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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 Student Comedies: (1929)

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryu

THE OZU COLLECTION THE STUDENT COMEDIES (2 DVD) Films by Yasujiro Ozu Master Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story) has been revered all ov... Read more

The Sword of Doom (1966)

8/10
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Yuzo Kayama, Toshiro Mifune, Michiyo Aratama, Yoko Naito

A brutal, amoral samurai, Ryunosuke (played brilliantly by Tatsuya Nakadai) is scheduled to fight an exhibition match. His opponent's wife offers her... Read more

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)

8.1/10
Director: Isao Takahata

Eight years in the making and hot on the heels of Miyazaki's The Wind Rises, Studio Ghibli co-founder Takahata's adaptation of a centuries old Japanes... Read more

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya ( Blu-ray ) (2013)

8.1/10
Director: Isao Takahata

Eight years in the making and hot on the heels of Miyazaki's The Wind Rises, Studio Ghibli co-founder Takahata's adaptation of a centuries old Japanes... Read more

The Twilight Samurai (2002)

8.1/10
Director: Yoji Yamada
Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Set in the late nineteenth century as the feudal Shogun period was giving way to the Meiji Restoration, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranki... Read more

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