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'
Appleseed (2004)
7/10
Director: Shinji Aramaki
After WWIII there's only one habitable city left - Olympus - where remaining humans live an idyllic life under the watchful eye of a supercomputer and... Read more
Aragami (2002)
6.8/10
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Takao Osawa, Masaya Kato, Kanae Uotani
Two wounded samurai take shelter in an ancient temple, one dies while the other wakes up miraculously healed. His mysterious host explains the temple... Read more
Arrietty (2010)
7.6/10
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Aka "The Secret World of Arrietty". Mary Norton's novel "The Borrowers" gets an anime updating in this fun family tale co-written by Hayao Miyazaki. A... Read more
Arrietty ( Blu-ray ) (2010)
7.6/10
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Aka "The Secret World of Arrietty". Mary Norton's novel "The Borrowers" gets an anime updating in this fun family tale co-written by Hayao Miyazaki. A... Read more
Assassination ( aka Ansatsu ) (1964)
7.3/10
Director: Masahiro Shinoda
Starring: Shima Iwashita, Tetsuro Tamba, Eiji Okuda, Keiji Sada, Eitaro Ozawa
Based on the novel by Ryotaro Shiba, this samurai classic from director Masahiro Shinoda begins in the waning years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. As Ame... Read more
Attack on Titan: Collection 1 (2013)
8.8/10
Many years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating T... Read more
Attack on Titan: Collection 2 (2013)
8.8/10
Eren Jaeger vowed to rid mankind of the bloodthirsty giants who devoured his mother and destroyed his city. Now, after discovering that he has the abi... Read more
Audition (2000)
6.8/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Jun Kunimura
Extreme drama from rebel Japanese director Miike Takashi tells of Aoyama, a lonely widower owner of a video production company, who joins forces with... Read more
Avalon (2001)
6.5/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Malgorzata Foremniak, Wladyslaw Kowalski
Anime master Mamoru Oshii's ("Ghost in the Shell") live-action feature directorial debut is a mesmerizing sci-fi tale set in a future world where peop... Read more
Azumi (2003)
6.9/10
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Aya Ueto, Jo Odagiri, Aya Okamoto, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroki Narimiya
Set in feudal Japan, "Azumi" is an anime come to life. Azumi is a part of an elite group of assassins - raised from birth to carry out deadly missions... Read more