Tatsuya Nakadai

  • Hiromichi Horikawa – Shiro to kuro aka Pressure of Guilt (1963)

    Hiromichi Horikawa1961-1970DramaJapan
    Shiro to kuro (1963)
    Shiro to kuro (1963)

    Google translate:
    A masterpiece of crime suspense where a seasoned prosecutor uncovers the perfect crime committed by a young lawyer. In addition to director Hiromichi Horikawa’s direction, you can also enjoy the skills of first-class filmmakers, such as the screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto and the shadowy imagery of cinematographer Hiroshi Murai. Lawyer Hamano kills the wife of his former teacher who had an affair. After that, Wakita, a thief, was arrested, and after being pursued by prosecutor Ochiai, Wakita confessed to murdering her wife. Hamano gets involved with Ochiai, saying, “The real culprit must be someone else,” out of remorse.Read More »

  • Masaki Kobayashi – Ningen no jôken AKA The Human Condition: II. Road to Eternity (1959)

    Masaki Kobayashi1951-1960DramaJapanWar
    Ningen no jôken (1959)
    Ningen no jôken (1959)

    Quote:
    Masaki Kobayashi’s six-part magnum opus, The Human Condition, based on Junpei Gomikawa’s postwar novel, bears the imprint of Kobayashi’s tutelage under legendary filmmaker Keisuke Kinoshita at Shochiku’s Ofuna studio, a critical, introspective, and deeply personal account of wartime Japan framed from the perspective of an idealistic everyman (and Kobayashi’s alterego), Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai). Opening to the ironic image of lovers Kaji and Michiko (Michiyo Aratama) meeting under an archway auspiciously called the Southern Gate of Peace in Manchuria as Imperial troops march in the street, Kobayashi presents an incisive image of 1930s Japanese society that is morally consumed—and ravaged—by increasingly extremist values of militarism, occupation, and nationalism.Read More »

  • Satsuo Yamamoto – Karei-naru ichizoku AKA The Family (1974)

    Satsuo Yamamoto1971-1980AsianDramaJapan
    Karei naru ichizoku (1974)
    Karei naru ichizoku (1974)

    Manpyou Daisuke is one of the country’s most powerful financiers. He asserts absolute control over his family as he has worked to expands his house’s influence through less than honest means. However, he has always harboured doubts over his eldest son Teppei’s parentage. One day Teppei makes a disastrous business mistake…

    An epic-length film adapted from the novel of the same name.Read More »

  • Kon Ichikawa – Wagahai wa neko de aru AKA I Am A Cat (1975)

    1971-1980ComedyJapanKon Ichikawa

    Review from clydefro.com
    I wasn’t sufficiently acquainted with Kon Ichikawa’s work (and, truthfully, I’m still not), but the entire tone of his relatively obscure I Am a Cat caught me somewhat by surprise. I’d loved Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain, a deeply and darkly humorous look at the ridiculousness of war played against that looming seriousness that’s always prevalent in those kind of films. I was then ready for some kind of Japanese incarnation of Harry and Tonto. That’s really not what I got, though. I Am a Cat is definitely steeped in comic undertones, with Tatsuya Nakadai almost parodying himself, but it’s absolutely far removed from Harry and Tonto. Instead, we’re left with some odd tribute to Nakadai’s eternally grumpy protagonist and the stray cat who’s his only true confidante.Read More »

  • Kei Kumai – Nihon no atsui hibi bôsatsu: Shimoyama jiken AKA Willful Murder (1981) (HD)

    1981-1990CrimeDramaJapanKei Kumai

    Synopsis:
    The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?Read More »

  • Hideo Gosha – Goyôkin (1969)

    1961-1970ActionDramaHideo GoshaJapan

    A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.Read More »

  • Kinuyo Tanaka – Ogin-sama AKA Love Under the Crucifix (1962)

    1961-1970DramaJapanJapanese Female DirectorsKinuyo Tanaka

    Rouven Linnarz wrote:
    Although she would go on to make feature films as an actress, Kinuyo Tanaka’s last project as a director would be the 1963 jidaigeki “Love Under the Crucifix”, a work based on the novel “Ogin-sama” by Toko Kon. At the same time, given her development as a filmmaker, this is truly an interesting climax to a career which saw her progressing more and more, developing her skills, especially when it comes to cinematic storytelling. Additionally, the themes that defined her previous works such as “Love Letter” and “Forever a Woman” also found a fitting conclusion in a feature that, even though it was not set in the present as her other movies, it certainly made a very relevant point about gender roles within Japanese society as well as the conflict between duty and desire as expressed in the story of the main characters.Read More »

  • Satsuo Yamamoto – Kinkanshoku AKA Annular Eclipse AKA Solar Eclipse (1975)

    Satsuo Yamamoto1971-1980AsianJapanPolitics

    In the wake of Watergate, the scandal surrounding then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka’s dealings with construction companies in Japan caused a similar political upheaval. Director Yamamoto chose as the subject for his film a scandal that had taken place some ten years prior to the Tanaka disclosure, to let the Japanese people know that such corruption had long been part of their politicians’ lives.Read More »

  • Akira Kurosawa – Kagemusha [+commentary] (1980)

    1971-1980Akira KurosawaClassicsJapanWar

    Synopsis:
    Akira Kurosawa’s lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief (Tatsuya Nakadai) who is recruited to impersonate Shingen (also Nakadai), an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.Read More »

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