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'
Like Someone in Love (2012)
7/10
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Ryo Kase, Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno
In Tokyo, a young prostitute develops an unexpected connection with a widower over a period of two days. At first this sly film, which finds the Irani... Read more
Beyond Outrage (2012)
6.8/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Toshiyuki Nishida, Fumiyo Kohinata, Ryo Kase, Yutaka Matsushige,...
Filmmaker Takeshi Kitano looks to go, well, beyond his yakuza war opus "Outrage" in this lead-laden follow-up. A manipulative police crackdown on orga... Read more
Wolf Children (2012)
8.2/10
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
From award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda ("Summer Wars", "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"), an elegiac animated fantasy which follows the growth and... Read more
Tomie Unlimited (2011)
4.6/10
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Starring: Moe Arai, Miu Nakamura, Aika Ohta
A photography student's life takes a turn for the worse when her dead sister is welcomed back into the family home. Read more
A Letter to Momo (2011)
7.3/10
Director: Hiroyuki Okiura
Clinging to an unfinished letter written by her recently deceased father, young Momo moves with her mother from bustling Tokyo to the remote Japanese... Read more
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
7.3/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Naoto Takenaka, Eita , Hikari Mitsushima, Ebizo Ichikawa, Munetaka...
Directed by Takashi Miike ("13 Assassins"), this remake of the 1962 film "Harakiri" relates the story of a mysterious samurai who arrives at the doors... Read more
From Up on Poppy Hill ( Blu-ray ) (2011)
7.5/10
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Anton Yelchin, Sarah Bolger, Christina Hendricks
Goro Miyazaki directs this nostalgic coming-of-age animation from Japan's Studio Ghibli. As Japan readies itself for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, fatherle... Read more
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
7.5/10
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Anton Yelchin, Sarah Bolger, Christina Hendricks
Goro Miyazaki directs this nostalgic coming-of-age animation from Japan's Studio Ghibli. As Japan readies itself for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, fatherle... Read more
Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)
7.2/10
Director: Makoto Shinkai
A.k.a. "Journey to Agartha". A coming-of-age anime from director Makoto Shinkai ("5 Centimetres Per Second") following the adventures of a young girl... Read more
I Wish (2011)
7.4/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Maeda Koki, Maeda Ohshiro, Hayashi Ryoga
Twelve-year-old Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in the southern region of Japan. His younger brother Ryunosuke lives with their... Read more