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'
Departures (2008)
8.1/10
Director: Yojiro Takita
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kimiko Yo, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Ryoko Hirosue, T...
When his orchestra disbands, Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) decides to start over and moves back to his small hometown. Desperate for work, he secr... 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
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
Kikujiro (1999)
7.8/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Yusuke Sekiguchi, Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto
Japanese director 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano is perhaps best known to international audiences for his violent and stylish crime flicks 'Violent Cop' and '... Read more
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
8.1/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki
Kurosawa takes the conventional Japanese period film and combines it with fairytale elements, the result is an energetic and brilliant farce. Toshiro... Read more
Brother (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Tatyana Ali, Claude Maki
Written and directed by 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, this violent crime drama also features the filmmaker as a Japanese gangster who must flee Tokyo after h... Read more
Ring (1998)
8.2/10
Director: Hideo Nakata
Starring: Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Miki Nakatani
A creepy and engaging tale set in modern day Japan where a mysterious video tape is found that brings death to anyone who views it - one week later. A... Read more
Norwegian Wood (2010)
6.4/10
Director: Tran Anh Hung
Starring: Kiko Mizuhara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi
Set in 1960s Tokyo, this romantic Japanese drama based on Haruki Murakami's semi-autobiographical 1987 novel concerns a literature student (Kenichi Ma... Read more
Zatoichi (2003)
7.6/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ogusu, Yui Natsukawa
Aka "The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi". The sightless Zatoichi - hero of over two dozen films from 1962 to 1989 - is revived by scripter/director/star Ta... Read more
Steamboy (2004)
6.9/10
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Starring: Voices Of, Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina, Patrick Stewart
The long-awaited new film from 'Akira' director Katsuhiro Otomo does not disappoint. One of the most expensive animes ever made, this is a retro-styl... Read more