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'
Smuggler (2011)
6.4/10
Director: Katsuhito Ishii
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Masanobu Ando, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Hikari Mit...
Down on his luck actor Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is gambling himself into debt when the mobster casino owners make an offer he can't refuse: become a... Read more
Sonatine (1993)
7.6/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Aya Kokumai, Takeshi Kitano, Tetsu Watanabe
'Beat' Takeshi Kitano stars in this very original tale of the last days of a Tokyo gangster. Hard action combines brilliantly with haunting stillness. Read more
Space Battleship Yamato (2010)
6.1/10
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Takuya Kimura, Meisa Kuroki
In the year 2194, alien marauders, the Gamilons, bombard the Earth with planetary bombs sent from space. Humanity fights back but is defeated and esca... Read more
Spirited Away ( Blu-ray ) (2002)
8.6/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Animation visionary Hayao Miyazaki gets to fully unlock his boundless imagination through the otherworldly adventures of an innocent young girl that i... Read more
Steamboy (2004)
6.9/10
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Starring: Voices Of, Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina, Patrick Stewart
The long-awaited new film from 'Akira' director Katsuhiro Otomo does not disappoint. One of the most expensive animes ever made, this is a retro-styl... Read more
Still Walking (2008)
8/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Kazuya Takahashi, Yui Natsukawa, Hiroshi Abe
In "Still Walking", the Yokoyama family come together to celebrate the memory of their youngest son, Junpei, who died fifteen years ago while rescuing... Read more
Stray Dog (1949)
7.9/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Isao Kimura, Keiko Awaji
Early Kurosawa film is a masterful mix of film noir and police thriller in which a rookie detective (Toshiro Mifune) has his pistol stolen, and his se... Read more
Street of Shame (1956)
8/10
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Starring: Machiko Kyo, Aiko Mimasu
For his final film, Mizoguchi brought a lifetime of experience to bear on the heartbreaking tale of a brothel full of women whose dreams are constantl... Read more
Suicide Club (2002)
6.6/10
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase
A Japanese detective investigating the mass deaths of 54 female high school students who threw themselves in front of a speeding train uncovers a seri... Read more
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)
6.3/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Masanobu Ando, Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Kaori Momoi, Yusuke Iseya, Renji Ishiba...
With more than a nod to spaghetti westerns, Takashi Miike's hip 'sukiyaki western' is inspired by Sergio Corbucci's violent classic, 'Django!'; and de... Read more