Bokuzen Hidari

Documentary about Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa

Tora-san discovers that his family is arranging a marriage for him. He leaves to the countryside where he falls in love with the manager of an inn. Unaware that she is involved with another man, Tora-san confesses his love on a New Year's television program.

Impersonating an Imperial Army officer by wearing a "red lion's mane", a poor servant returns to his... (imdb)

Near a country shrine, gangsters ambush two messengers carrying an incriminating document. The shrine guardian warns the assassins that spilling blood there will bring a curse upon them. (Mubi.com)

Scattered Clouds, director Mikio Naruse's final film, plays like the melancholy last dance of an extended evening of revelry now teetering on the fine line separating drunkenness and sobriety. It's the cinematic equivalent of a hangover, though the heady haze the film conveys is part of its charm and very much in tune with its deeply saturated color photography, which constantly threatens to spill over its borders and run together in a kind of chaotic emotional release. (KG)

When the American Mob and Japanese Yakuza team up, danger follows. Daisuke, a photographer, teams up with a gang of lady killers (killer ladies, not sweet-talkin' men) armed with deadly 45s (records, not pistols) in an attempt to rescue his stewardess girlfriend from the Underworld alliance. Soon they discover the real reason for all the criminal interest; gold.

From out of the arctic comes a gigantic flying, fire-breathing turtle that sets its sights on destroying Tokyo. (imdb)

In 19th-century Japan, an arrogant young physician trained in Western medicine is assigned to a rural clinic for the poor. Resenting his placement under a stern, formidable head doctor, he initially rebels against the harsh conditions. Through witnessing tragic cases and experiencing his mentor's quiet dedication, he undergoes a profound personal shift toward empathy and true healing.

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself. (imdb)

Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death. (imdb)

Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a debt, now feels further indebted. He commits himself to use his amazing sword skills to help the young woman's father, whose river-crossing service is under attack by the same gang responsible for Zatoichi's wounds. (imdb)

When one billion yen goes AWOL, "Joe the Ace" (Shishido) spies an opportunity to get rich quick, but things soon go wrong as it turns out he isn't the only one who'll stop at nothing to get his hands on the missing cash. (Arrow Video)

The second film in the 20 Duels of Young Shingo trilogy directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda.

The story deals with a juvenile delinquent gang surviving through petty thievery. However, everything gets screwed up when they accidentally steal big bucks from the Yakuza.

Master swordsman, Tsukue Ryunosuke is confronted by the families of his victims. Will justice be served for the lost innocent lives? The conclusion of the famed Jidaigeki series is an amazing film, with a completely different perspective on the story from the later versions. (MUBI)

Study of the relationship between children of the Ainu tribe in Hokkaido and their pure Japanese neighbours and schoolmates. (bfi.org.uk)

A poor rickshaw driver finds himself taking care of a young woman and her son after the woman's husband dies suddenly. (imdb)

Adapted from a poem, which was composed by poet and sculptor Kotaro Takamura, Chieko-Sho is the story of the artist's wife Chieko. The poet meets a woman, who also as an artist illustrates, one day. They marry and have a good life spending many years together. One day, however, she loses her mind and has to be confined to a hospital. The poetry was some of star Hara Setsuko's favorite even before her involvement in the film.

In a slum flophouse, a collection of beggars and thieves bewail their lot in life, and Osugi, the landlady, fights with her sister, Okayo, over the man they both desire, the thief Sutekichi (imdb)

Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.

Sequel to the movie Denko Karate Uchi.

Fumiko, mother of two children and wife of an unfaithful man who shows a low self esteem, shares her family life with her asleep vocation as a poetess. The beginning of her successful literary career coincides with her divorce and the development of a serious illness: a breast cancer, which leads her to lose her breasts. In the last stage of her life she meets a young journalist arrived from Tokyo, an admirer of her work, who want to write a story on her life. Both live a secret love history. (imdb)

A film based on the works of Nagai S?kichi.

Realistic docudrama on daily police life.

Two youths - the serious son of a Buddhist abbot and his rakish pal - quarrel over a restaurant keeper's daughter. When one of the youths die the other boy and the girl find they cannot forget him. (The Movie Database)

A desperate 16th-century village threatened by ruthless bandits hires a veteran samurai for protection. To defend the community, he gathers six distinct warriors, who train the terrified villagers to construct fortifications and stand together. As the harvest approaches, the unlikely defenders prepare for a decisive clash that tests their honor, skill, and survival.

The picture belongs to the jidai gekki (historic) genre. It is a powerful story of violence and eroticism, picturing a world at once sordid and poetic, with two central themes which intermingle to compound an admirable panel of a critical period in Japanese history: the great famine in the mid 19th Century. (imdb)

A weary bureaucrat in post-war Tokyo learns he has terminal stomach cancer, forcing him to confront his decades of a monotonous, meaningless existence. Searching for purpose in his final months, he breaks away from his rigid routine and vows to navigate corrupt bureaucracy to transform a desolate wasteland into a public playground for local children.

Kameda, who has been in an asylum on Okinawa, travels to Hokkaido. There he becomes involved with two women, Taeko and Ayako. Taeko comes to love Kameda, but is loved in turn by Akama. When Akama realizes that he will never have Taeko, his thoughts turn to murder, and great tragedy ensues. (imdb)

This early gem starring the great Mifune Toshiro tells the tale of Katakana Yonetaro aka "The Shark," a rough-and-tumble horse trader in Japan's rugged northernmost territory of Hokkaddo... (imdb)

After mastering swordsmanship at the dojo of Chiba Shusaku, and being unable to serve a clan due to his illness, Hirate Miki became a ronin who wound up as bodyguard to Shigezo of Sasagawa leading up to an epic battle.