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Seijun Suzuki – Ukigusa no yado AKA Inn Of The Floating Weeds (1957)
Another Kayo-eiga (Pop Song Film), inspired by the hit Ukikusa No Yado sung by Hachiro Kasuga. Although the singer has a co-starring role, the movie was designed as a star vehicle for the new Nikkatsu...
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Seijun Suzuki – Kawachi Karumen AKA Carmen from Kawachi (1966)
Synopsis:‘Carmen from Kawachi brings the nihilist Suzuki universe to a woman’s life in the decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, Tsuyuko, whose rape by two fellow villagers...
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Kon Ichikawa – Sasame-yuki AKA The Makioka Sisters (1983)
This lyrical adaptation of the beloved novel by Junichiro Tanizaki was a late-career triumph for director Kon Ichikawa. Structured around the changing of the seasons, The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki)...
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Akio Jissoji – Dialogue (1992)
A man hires a Private Investigator in order to find proof that his wife has been cheating on him. Soon, we learn that the man’s plan is to set the wife up, divorce her and remarry again in America...
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Hajime Satô – Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro AKA Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
While a plane is being hijacked, a report of a bomb on board, another report of a UFO in the area is cut short as the hijacker shoots the radio and the controls. This while they encounter a UFO,...
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Hideaki Anno – Love & Pop (1998)
Quote:It is the ’90s and the tradition of ‘compensated dating’ is well underway in Japan. Four high school girls are engaged in enjo kosai in order to satisfy their desire for different things. You...
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Shin’ya Tsukamoto – Yôkai hantâ: Hiruko AKA Hiruko the Goblin (1991)
Quote:A school was built on one of the Gates of Hell, behind which hordes of demons await the moment they will be free to roam the Earth. Hiruko is a goblin sent to Earth on a reconnaissance mission....
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Kunitoshi Manda – Seppun AKA The Kiss (2007)
Synopsis:One day Kyoko watches television and sees a man turning himself in to the police after murdering a family. Something within Kyoko connects with the man, as she recognizes a similar soul....
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Kei Kumai – Sen no Rikyu AKA Death of a Tea Master (1989)
Quote:For those unfamiliar with its deep meaning, the Japanese tea ceremony appears to be a long, incredibly boring, basically uneventful ritual process. In contrast, for many of its practitioners it...
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Satsuo Yamamoto – Zatôichi rôyaburi AKA Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967)
Synopsis:When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free. But it’s really all just a plot to enlist...
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Kihachi Okamoto – Daiyukai aka Rainbow Kids aka The Magnificent Kidnapping...
Quote:Kihachi Okamoto directs his 37th film with this sweet-natured satire about bungling cops and tax scams. The story opens with an 84-year-old widow and grandmother (Tanie Kitabayashi), who lives...
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Yuuri Sunohara – Jogakusei: Harakiri AKA Zankoku-bi: Onna harakiri 02 AKA...
Quote:A young girl in a sailor moon outfit, sits quietly in an empty room, looking at a photo album of girls (from earlier films in this series) who have commit harakiri. The viewing and thought of...
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Kazuhiro Sôda – Minatomachi AKA Inland Sea (2018) (HD)
Sometimes Mr Murata thinks that it was just yesterday when he was 50 or 60. “And now I’m pushing 90,” he says.Like many parts of rural Japan, the fishing village of Ushimado suffers from an ageing...
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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Bukimi na mono no hada ni sawaru AKA Touching the Skin of...
Quote:A haunting study of loneliness gradually gives way to a dark mystery in Hamaguchi’s unusual and beautifully acted Touching the Skin of Eeriness. After his father’s death, the reclusive Chihiro...
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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Tengoku wa mada tôi AKA Heaven Is Still Far Away (2016)
Quote:Yuzo (Nao Okabe) and Mitsuki (Anne Ogawa) live together in Yuzo’s small apartment, their constant companionship tender and indifferent in turn. Then Yuzo receives a call from Satsuki (Hyunri), a...
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Tadashi Imai – Himeyuri no Tô AKA Tower of the Lilies (1953)
Quote:Tower of the Lilies is the true story of a group of high school girls on the island of Okinawa, who were mobilized into military service as nurses in the closing months of World War II. The...
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Yoshihiko Matsui – Tonkei shinjû aka Pig-Chicken Suicide (1981)
Directed by Japanese underground legend Yoshihiko Matsui, most famous for his epic film Noisy Requiem and his early work with maverik Japanese director Sogo Ishii (Gojoe, Crazy Thunder Road), Pig...
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Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Kare no ootobai, kanojo no shima AKA His Motorbike, Her...
After being threatened by his girlfriend’s brother, Ko (Riki Takeuchi) goes on a trip on his Kawasaki to contemplate his options. He meets Miiyo (Kiwako Harada) by chance, and the two stay in touch....
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Noboru Tanaka – (Maruhi) jorô seme jigoku AKA The Hell-Fated Courtesan (1973)
The second of Nikkatsu’s trilogy of softcore melodramas looking at prostitution in various Japanese cities, this dark look at ritualistic temple sex in Edo from director Noboru Tanaka is quite a...
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Susumu Hani – Kanojo to kare AKA She and He (1963)
Quote:One of Hani’s recurring themes was the status of women in modern society. His first attempt at the subject was this Antonioniesque melodrama set in a sterile high rise complex. A woman resident...
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