A young girl and a man struggle to understand their place in urban Japan, all the while holding dark secrets.Read More »
Japan
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Shunichi Nagasaki – Yami utsu shinzô AKA Heart, Beating in the Dark (1982)
1981-1990AsianDramaJapanShunichi Nagasaki -
Hirokazu Koreeda – Kûki ningyô AKA Air Doll (2009) (HD)
2001-2010DramaFantasyHirokazu KoreedaJapanMiddle-aged Hideo lives alone with an inflatable doll he calls Nozomi. The doll is his closest companion. He dresses it up, talks to it over dinner, and has sexual intercourse with it. However, unbeknown to Hideo, Nozomi was created with a heart. After Hideo leaves for work each day, Nozomi dresses in her maid’s outfit and explores the world outside their apartment with a sense of child-like wonder. She encounters various city residents who metaphorically are as “empty inside” as she is. When Nozomi meets Junichi, who works at a local video store, she falls in love with him and gets a part-time job at the store. She learns about the world through the movies she watches with Junichi, but her happiness with him is interrupted by a dramatic turn of events.Read More »
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Kon Ichikawa – Kuroi jûnin no onna AKA Ten Women in Black AKA Ten Dark Women (1961)
1961-1970AsianCrimeJapanKon IchikawaWeary of their lot, ten women – all mistresses of the same philandering businessman – join forces to wreak revenge upon him. A comedy of reversed expectations, gleefully upending traditional onscreen representations of gender (the women here act and talk like men, while the men are weak, confused or ineffectual), it’s shot in an exaggerated noir-ish manner – complete with multiple flashbacks and highly stylised visuals – that serves highlight the artificiality of its conceit.Read More »
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Ryûtarô Nakagawa – Yagate umi e to todoku AKA One Day, You Will Reach The Sea (2022) (HD)
2021-2030DramaJapanRyûtarô NakagawaQuote:
Mana Kotani was friends with Sumire Utsuki for years. She admired Sumire’s freewheeling ways and mysterious charm, but Sumire broke off connections with her. Later, Mana hears of Sumire’s death, which she cannot get over.Read More » -
Yoshitarô Nomura – Giwaku AKA Suspicion (1982)
1981-1990CrimeDramaJapanYoshitarô NomuraQuote:
A car with two passengers plunges into the sea. The man dies, his wife (Kaori Momoi) is barely scratched. So did she or didn’t she? Shima Iwashita stars as her lawyer.1982 Mainichi Film Awards Best Screenplay. Fourth place on Kinema Junpo’s 1982 top ten.Read More »
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Hideo Sakaki – Arî kyatto AKA Alley Cat (2017)
2011-2020ActionComedyHideo SakakiJapanA boxer’s cat Maru goes missing. Soon after, he finds her in the arms of a blond-haired punk who calls her Lily and refuses to give her up.Read More »
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Noboru Nakamura – Chieko-sho AKA Portrait of Chieko (1967)
1961-1970DramaJapanNoboru NakamuraTetsuro Tamba portrays Kotaro Takamura, one of Japan’s most celebrated artists. A poet and sculptor, Takamura is married to Chieko (Shima Iwashita), who has artistic aspirations of her own. She gradually comes to realize that her husband has all the talent in the family; as she sinks deeper into depression, Takamura tries to comfort her by writing several poems in her honor. She descends into insanity, while Takamura manifests his despair into some of his greatest artistic achievements. Originally titled Chieko-sho, this Japanese film earned a 1968 Oscar nomination for “Best Foreign Film.”Read More »
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Kichitaro Negishi – Asa wa dameyo aka Never in the Morning! (1980)
1971-1980AsianEroticaJapanKichitaro NegishiAuto translated from Japanese:
Underwear maker designer Miki enjoys a free-spirited sex life. She doesn’t mind the existence of Tsujimoto, who has a reputation as a playboy. One day Miki confessed in her heart that her junior Noriko had fallen in love with Tsujimoto once in bed. Miki pretending to be calm, but her inner heart is not calm. After that, Miki attacks Tsujimoto several times, but he isn’t full, but the timing isn’t right. One night, as Miki was drinking outside, a man visited her roommate Yoko. Read More » -
Kôji Wakamatsu – Fukushûki AKA Vengeance Demon (1969)
1961-1970CrimeEroticaJapanKoji WakamatsuQuote:
A brother and sister live as outcasts from their hamlet due to a belief that madness and disease runs in their blood. A group of villagers plot to steal their property, beating and hanging the brother and gang-raping the sister. The villagers believe the brother is dead, and come up with a scheme to kill the sister as well and make both deaths look like accidents. Unbeknownst to them, the brother survives, acquires a sword, and proceeds on a mission to slaughter each and every person in the hamlet.Read More »