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'
Ponyo ( Blu-ray ) (2008)
7.7/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Aka "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea". When five-year-old Sosuke finds a fish named Ponyo near his seaside home, they quickly become the best of friends... Read more
Still Walking (2008)
8/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Kazuya Takahashi, Yui Natsukawa, Hiroshi Abe
In "Still Walking", the Yokoyama family come together to celebrate the memory of their youngest son, Junpei, who died fifteen years ago while rescuing... Read more
Departures (2008)
8.1/10
Director: Yojiro Takita
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kimiko Yo, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Ryoko Hirosue, T...
When his orchestra disbands, Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) decides to start over and moves back to his small hometown. Desperate for work, he secr... Read more
Ponyo (2008)
7.7/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Aka "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea". When five-year-old Sosuke finds a fish named Ponyo near his seaside home, they quickly become the best of friends... Read more
K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008)
6.8/10
Director: Shimako Sato
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, Toru Nakamura, Takeshi Kaga, Reiko Takashima
Stylish superhero shenanigans in a rollicking adventure, based on a popular '80s manga. K-20 is the nickname for the Fiend with 20 Faces, a prankster... Read more
The Machine Girl (2008)
5.9/10
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Starring: Minase Yashiro, Asami , Kentaro Shimazu, Honoka , Nobuhiro Nishihara
When gangsters murder her brother, and hack off her left arm, sweet Japanese schoolgirl Ami takes matters into her own...er, hand, and gets her stump... Read more
Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
6/10
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring: Eihi Shiina, Itsuji Itao, Yukihide Benny, Jiji Bu, Keisuke Horibe, Ikuko Sawada,...
"Possibly the goriest, craziest, most eye-blowing, chunk-spewing, head-exploding sci-fi movie of all time". So said the New York Post after watching t... Read more
L: Change the World (2008)
6.2/10
Director: Hideo Nakata
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Youki Kudoh, Mayuko Fukuda
A spin-off of the popular Death Note films, "L: Change The World" focuses on the legendary detective L as he uses his final 23 days to solve crimes al... Read more
Sword of the Stranger (2007)
7.8/10
Director: Masahiro Ando
Hair-raising anime action featuring Kotarou, a young Japanese boy on the run from China's Royal Army, who happens upon a wandering samurai. He's not i... Read more
Genius Party (2007)
7.1/10
Director: Atsuko Fukushima, Shoji Kawamori, Shinji Kimura, Yoji Fukuyama, Hideki Futamura, Masaaki Yuasa, Shinichiro Watanabe
Seven all-star animators from Japan are given creative carte blanche in this anthology of shorts from Studio 4°C. Masaaki Yuasa explores an infant's f... Read more