Kurutta ippeji (“A page of madness”) Japan, 1926 Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa Script: Yasunari Kawabata Cast: Masao Inoue, Yoshie Nakagawa, Ayako Iijima Plot We are shown several people in an insane asylum. A young woman dances frantically until she is exhausted (she apparently thinks she is a dancer performing some ritual …
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The wicked priest (V.O. Gokuaku Bozu) Japan, 1968 Director: Kiyoshi Saeki Genre: Action, Comedy, Gendai-geki Plot The colorful Buddhist monk Shinkai (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is an unusual religious man: drinker, womanizer, inveterate gambler… And also a seasoned martial artist. In the early years of the Meiji era (around 1870), when the …
Naked Blood (V.O. Nekeddo Buraddo: Megyaku) Japan, 1996 Director: Hisayasu Sato Genre: Horror/Science Fiction/Gore Screenplay: Taketoshi Watari Cast: Misa Aika, Yumika Hayashi, Mika Kirihara, Sadao Abe Plot Young Eiji manufactures a serum to “turn pain into pleasure”, with which he intends to “save humanity”. He calls this drug “My Son”. …
Three outlaw samurai (V.O. Sanbiki no samurai) Japan, 1964 Director: Hideo Gosha Screenplay: Keiichi Abe, Eizaburo Shiba, Hideo Gosha Cast: Tetsuro Tamba, Isamu Nagato, Mikijirō Hira, Yoshiko Kayama Genre: Chambara Plot The wandering ronin Shiba (Tetsuro Tanba) arrives at an old mill (attracted by a hair clip he finds nearby, …
Rampo Noir (O.V. Ranpo Jigoku) Japan, 2005 Directors: Akio Jissoji, Atsushi Kaneko, Hisayasu Sato, Suguru Takeuchi Genre: Horror, ero-guro Plot The film is divided into four unrelated segments. “The Mars Canal” – Very brief, these are dreamlike sequences of a tormented individual escaping naked through a rocky landscape while recalling …
The wolves (O.V. Shussho Iwai) Japan, 1971 Director: Hideo Gosha Screenplay: Hideo Gosha, Kei Tasaka Cast: Rumi Aiki, Hideyo Amamoto, Noboru Andô Plot Japan, December 1926. After the death of Emperor Taisho and the entry into the Showa period with his successor Hirohito, the government granted a prison amnesty from …
Harakiri (O.V. Seppuku) Japan, 1962 Director: Masaki Kobayashi Screenplay: Shinobu Hashimoto Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai (Hanshiro Tsugumo), Akira Ishihama (Motome Chijiiwa), Shima Iwashita (Miho Tsugumo), Tetsurô Tanba (Hikokuro Omodaka), Masao Mishima (Tango Inaba) Plot Japan, beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate (17th century). The abolition of various feudal clans has driven many …
The 47 Ronin (V.O. Genroku Chûshingura) Japan, 1941 Director: Kenji Mizoguchi Screenplay: Kenichiro Hara, Seika Mayama, Yoshikata Yoda Cast: Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, (Kuranosuke Ooishi), Kan’emon Nakamura (Sukeimon Tomimori), Kunitarô Kawarazaki (Jurôzaemon Isogai), Yoshizaburo Arashi (Takuminokami Asano), Chôemon Bandô (Sôemon Hara) Plot Japan, Tokugawa era, early 18th century. In the corridors of …
Kozure Ōkami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma / “Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx” Japan, 1972 Director: Kenji Misumi Script: Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama (Itto Ogami), Akihiro Tomikawa (Daigoro), Kayo Matsuo (Sayaka Yagyu), Akiji Kobayashi (Ozuno) Story In the scene that serves as …
