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'
Pigs & Battleships (1961)
Director: Shohei Imamura
A young hoodlum decides to work for a criminal organization that is tearing itself apart. Read more
Ocean Waves (Blu-ray) (1993)
7.6/10
Director: Tomomi Mochizuki
Based upon author, essayist and playwright Saeko Himuro's most popular, best-selling novel, this is one of Studio Ghibli's most poignant and unsung ma... Read more
Tokyo Chorus (1931)
7.7/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A married Tokyo man faces unemployment after standing up for an older colleague. Read more
The Only Son (1936)
7.8/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A widow sends her only son away to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him, finding him a poor school teacher with a wife and son. Read more
Ran (Blu-ray) (1985)
8.2/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu
A Kurosawa masterpiece, a decade-in-the-making version of 'King Lear' that brilliantly blends Japanese history with Shakespeare's themes. A triumphant... 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
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
I Was Born, But... (1932)
7.2/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Two young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace. Read more
Knights Of Sidonia (Blu-ray) (2014)
7.7/10
A thousand years after the destruction of Earth by gigantic aliens called Gauna, mankind is living on massive spaceships. One of these space ships is... Read more
House On Fire (1986)
7/10
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Ken Ogata, Mieko Harada
In the 50s, the complicated life of a popular writer who must share his life with his family, his numerous mistresses and his work. Adapted from autob... Read more