Japanese Cinema
Japanese cinema flourished early on and silent films were being made right through the 1930s. Most were accompanied by a 'benshi' or live narrator telling the story as well as live music. Very little survives from this era however; the 1923 earthquake, the bombings of WW2 and the country's high humidity destroyed many of these historical works. Of those that survive, the early works of Kenji Mizoguchi are highly regarded and he went on to make the classic 'The Life of Oharu' in 1952. Of course no discussion on Japanese cinema is possible without mention of their best known son, Akira Kurosawa. With a career spanning 60 years Kurosawa's ground-breaking films (e.g. 'Seven Samurai', 'Kagemusha', 'Ran') influenced film makers around the world. Most recently Japanese cinema hero 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano revitalised the Yakuza genre; and young mavericks like Takashi Miike ('Audition', 'Ichi the Killer) and Hideo Nakata ('Ring', 'Dark Water') have breathed new life into the horror flick, their films often (and promptly!) remade by US production houses.
For Japanime, use the animation link to the left.
Pictured: Kurosawa teamed once more with the incomparable Toshiro Mifune for 'Seven Samurai'
Kill! (1968)
7.6/10
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Akira Kubo, Naoko Kubo
A samurai satire, equal parts sword-play and jet-black comedy this is full of Japanese cinema inside jokes, double crosses and fast-paced action. Tat... Read more
King of Thorn (2009)
6.4/10
Director: Kazuyoshi Katayama
Panic spreads worldwide as the Medousa Virus - a fatal pandemic that solidifies the body to stone - threatens to wipe out the human race. 160 infected... Read more
Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)
7.8/10
Director: Mami Sunada
Starring: John Lasseter, Hideaki Anno, Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki
This visit to Studio Ghibli proves gratifyingly akin to the pleasure of watching the films produced there. The place even looks like a Miyazaki movie,... Read more
Kite (1998)
6.7/10
Director: Yasuomi Umetsu
Starring: Animation
An acclaimed Japanamie adventure with a familiar (but no-less successful) set-up: a young girl, raised by a detective after her parents are murdered,... Read more
Knights Of Sidonia (Blu-ray) (2014)
7.7/10
A thousand years after the destruction of Earth by gigantic aliens called Gauna, mankind is living on massive spaceships. One of these space ships is... Read more
Kwaidan (1964)
8/10
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Starring: Keiko Kishi, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kazuo Nakamura
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Masaki Kobayashi's 'Kwaidan' features four nightmarish tales adapted from Lafcadio Hearn's classic Japanes... Read more
L: Change the World (2008)
6.2/10
Director: Hideo Nakata
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Youki Kudoh, Mayuko Fukuda
A spin-off of the popular Death Note films, "L: Change The World" focuses on the legendary detective L as he uses his final 23 days to solve crimes al... Read more
Lady Snowblood (1973)
7.7/10
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon
Her father, a schoolteacher, is brutally murdered. Her mother is beaten, raped, and forced into prostitution to survive, only to die giving her life.... Read more
Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)
7.7/10
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Yoshio Harada, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Imprisoned and sentenced to hang for the murders she committed to avenge her family, Yuki is given a reprieve by the mysterious Kikui, a secret govern... Read more
Last Life in the Universe (2003)
7.6/10
Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Starring: Sinitta Boonyasak, Asano Tadanobu, Laila Boonyasak, Yutaka Matsushige, Riki Take...
A macabre, dead-pan comedy/drama chronicling the unlikely and all-too-brief romance that develops between two disparate loners. Kenji is a fastidious... Read more