A high school girl travels to the island of New Caledonia and has magical adventures.Read More »
Japanese
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Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Tengoku ni ichiban chikai shima AKA The Island Closest to Heaven (1984)
1981-1990ArthouseDramaJapanNobuhiko Obayashi -
Umetsugu Inoue – Shi no jûjiro AKA Crossroads of Death (1956)
1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirJapanUmetsugu InoueQuote:
Ise, a successful entrepreneur, accidentally murders his lunatic wife after he is spotted having an affair with his secretary, Harumi. In his attempt to perfect his crime, he drives to a remote quarry to bury his wife’s body, but along the way, he finds another dead body in the back of his car! Given no choice, Ise dumps both bodies. Meanwhile, Yoshie begins her search for her missing brother, Yoshihiko. After surprising twists and turns, Ise faces his fate.Read More » -
Shigehiro Ozawa – Bakuto tai tekiya AKA Gamblers and Racketeers (1964)
1961-1970CrimeDramaJapanShigehiro OzawaSynopsis:
It’s brother against brother and father against son in this all-star yakuza epic. With brilliant performances from Toei’s samurai movie stars in a modern day setting the battles highlight this tale of brutality among Japanese gangster groups. Toei Film Company set the standard for high quality in the yakuza movie genre with this motion picture. Rival gangs vie for control of the prostitution racket leading to an ultra-violent confrontation. This powerful story is not to be missed!Read More » -
Masahiro Shinoda – Shinjû: Ten no Amijima AKA Double Suicide (1969)
1961-1970ArthouseDramaJapanMasahiro ShinodaMany films have drawn from classic Japanese theatrical forms, but none with such shocking cinematic effect as director Masahiro Shinoda’s Double Suicide. In this striking adaptation of a Bunraku puppet play (featuring the music of famed composer Toru Takemitsu), a paper merchant sacrifices family, fortune, and ultimately life for his erotic obsession with a prostitute.Read More »
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Tomu Uchida – Sake to onna to yari AKA The Master Spearman (1960)
1951-1960ActionDramaJapanTomu UchidaKurando is a retired samurai. Granted a last-second reprieve from the obligation to commit Harakiri, he decides to settle down and marry one of two kabuki actresses who helped him enjoy what he thought would be his final days.Read More »
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Akira Kurosawa – Shûbun AKA Scandal (1950)
1941-1950Akira KurosawaCrimeDramaJapanA handsome, suave Toshiro Mifune lights up the screen as painter Ichiro, whose circumstantial meeting with a famous singer (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) is twisted by the tabloid press into a torrid affair. Ichiro files a lawsuit against the seedy gossip magazine, but his lawyer, Hiruta (Kurosawa stalwart Takashi Shimura), is playing both sides. A portrait of cultural moral decline, Scandal is also a compelling courtroom drama and a moving tale of human redemption.Read More »
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Akira Kurosawa – Hakuchi AKA The Idiot (1951)
1951-1960Akira KurosawaArthouseDramaJapanAfter finishing what would become his international phenomenon Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa immediately turned to one of the most daring, and problem-plagued, productions of his career. The Idiot, an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s nineteenth-century masterpiece about a wayward, pure soul’s reintegration into society—updated by Kurosawa to capture Japan’s postwar aimlessness—was a victim of studio interference and, finally, public indifference. Today, this “folly” looks ever more fascinating, a stylish, otherworldly evocation of one man’s wintry mindscape.Read More »
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Jûzô Itami – Tampopo (1985)
1981-1990ComedyJapanJûzô ItamiQuote:
The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal Tampopo is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.Read More » -
Hiroto Yokoyama – Love is Always Almond Pink AKA Koi wa Itsumo Amandopink (1988)
1981-1990ComedyHiroto YokoyamaJapanRomanceBased on the comic book series by Tamiko Akaboshi.Read More »