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'
Gate of Hell (1953)
7.2/10
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa
Starring: Kazuo Hasegawa, Machiko Kyo
In this lauded Japanese drama, the samurai Moritoh Enda (Kazuo Hasegawa) performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyo) from a v... Read more
Gate of Hell (Blu-Ray) (1953)
7.2/10
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa
Starring: Kazuo Hasegawa, Machiko Kyo
In this lauded Japanese drama, the samurai Moritoh Enda (Kazuo Hasegawa) performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyo) from a v... Read more
Genius Party (2007)
7.1/10
Director: Atsuko Fukushima, Shoji Kawamori, Shinji Kimura, Yoji Fukuyama, Hideki Futamura, Masaaki Yuasa, Shinichiro Watanabe
Seven all-star animators from Japan are given creative carte blanche in this anthology of shorts from Studio 4°C. Masaaki Yuasa explores an infant's f... Read more
Genius Party Beyond (2009)
7.2/10
Director: Koji Morimoto, Mahiro Maeda, Kazuto Nakazawa, Shinya Ohira, Tatsuyuki Tanaka
From the cutting edge anime production house STUDIO4ºC ('The Animatrix', 'Tekkonkinkreet') comes this collection of five new films from five anime hea... Read more
Ghost in the Shell ( Blu-ray ) (1995)
8/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
In early 21st century Japan, the search for a criminal computer genius known as 'The Puppet Master' sends a cyborg policewoman on a dangerous search,... Read more
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
This highly anticipated sequel sees the return of Batou, the Section 9 cyborg cop who has almost nothing of his human self left - just a part of his b... Read more
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence ( Blu-ray ) (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
This highly anticipated sequel sees the return of Batou, the Section 9 cyborg cop who has almost nothing of his human self left - just a part of his b... Read more
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Volume 6 (2002)
6.4/10
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Volume 6 of 7. Togusa finds himself in the hospital after being shot, but is desperate to impart what he's learned to the rest of the group. It seems... Read more
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Volume 7 (2002)
6.4/10
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Section 9's investigations are becoming a little too successful, and the truths they're uncovering hit too close to home for some high-ranking governm... Read more
Giovanni's Island (2014)
7.4/10
Director: Mizuho Nishikubo
An emotional WWII drama from Production I.G in the vein of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES. Based on the true untold story of the Soviet occupation of the K... Read more