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'
One Missed Call (blu-ray) (2003)
6.2/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kou Shibasaki, Renji Ishibashi, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi
From cult Japanese director Takashi Miike comes this typically stylish idiosyncratic horror-thriller. Yumi's friend has a missed call on her cell-pho... Read more
Onibaba (1964)
8/10
Director: Kaneto Shindo
Starring: Nobuku Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato
An exotic and stylish tale of deceit and survival. A peasant mother and daughter lure soldiers away from their comrades and slay them for their armour... Read more
Our Little Sister (2015)
7.5/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Ryo Kase, Haruka Ayase
Kore-eda Hirokazu (Like Father, Like Son; I Wish) sustains his place as the current master in the great Japanese cinema tradition of exquisitely nuanc... Read more
Outrage (2010)
6.8/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Renji Ishibashi, Ryo Kase
AKA "Outrage: Way of the Yakuza". After an absence of over a decade, OUTRAGE signals Takeshi Kitano's triumphant return to the gangster genre. In a r... Read more
Paranoia Agent: Volume 1 (2004)
8.2/10
Director: Satoshi Kon
Episodes 1-4. After the first victim's story, the police felt the overly stressed woman was having a breakdown and lied to cover-up for some crime. Ho... Read more
Paranoia Agent: Volume 2 (2004)
8.2/10
Director: Satoshi Kon
Episodes 5-7. The detectives interrogate the boy arrested for the Lil' Slugger attacks. He claims to be a "Holy Warrior" who has only begun to help th... Read more
Paranoia Agent: Volume 3 (2004)
8.2/10
Director: Satoshi Kon
Episodes 8-10. Lil' Slugger's violent legacy spreads rapidly throughout the city becoming a legend whose image warps with every social circle. To thos... Read more
Paranoia Agent: Volume 4 (2004)
8.2/10
Director: Satoshi Kon
Episodes 11-13. The Lil' Slugger epidemic runs rampant in Tokyo while Umaniwa researches Tsukiko's childhood and discovers the disturbing origins of M... Read more
Parasyte: Part 1 (2014)
7/10
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Tiny creatures called "Parasites" have arrived on Earth with the sole purpose of taking over human brains and preying on mankind. When one of them lat... Read more
Passing Fancy (1933)
7.2/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Two Tokyo co-workers come across a destitute young lady in search of a place to live. Read more