboy drawing a katana in preparation for an epic battle with some giant monster or other, no doubt. Check out Francavilla’s awesome work:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francesco Francavilla (@f_francavilla)

The...

Winning Best Actor at Cannes for Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” (Neon) was a surprise for veteran Japanese star Koji Yakusho (“Shall We Dance?”). “I’m a very lucky man,” he told IndieWire on Zoom. And when he and Wenders heard that “Perfect Days,” despite its German director, was submitted by Japan for the Oscar, they cheered over dinner at Telluride “like we had just won the Academy Award,” said Yakusho. “Director Wim thought it would be more of a handicap that he’s not a Japanese director. But for the Japanese people, he knows the culture really well. And he also has spent a lot of time there. We were very proud to have him be selected as Japan’s entry.”

Yakusho knew Wenders’ work when he was asked to play Hiroyama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. “He was always looking for a new challenge in his filmmaking,” the actor said,...

Taiwanese family drama ‘Old Fox’ won the most awards on the night.

China-set drama Stonewalling, directed by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka, won best narrative feature at the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan on Saturday (November 25).

Taiwanese family drama Old Fox won the most awards on the night, including best director for Hsiao Ya-chuan, best supporting actor for veteran Akio Chen, makeup and costume design, and best film score.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Mainland Chinese director Huang and Japan’s Otsuka were in attendance at Taipei’s National Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to...

“Battle Cry” is a very interesting film for Kihachi Okamoto. Considering that his most famous works in the beginning of the 60s, “Samurai Assassin” and “The Sword of Doom”, even though were critical of Bushido, were also chanbara epics, the fact that later in his career, he decided to mock the exact concept, comes as a surprise, particularly because he seems to mock his filmic past. Atg was the place to do so at the time, and after “The Human Bullet” which satirized WW2, Okamoto came up with “Battle Cry”, which does the same thing with the military phase of the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Follow our coverage of Art Theatre Guild by clicking on the image below

The movie begins with a narrator that talks about a thug with a penis like a horse, instigating that this will be his story. The person in question is Sentaro, and as the movie begins,...

In the realms of Asian cinema, where fascination and sadism frequently intertwine, the existence of a legion of unforgettable villains is not exactly a surprise. Menacing yakuza bosses, cruel moguls, serial killers, vengeful parents, trigger happy crime lords and rogue samurais among others have casted their sinister shadows and have left an indelible mark on the silver screen. With their complex motivations, chilling charisma, and uncanny ability to evoke both fear and fascination, these 30 villains have become iconic figures, embodying the depths of human malevolence. Join us as we delve into their twisted minds and explore the mesmerizing realm of Asian cinema's most unforgettable antagonists.

Without further ado, here are 30 of the most iconic villains ever to appear on Asian cinema, in random order.

1. Lee Woo-jin

The case of Lee Woo-jin in “Oldboy” shows the futility of revenge as an action for a man that could do so much with what he had,...

Tatsuya Nakadai is undeniably one of the greatest Japanese actors of all time, and arguably the country's greatest living actor. His first roles date back to the mid-1950s, and by the end of that decade, he'd established himself as a capable leading man. He worked steadily throughout the decades since, including starring in multiple movies directed by legendary filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, with his most recent credited role being in 2022 (the year he turned 90).

Quick Links Wrestlers Unlocked Via Virtual Currency Characters Unlocked Via MyRise and 2k Showcase Wrestles Unlocked Via 2K Showcase

There are over 80 wrestlers to unlock in WWE 2K23. Many are unique champions, all with their own move sets. Others are classic skins offering a new look to someone already on the roster.

With more wrestlers, there are additional options against various online and local opponents. The fun becomes exponential when directly playing WWE 2K23 with friends. Still, unlocking everything is its own reward for diehard WWE fans.

Related: WWE 2K23: Every Available Locker Code (March 2023)

Wrestlers Unlocked Via Virtual Currency

Most wrestlers are unlocked by spending Virtual Currency (Vc). This in-game money is slowly gained by completing all sorts of match types in WWE 2K23. Each character costs 1,000 Vc, for a total of 59,000 Vc.

Deluxe Edition owners will instantly gain every one of these wrestlers by using the Supercharger optional item.

Following the financial failure of “Dodes’kaden” and the completion of the Soviet-Japanese feature “Dersu Uzala,” Akira Kurosawa would return to the familiar world of jidaigeki. His samurai epic “Kagemusha” would be a successful return to form, wowing audiences with its striking visuals and compelling story. While experimental with the scope as the director’s most ambitious feature at the time was, budget finances were more comfortably assembled than with previous projects. On top of that, the production would also receive additional funds. This other aid was thanks to the help of admirers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, who worked as co-producers, along with international financial support and distribution by 20th Century Fox. At this point, Kurosawa was getting older, yet he was still motivated to create art. A few years later, he would do just that again and went on to release his grand masterpiece “Ran.

Unlike many of his Japanese filmmaking peers such as Yasujirō Ozu and Masaki Kobayashi, Akira Kurosawa often adapted Western literature in his films. That said, he was always sure to give them a Japanese reframing. He remade "Macbeth," "Hamlet," and "King Lear" as "Throne of Blood," "The Bad Sleep Well," and "Ran," respectively. However, "Throne" and "Ran" traded medieval Scotland/England for Feudal Japan while "The Bad Sleep Well" was about the 20th-century Japanese corporate world, not the Danish monarchy.

While Kurosawa was a student of Shakespeare, he didn't only trade in high-end literature. For "High and Low," he adapted the pulp detective novel "King's Ransom," moving the setting from Manhattan to Yokohama.

National Shoes executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is disgusted by his colleagues' greed and apathy. He plans a leveraged buyout of the company, putting his life savings on the line. Unfortunately for Gondo, a kidnapper picks the...

Masaki Kobayashi was a filmmaker who was never afraid to speak his mind on a matter. He was always open with his mindset, regularly criticizing systematic corruption and violation of human rights throughout the majority of his filmography. He didn’t often direct jidaigeki cinema, but when he did, the director generally delivered a stellar picture. His haunting masterpiece “Harakiri” gives a darker examination of the flawed aspects of the Bushido Code. Kobayashi would bring corruption and humanism to the forefront in his excellent film “Samurai Rebellion.”

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The original Japanese title for the feature translates to “Rebellion: Receive the Wife,” which is fitting, considering what transpires within the story. The movie is based on Yasuhiko Takiguchi’s short story “Hairyozuma shimatsu.” The screenplay is written by acclaimed screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, who had previously collaborated with Masaki Kobayashi on his samurai movie “Harakiri.

Click here to read the full article.

The Tokyo International Film Festival revealed Friday that Mexican auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu and Japan’s own Koji Fukada will both receive the Kurosawa Akira Award at the event’s upcoming 35th edition later this month. The Tokyo festival decided to revive the honor in 2022 after a 14-year hiatus. Presented to filmmakers “who are making extraordinary contributions to world cinema and are expected to help define the film industry’s future,” the prize was previously awarded to film luminaries such as Steven Spielberg, Yoji Yamada and Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien.

This year’s honorees were chosen by a selection committee including director Yoji Yamada, acclaimed actor Tatsuya Nakadai, veteran actress Mieko Harada, film critic Saburo Kawamoto and Tokyo’s programming director Shozo Ichiyama.

The committee said it chose to award this year’s prize to Iñárritu, “as his debut film...

Peter O'Toole's acting career spanned seven decades and involved hundreds of roles, a million sardonic smirks, and no small amount of liquor. On screen, O'Toole could be heroic, villainous, affable, and off-putting, sometimes all at once. In interviews, O'Toole was frank and unguarded, quick with a jibe, and unwilling to suffer fools. O'Toole and his frequent collaborator, the actor Richard Harris, have both appeared on many talk shows toward the ends of their lives to tell many, many stories of getting drunk together. 

Somewhere along the way, O'Toole garnered enough fame and clout to more or less select any project he wanted. By the time he starred in Peter Medak's "The Ruling Class" in 1972, O'Toole had already appeared in 18 feature films, including a James Bond movie. That same year, O'Toole would appear in "Under Milk Wood" and a film adaptation of "Man of La Mancha." One might say...

While the chambara genre is generally associated with the likes of Akira Kurosawa and many others, the name of director Kihachi Okamoto is mentioned only occasionally, even though he probably made some of the most important entries into the genre. With titles such as “Seven Samurai” and “Rashomon” being associated with the samurai film, Okamoto would add a unique spin to the genre with often acidic and laconic humor or a world view which reflects the dark times his home country had to go through at the time his features were made. Some of his most influential works include “The Sword of Doom”, “The Human Bullet” and “Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo”, his entry into the popular “Zatoichi”-franchise, whereas his 1968 feature “Kill!” perhaps best sums up what constitutes Okamoto’s cinema.

Kill! is screening at Japan Society

In 1833 two men, Genta (Tatsuya Nakadai) and Hanjiro (Etsushi Takahashi) arrive in the town of Joshu.

Japan Society is pleased to announce its fall lineup for Monthly Classics and Monthly Anime, kicking off on September 2, 2022 with a 35mm screening of Kihachi Okamoto’s satirical chambara, “Kill!”. 2006 anime classic “Tekkonkinkreet” will screen on September 16, featuring a Q&a with screenwriter Anthony Weintraub (“The Animatrix”). For October, Hideo Nakata’s 90s J-horror classic “Ringu” screens on October 7th followed by Mamoru Oshii’s rarely-screened 1985 ethereal masterpiece “Angel’s Egg” on October 14th. Monthly Anime continues on November 4th with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved “My Neighbor Totoro”.

Tickets: 15/12 students and seniors /5 Japan Society members.

Lineup and other details are subject to change.For complete information visit japansociety.org.

Kill!

Friday, September 2, 2022 at 7:00 Pm

Dir. Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114 min, 35mm, b&w. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Yuriko Hoshi.

Kihachi Okamoto’s darkly satirical chambara opens in the midst of a pummeling windstorm on the outskirts...

Filmmaker Kihachi Okamoto, throughout his career, made it abundantly clear he hated war. He experienced the horrors on the battlefield firsthand during World War II and forever was disgusted by the atrocities committed by the Empire of Japan. Okamoto’s war movies boast an anti-war mindset while blending tragedy with dark comedy. His early projects, such as “Desperado Outpost,” primarily showed the director’s sense of humor, with western inspired elements thrown into the mix. Over time, these projects became more grounded and progressively darker. “Fort Graveyard” tells the tragic story of musician youths forced into combat, and “Japan’s Longest Day” recounts the terrifying final hours before the country’s surrender during the Second World War. With his ambitious and brutal epic “Battle of Okinawa,” audiences are reminded war spares no one.

Even with the budgetary issues the Japanese film industry was plagued with at the time, Okamoto would not be stopped.

Although she would go on to make feature films as an actress, Kinuyo Tanaka’s last project as a director would be the 1963 jidaigeki “Love Under the Crucifix”, a work based on the novel “Ogin-sama” by Toko Kon. At the same time, given her development as a filmmaker, this is truly an interesting climax to a career which saw her progressing more and more, developing her skills, especially when it comes to cinematic storytelling. Additionally, the themes that defined her previous works such as “Love Letter” and “Forever a Woman” also found a fitting conclusion in a feature that, even though it was not set in the present as her other movies, it certainly made a very relevant point about gender roles within Japanese society as well as the conflict between duty and desire as expressed in the story of the main characters.

“Love Under the Crucifix” is screening at...

Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate’s breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks, the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house.

Masaki Kobayashi’s six-part adaptation of the book by Jumpei Gomikawa may be the most ambitious, most truthful film about the big-picture reality of war. Idealist Tatsuya Nakadai thinks he can avoid complicity in human evil by volunteering as a civilian to manage a work camp in occupied Manchuria, only to find that he’s expected to starve and torture Chinese slave laborers. Resistance leads to his conscription in a brutal boot camp, and his deployment on the Northern front as the Russians invade leads to an extended struggle to survive amid mounting horrors. There’s no escape: the ‘human condition’ is that barbarity is a given, a constant. It’s nine hours of suffering that can change one’s world view.

The Human Condition

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 480

1959-61 / B&w / 2:39 anamorphic widescreen / 575 min. / Ningen no jôken / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 8, 2021 / 59.95

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai,...

The article was originally published on Sirp in Estonian, on April 16, 2021, just before the 2021 Oscar Awards Ceremony

The four Oscars “Parasite” won last year sent ripples across the whole movie industry, with the initial surprise giving its way into a plethora of questions about how something like that happened (not to mention former President’s Trump bewilderment) . Evidently, the team around “Parasite” did tremendous job promotion/lobbying-wise, “exploiting” the charisma of both Bong Joon-ho and Kang Ho-song but the question remains on how a group of people (the Academy) that back in 2016 faced controversy over a second straight year of all-white Oscar acting nominations, ended up voting for a Korean movie. Subsequently, another set of question arises. Is the Academy above racism now? Will we see more Asian productions receiving awards or was “Parasite” just an anomaly? And how does the whole issue with the recent racist attacks against Asian...

After much thought, and taking into consideration the health of our guests and viewers, Nihon Media announced that Japan Filmfest Hamburg cannot take place this year as a traditional film festival – and will be online instead. Under the motto ‘Breaking Free – From Japan with Love’, Nihon Media will collaborate with Videocity to stream its entire programme of 70+ films in around 40 blocks globally from 19th of August to the 2nd of September.

The 2020 film programme features 70 current productions, from full-length feature films to experimental short films, including many German, European, and international premieres. Most of the films are shown in the original Japanese language with English subtitles. One special highlight of our programme is the gangster-ballad originally planned as the opening film for the 21st Jffh, “Paradise Next” (2018) from director and film composer Yoshihiro Hanno (“Flowers of Shanghai”). An atmospheric road-movie about the travels of three lost souls living on the edges of society,...

Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985) and Chris Marker's A.K. (1985) are showing April and May, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom in the series In Front and Behind the Scenes: Kurosawa & Marker.“It is King Lear, yet it is not King Lear.” This statement, made by Chris Marker during the course of his 1985 documentary, A.K., which records the making of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, is a noteworthy point when discussing the venerated Japanese master’s 1985 epic, as preliminary conversation concerning the film often centers on the seeds of influence found in the Bard’s 17th century drama. But while that story only entered Kurosawa’s mind after he had already conceived of Ran in the mid-1970s, he also drew inspiration, arguably more significant, from a parable about Mōri Motonari. In that account, the Sengoku-period warlord also had three children—three sons—who were admirably loyal to their father. Kurosawa took...

Because “The Bad Sleep Well” had not performed as expected commercially, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa decided to return to the jidai-geki with what is arguably one of his most popular and most beloved films, “Yojimbo”. At the same time, Kurosawa felt the message of his previous film – a bitter image of the corruption in post-war Japan – would also work as a period film while still having the same impact on the viewer. Stylistically, as Kurosawa later admitted, he was inspired by the works of the film noir, in particular Stuart Heisler’s “The Glass Key”, a crime drama dealing with the links between organized crime and politics, as well as the kind of opportunist characters taking advantage of a corrupt system which can be seen as the foundation of the character played by Toshiro Mifune in “Yojimbo”.

In 1860, during the final years of the Edo period, a...

Based on four ghost stories from books of Lafcadio Hearn, Masaki Kobayashi’s first effort in the genre and in color film was a huge success, netting him the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Eureka presents the film in its uncut, 183-minute-version, in a rather impressive 2K digital restoration.

The first part, titled “The Black Hair” revolves around an impoverished samurai, who, tired of being poor, abandons his wife who loved him passionately, for a woman of higher statute and wealth. However, soon he comes across his new wife’s cruelty and begins missing his first wife’s love. Alas, when he finally manages to return, he is met with the worst fate of all.

This part has a highly didactic tone, about the benefits of loyalty and the blights of blind ambition. However,...

“Uncle,” Danish director Frelle Petersen’s drama about a young woman’s life on a small farm with her disabled uncle, was awarded the Tokyo Grand Prix at the closing ceremony Tuesday of the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival. Shot in rural Denmark with real-life farmer Peter Hansen Tygesen playing the title role, the film had its world premiere in the Japanese capital.

Winner of the second-place Special Jury Prize was “Atlantis,” Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s near-future drama.

Iran’s Saeed Roustaee was named Best Director for his thriller “6.5.” Navid Mohammadzadeh’s performance in the film earned him the Best Actor trophy.

The Best Actress award went to Nadia Tereszhiewicz for her performance in Dominik Moll’s “Only the Animals.” The film also scooped the Audience Award.

The Best Screenplay prize went to Shin Adachi’s “A Beloved Wife,” one of two Japanese films in the competition, while Chinese...

Winners in the International Competition also included Atlantis, Just 6.5, Only The Animals and Chaogtu With Sarula.

Danish filmmaker Frelle Petersen’s Uncle won the Tokyo Grand Prix Award at the close of the Tokyo International Film Festival (November 5), while Summer Knight, directed by China’s You Xing, took best film in the Asian Future section.

Set in rural Denmark, Uncle follows a girl caring for her disabled uncle who dreams of becoming a veterinarian and faces a heart-breaking choice. Summer Knight is also a coming-of-age story, set in China in the summer of 1997, about two boys attempting to recover a stolen bicycle.

After the completion of his “The Human Condition”-trilogy in 1961 with “A Soldier’s Prayer”, Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi expressed interest in doing a samurai film, a jidaigeki. In retrospect, a director whose theme has always been the relationship of the individual and the system, the time and age could not have been better for a closer focus on that subject within a more historical context. Considering the following years would have re-discover the genre as a means to explore repressive regimes, codes and how these influence society and the character of a person, “Harakiri” fits perfectly in this time of Japanese cinema. Even though Kobayashi’s approach respects the tradition of the genre, there is an undeniable link to the times, the increasing sense of frustration with an inhumane system, which, in the end, makes his film one of the classics within Japanese film.

The story...

Perhaps it is one of the great ironies in the career of Japanese director Kihachi Okamoto that a film he was forced to do was going to be his most memorable one. In a filmography consisting of titles such as “Samurai Assassin” (1965), “Kill!” (1968) and “The Human Bullet” (1968), the director’s 1966-film “The Sword of Doom” stands out as one of the bleakest jidaigeki movies. Based on the novel “Daibosatsu toge” by Kaizan Nakazato, which had already inspired many adaptations, for example, one by “Lone Wolf and Cub”-director Kenji Misumi, Kihachi Okamoto made a film which reflected the trends of the Japanese film industry of that time but is also one of the most interesting portrayals of a man, a world consumed by violence and madness.

At the center of the film, we have Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai), a master swordsman wandering the country, and his life...

Born in 1938 in Onomichi, a port town facing Japan’s Inland Sea, Nobuhiko Obayashi began making experimental films in the 1960s and showing them at galleries and other sites around Tokyo. With lines forming around the block for these films, which captured the free-spirited, anything-goes mood of the times, Obayashi branched out into TV commercials. His ads featuring Charles Bronson, Kirk Douglas, Catherine Deneuve and other international stars had a freshness of style and humor that won him new fans.

In 1977 Obayashi made his feature debut with “House,” a horror-fantasy about a haunted house that devours its schoolgirl visitors. Critically pummeled on its release, this wildly imaginative and irresistibly charming film later became an international cult hit.

Obayashi went on to direct more fantasy-themed films featuring cute teens, including “School in the Crosshairs” (1982), “Transfer Student” (1982) and “The Little Girl Who Conquered Time” (1983). His main producer in this period was Haruki Kadokawa,...

Tatsuya Nakadai, one of Japan's greatest actors who worked with several of the country's most notable filmmakers, is set to receive the lifetime achievement award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

An icon of Japanese cinema, Nakadai's seven-decade-long career has seen him star in films that have become part of the cultural fabric in Japan and proved hugely influential internationally.

Nakadai worked with several of Japan's best-ever filmmakers, including Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and The Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shirō ...

Tatsuya Nakadai, one of Japan's greatest actors who worked with several of the country's most notable filmmakers, is set to receive the lifetime achievement award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

An icon of Japanese cinema, Nakadai's seven-decade-long career has seen him star in films that have become part of the cultural fabric in Japan and proved hugely influential internationally.

Nakadai worked with several of Japan's best-ever filmmakers, including Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and The Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shirō ...