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'
Sex and Fury (1973)
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Starring: Reiko Ike, Christina Linberg, Masataka Narasu
Director Norifumi Suzuki's wild, erotic and violent exploitation classic tells the story of Ocho (Reiko Ike), carrying out a blood-soaked mission of r... Read more
The Burmese Harp (1956)
8.1/10
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Starring: Shoji Yasui, Rentaro Mikuni, Naito Taketoshi
A moving anti-war drama about a wounded Japanese soldier in British custody during the last days of World War II. Sent out into the Burmese jungle to... 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
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
Violent Cop (1989)
7.2/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Haku Ryu
Sex, violence, and the dark world of the yakuza provide the basis of this Japanese thriller. 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano plays a rogue cop who employs his o... Read more
The Princess Blade (2001)
5.8/10
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Starring: Hideaki Ito, Yumiko Shaku, Shiro Sano, Yoichi Numata, Kyusaku Shimada, Yoko Maki
Aka "Shurayuki-Hime". In a post-apocalyptic Japan that blends technology and feudalism, a young woman named Yuki, whose family are assassins, is loyal... Read more
Versus (2000)
6.5/10
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Kenji Matsuda, Takehiro Katayama
Many believe that there are 666 gates to Hell hidden here on Earth. Legend says that somewhere in Japan's "Forest of Resurrection" lies the 444th gate... Read more
Death Note / Death Note: The Last Name (2006)
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Shigeki Hosokawa, Kenichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto, Yu Kashii
How do you find a serial killer when the killer only needs to know the face and the name of his victims? When Light Yagami, a brilliant college law st... Read more
The Bird People In China (1998)
7.6/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Mako , Renji Ishibashi, Masahiro Motoki
Set in the beautiful Yunnan Province of China, a comically lyrical story of a Tokyo salaryman and a Yakuza debt collector on the trail of a lucrative... Read more
High and Low (1963)
8.4/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune
Based on an Ed McBain novel, 'High and Low' is a gripping, film noir style thriller. A ruthless kidnapper, aiming to snatch wealthy industrialist Tosh... Read more