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'
The Wind Rises (2013)
7.8/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
The great Japanese animator Miyazaki Hayao has announced his retirement at the age of 72. If he sticks to his word he will have gone out on a sublime... Read more
The Wind Rises ( Blu-ray ) (2013)
7.8/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
The great Japanese animator Miyazaki Hayao has announced his retirement at the age of 72. If he sticks to his word he will have gone out on a sublime... Read more
The Yellow Handkerchief (Blu-ray) (1977)
7.3/10
Director: Yoji Yamada
Starring: Ken Takakura, Kaori Momoi
Three complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido. Read more
There Was A Father (1942)
7.8/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Shin Saburi
Shuhei Horikawa, a poor schoolteacher, struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, despite neither money nor prospects. Read more
Three Outlaw Samurai (Blu-ray) (1964)
7.7/10
Director: Hideo Gosha
When poor peasants kidnap a magistrate's daughter to coerce him into reducing taxes, a wandering ronin and two renegades from the magistrate's guard t... Read more
Throne of Blood (1957)
8.1/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
Kurosawa's version of 'Macbeth' spares no effort in creating an atmosphere of obsessive madness and supernatural compulsion. The black and white contr... Read more
Tokyo Chorus (1931)
7.7/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A married Tokyo man faces unemployment after standing up for an older colleague. Read more
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
7.3/10
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Tetsuya Watari, Hideaki Nitani, Chieko Matsubara
This prime slice of Japanese pulp fiction has Tetsu, a yakuza trying to go straight, roaming the land in his pastel blue suit via a succession of colo... Read more
Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
6/10
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring: Eihi Shiina, Itsuji Itao, Yukihide Benny, Jiji Bu, Keisuke Horibe, Ikuko Sawada,...
"Possibly the goriest, craziest, most eye-blowing, chunk-spewing, head-exploding sci-fi movie of all time". So said the New York Post after watching t... Read more
Tokyo Story (1953)
8.2/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara
Aka "Tokyo Monogatari". One of the legendary classics of humanist cinema tells the simple, sad story of an elderly couple who travel to Tokyo to visit... Read more