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'
Lone Wolf and Cub 6: White Heaven in Hell (1974)
Director: Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
In this, the final film, the evil Lord Yagyu Retsudo, having failed in his previous attempts to eliminate Ogami, deploys his ultimate weapons; his dau... Read more
Love and Honour (2006)
7.8/10
Director: Yoji Yamada
Starring: Takuya Kimura, Nenji Kobayashi, Ken Ogata
The conclusion to Yoji Yamada's loose Samurai trilogy (following 'Twilight Samurai' and 'Hidden Blade'), focussing on the themes of the title, and a m... Read more
M.W. (2009)
5.5/10
Director: Hitoshi Iwamoto
Starring: Yuriko Ishida, Ryo Ishibashi, Takayuki Yamada, Hiroshi Tamaki
When a top secret compound called M.W. (pronounced 'mew') infects an island community, the military moves in to kill the victims and cover up the stor... Read more
Madadayo (1992)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Tatsuo Matsumura, Kyoko Kagawa, Hisashi Igawa, George Tokoro, Masayuki Yui
The final film from Akira Kurosawa, one of the master filmmakers of our time, is a touching story that follows the last two decades in the life of Hya... Read more
Maiko Haaaan!!! (2007)
6.6/10
Director: Nobuo Mizuta
Starring: Sadao Abe
A charming farce, based on the Japanese manga, that centers on a salaryman (Sadao Abe) who pursues his dream of courting an apprentice geisha. After b... Read more
Marebito (2004)
6.1/10
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Starring: Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomomi Miyashita, Kazuhiro Nakahara, Miho Ninagawa, Shun Sugat...
A cameraman captures a suicide on tape and becomes obsessed with what the man saw just before his death. This leads him on a harrowing journey throug... Read more
Memories (1995)
7.6/10
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura
"Akira" creator Katsuhiro Otomo joins with some of the top talents in anime for an eye-opening trilogy of animated tales, each with their own distinct... Read more
Millennium Actress (2001)
7.9/10
Director: Satoshi Kon
As an old movie studio is torn down, documentary filmmaker Genya tracks down its brightest star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, now an aging recluse. Together wit... Read more
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
7.9/10
Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Ken Ogata
Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates... Read more
Miss Hokusai (2015)
6.7/10
Director: Keiichi Hara
Starring: Gaku Hamada, Kengo Kora, Yutaka Matsushige, Anne Watanabe, Jun Miho
As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the revered painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei toils diligently inside his studio. Her masterful portraits, dr... Read more