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'
Red Angel (Blu-ray) (1966)
7.8/10
Starring: Ayako Wakao
During the Sino-Japanese War, a young army nurse gives sympathy to her patients and falls in love with an impotent doctor who's addicted to morphine. Read more
Japanese Crime Noir Classics ( Tokyo Drifter / A Tattooed Life / Branded to Kill / Youth of the Beast ) (1966)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani, Tetsuya Watari, Joe Shishido, Mariko Ogawa, An...
A collection of four Japanese crime noir classics from maverick director Seijun Suzuki. "Tokyo Drifter" (1966) - Warned by studio bosses to play it sa... 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
Godzilla vs Ebirah (1966)
Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Chotaro Togin, Hideo Sunazuka, Toru Watanabe
The island of Letchi is home to terrorist group, Red Bamboo, who have enslaved the local inhabitants and have big ideas about world domination. Guard... Read more
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
7.3/10
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Tetsuya Watari, Hideaki Nitani, Chieko Matsubara
This prime slice of Japanese pulp fiction has Tetsu, a yakuza trying to go straight, roaming the land in his pastel blue suit via a succession of colo... Read more
Brutal Tales of Chivalry (1965)
6.9/10
Starring: Ken Takakura, Yoshiko Mita
After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keepin... Read more
A Tattooed Life (1965)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Hideki Takahashi, Akira Yamauchi, Hiroko Ito, Masako Izumi, Kayo Matsuo
Another yakuza classic from maverick director Seijun Suzuki ('Tokyo Drifter', 'Branded to Kill') about a recently retired assassin who finds he made s... Read more
Godzilla - Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Akira Takarada, Nick Adams, Jun Tazaki, Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno
Two astronauts set out to explore a new planet discovered just beyond Jupiter - Planet X. The inhabitants are in distress, under attack from the vici... Read more
Red Beard (1965)
8.3/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Yoshio Tsuchiya
A testament to the goodness of humankind, Akira Kurosawa's 'Red Beard' chronicles the tumultuous relationship between an arrogant young doctor and a c... 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