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'
Dwelling on his past glory as a prize-winning author, Ryota wastes the money he makes as a private detective on gambling and can barely pay child supp... Read more
Aka "Early Autumn". The penultimate film by Yasujiro Ozu examines the difficulties faced by the Kohayagawa family as they struggle to adapt their trad... Read more
The recipient of the Jury Prize at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, Hirokazu Koreeda's (I Wish, Still Walking) heartfelt drama tells the tale of Ryota (... Read more
This moving drama, set in Nagasaki, explores the trauma of World War II and the after-effects of the atomic bomb. Four children on a visit to their Gr... Read more
Winner of five Japanese Oscars including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, this is the true story of a small mining town in Japan whose fo... Read more
Acclaimed cult director Takashi Miike's remake of the 1963 Japanese film delivers a bravado period action piece set at the end of Japan's feudal era.... Read more
One of the world's most celebrated filmmakers, Yasujiro Ozu, observes the tangled relationships of Japanese families with an amazing blend of intimacy... Read more
Setsuko Hara has been promised an arranged marriage in post-war Japan, but too much in the world has changed for her not to challenge this tradition.... Read more
The final film from Akira Kurosawa, one of the master filmmakers of our time, is a touching story that follows the last two decades in the life of Hya... Read more
Based on the popular comic book by Matsumoto Taiyo, "Ping Pong" examines the interplay of friendship, loyalty, rivalry, and self-esteem between two hi... Read more