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'
Village of Dreams (1999)
7.1/10
Director: Yoichi Higashi
Starring: Keigo Matsuyama, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Mieko Harada, Shogo Matsuyama
An enchanting, blissful look at the magic and terror of childhood. Identical twin brothers, now successful artists, recall the summer of 1948 when the... Read more
Violent Cop (1989)
7.2/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Haku Ryu
Sex, violence, and the dark world of the yakuza provide the basis of this Japanese thriller. 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano plays a rogue cop who employs his o... Read more
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001)
6.9/10
Director: Shohei Imamura
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu
Giving a touch of Asian-flavoured 'magic realism' to a premise that almost sounds like adult cinema, Japanese filmmaker Shohei Imamura ('The Eel') tel... Read more
Warning from Space (1956)
4.4/10
Director: Koji Shima
Translated into English, the title of this Japanese sci-fi endeavor is Unknown Satellite over Tokyo. The extraterrestrials on this occasion are weirdl... Read more
Weatherwoman Returns (1996)
Director: Tomoaki Hosoyama
Starring: Kei Mizutami
More loopy action as Keiko and her workmates are under threat from rival station TV Trendy, run by the evil Megumi, who is always one step ahead of th... Read more
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
8.2/10
Director: Mikio Naruse
Starring: Hideko Takamine
A delicate, devastating study of a woman's life, a Ginza barmaid who fears that, as she faces her 30th birthday and the loss of her job, she will have... Read more
When Marnie Was There (2014)
7.7/10
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Twelve-year-old Anna believes she sits outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong, and shuts herself off from everyone around her.... Read more
When Marnie Was There ( Blu-ray ) (2014)
7.7/10
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Twelve-year-old Anna believes she sits outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong, and shuts herself off from everyone around her.... Read more
Whisper of the Heart (1995)
8/10
Director: Yoshifumi Kondo
Written and produced by Manga maestro Hayao Miyazaki this classic anime sees young bookworm Shizuku spending her summer reading and translating popula... Read more
Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
7.2/10
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Fumi Nikaido
There's a war going on, but that won't stop the inexperienced but eager wannabe film crew The Fuck Bombers from following their dreams of making the u... Read more