Kentarô Shimizu

  • Toshiharu Ikeda – Ningyo densetsu AKA Mermaid Legend (1984)

    Toshiharu Ikeda1981-1990DramaJapan

    Quote:
    Based on a gekiga (adult orientated manga) penned by Kazuhiko Miyatani,this is director Ikeda’s first movie after leaving Nikkatsu over censorship disagreement. It’s a unique variation of the standard vengeance theme,sort of classy (albeit very bloody) version of I Spit On Your Grave. A fisherman,opposed to the construction of a nuclear power plant,is murdered by a gang of right-wing extremists who are puppets of the corrupt contractor.The dead man’s devoted wife concocts a plan of revenge.She slaughters the men in the goriest,the most grisly ways imaginable,thus removing any suspicion from her.In fact,the newspapers soon begin reporting stories of “a blood-fiend from the lake” and “a ghost mermaid.”Read More »

  • Toshiya Fujita – Umitsubame Jyo no kiseki AKA The Miracle of Joe, the Petrel (1984)

    1981-1990ActionAsianJapanToshiya Fujita

    In Okinawa, a Japanese-Filipino gangster named Joe kills an Okinawan mobster. Joe temporarily escapes the pursuing mob by fleeing to the Philippines, hoping to find there safety and perhaps to link up with his father. He meets Yoko, a saloon girl, who looks after him, but soon Joe’s enemies show up, determined to make Joe pay.Read More »

  • Shûji Terayama – Bokusâ AKA The Boxer (1977)

    1971-1980AsianDramaJapanShuji Terayama

    Quote:
    In mid-career, while he is on a winning streak, and in the middle of a fight he is winning, a young boxer is revolted by the violence of the game. He allows himself to be beaten up and quits the match and the sport. He also leaves his wife and child and lives alone with his moth-eaten old dog, all the while losing his sight. Years later, he is hunted down by a young man who is ambitious to become a prize-winning boxer. Persistence pays off, and he eventually persuades the ex-boxer to be his manager and trainer. The boy begins his rise to success, though he has a stormy relationship with his manager.Read More »

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