Best Of...
Japanese cinema: All genres
Late Spring (1949)
Yasujirô Ozu
Professor Somiya, a widower in his fifties, lives in the suburbs of Tokyo with his 27-year-old daughter Noriko. It is an arrangement that suits them both...
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Yasujirô Ozu
The Life of Oharu (1952)
Kenji Mizoguchi
In 17th Century Japan, a fifty-year-old prostitute named Oharu looks back on her life in sorrow. When she was a young woman, she brought disgrace on herself and her family by falling in love with a man from an inferior caste...
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Kenji Mizoguchi
The Lower Depths (1957)
Akira Kurosawa
Japan in the mid-19th century. A rundown tenement in a slum area is home to a bedraggled hodge-podge of thieves, gamblers and prostitutes, lowlife who have no future and who live on futile dreams...
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Akira Kurosawa
The Only Son (1936)
Yasujirô Ozu
Japan, 1923. Otsune is a poor widow who struggles to bring up her only son Ryosuke in the rural town of Shinshu. One day, Ryosuke's teacher Ookubo visits Otsune and persuades her to allow her son to continue his studies after he leaves elementary school...
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Yasujirô Ozu
Oyû-sama (1951)
Kenji Mizoguchi
In late 19th century Japan, a young carpenter named Shinnosuke must choose a woman to take as his bride. So far his aunt's attempts to find him a suitable wife have failed, but he is no hurry to marry...
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Kenji Mizoguchi
Passing Fancy (1933)
Yasujirô Ozu
Kihachi and Jiro are two brewery workers living in a slum district of Tokyo. A widower, Kihachi has a young son, Tomio, who is ashamed of his father for being poor and illiterate... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Kihachi and Jiro are two brewery workers living in a slum district of Tokyo. A widower, Kihachi has a young son, Tomio, who is ashamed of his father for being poor and illiterate... [More...]
Ran (1985)
Akira Kurosawa
In 16th century Japan, the aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji gathers together his family and announces his intention to pass on his power to his three sons, who will each have a share of his kingdom... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
In 16th century Japan, the aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji gathers together his family and announces his intention to pass on his power to his three sons, who will each have a share of his kingdom... [More...]
Rashomon (1950)
Akira Kurosawa
In 11th Century Japan, a woodcutter and a priest are sheltering from a torrential downpour in the ruins of the ancient Rashomon gate... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
In 11th Century Japan, a woodcutter and a priest are sheltering from a torrential downpour in the ruins of the ancient Rashomon gate... [More...]
Red Beard (1965)
Akira Kurosawa
In mid-19th century Japan, Yasumoto, a young doctor fresh out of medical school, sees a bright future for himself and has high hopes of becoming the personal physician of the Shogunate... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
In mid-19th century Japan, Yasumoto, a young doctor fresh out of medical school, sees a bright future for himself and has high hopes of becoming the personal physician of the Shogunate... [More...]
Sanjuro (1962)
Akira Kurosawa
Japan, sometime in the 1840s. Nine young samurai suspect that the lord chamberlain of their clan, Mutsuta, is complicit in the wave of organised crime that is threatening their community... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
Japan, sometime in the 1840s. Nine young samurai suspect that the lord chamberlain of their clan, Mutsuta, is complicit in the wave of organised crime that is threatening their community... [More...]
Sansho dayu (1954)
Kenji Mizoguchi
In 11th Century Japan, an aristocratic woman, Tamaki, and her two young children, Zushio and Anju, leave their home to look for their father... [More...]
Kenji Mizoguchi
In 11th Century Japan, an aristocratic woman, Tamaki, and her two young children, Zushio and Anju, leave their home to look for their father... [More...]
Scandal (1950)
Akira Kurosawa
In present day Japan, Ichiro Aoye is an artist who makes the fatal mistake of offering a lift on his motorcycle to a famous singer, Miyako Saijo... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
In present day Japan, Ichiro Aoye is an artist who makes the fatal mistake of offering a lift on his motorcycle to a famous singer, Miyako Saijo... [More...]
Seven Samurai (1954)
Akira Kurosawa
Japan in the sixteenth century is riven by civil wars which allow gangs of maraudiung bandits to tyrannise village communities across the country... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
Japan in the sixteenth century is riven by civil wars which allow gangs of maraudiung bandits to tyrannise village communities across the country... [More...]
The Silent Duel (1949)
Akira Kurosawa
During WWII, a young doctor named Kyoji Fujisaki contracts syphilis whilst performing an operation on an infected patient... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
During WWII, a young doctor named Kyoji Fujisaki contracts syphilis whilst performing an operation on an infected patient... [More...]
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Kenji Mizoguchi
Tokyo in the mid-1880s. Kikunosuke Onoue intends to follow in the footsteps of his adopted father, the great Kabuki actor Kikugoro Onoue... [More...]
Kenji Mizoguchi
Tokyo in the mid-1880s. Kikunosuke Onoue intends to follow in the footsteps of his adopted father, the great Kabuki actor Kikugoro Onoue... [More...]
Stray Dog (1949)
Akira Kurosawa
In post-war Tokyo, a trainee cop Murakami becomes obsessed with recovering his Colt pistol when it is stolen by a pickpocket... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
In post-war Tokyo, a trainee cop Murakami becomes obsessed with recovering his Colt pistol when it is stolen by a pickpocket... [More...]
Stupeur et tremblements (2003)
Alain Corneau
Having completed her studies, a twenty-year old Belgian girl, Amélie, returns to Japan, the country where she spent the first five years of her life... [More...]
Alain Corneau
Having completed her studies, a twenty-year old Belgian girl, Amélie, returns to Japan, the country where she spent the first five years of her life... [More...]
That Night's Wife (1930)
Yasujirô Ozu
Shuji Hashizume, a struggling professional artist, is driven to steal money at gunpoint so that he can pay for medical treatment for his chronically sick infant daughter... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Shuji Hashizume, a struggling professional artist, is driven to steal money at gunpoint so that he can pay for medical treatment for his chronically sick infant daughter... [More...]
There Was a Father (1942)
Yasujirô Ozu
Shuhei Horikawa is a schoolteacher and widower who is devotedly attached to his ten-year-old son, Ryohei. During a class outing, some of his pupils disobey his instructions and go off on a boating trip, in which one of them drowns... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Shuhei Horikawa is a schoolteacher and widower who is devotedly attached to his ten-year-old son, Ryohei. During a class outing, some of his pupils disobey his instructions and go off on a boating trip, in which one of them drowns... [More...]
Throne of Blood (1957)
Akira Kurosawa
Sent by the Lord Tzuzuki, two samurai warriors, Washizu and Miki, succeed in crushing a local uprising led by a treacherous warlord... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
Sent by the Lord Tzuzuki, two samurai warriors, Washizu and Miki, succeed in crushing a local uprising led by a treacherous warlord... [More...]
Tokyo Chorus (1931)
Yasujirô Ozu
Some years after he graduated, Shinji Okajima has a young family and a job with an insurance company in Tokyo. His son wants a bicycle and so, reluctantly, Shinji promises to buy him one with money from his annual bonus... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Some years after he graduated, Shinji Okajima has a young family and a job with an insurance company in Tokyo. His son wants a bicycle and so, reluctantly, Shinji promises to buy him one with money from his annual bonus... [More...]
Tokyo Story (1953)
Yasujirô Ozu
Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama, a retired couple in their sixties, undertake a long journey from their home in the Japanese town of Onomichi to visit their grown-up children in Tokyo... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama, a retired couple in their sixties, undertake a long journey from their home in the Japanese town of Onomichi to visit their grown-up children in Tokyo... [More...]
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Yasujirô Ozu
Shukichi Sugiyama is a senior bank employee who lives in Tokyo with his two grown-up daughters, Akiko and Takako. It has been many years since Shukichi's wife walked out on him and his daughters to pursue an affair with another man, and now history appears to be repeating itself... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Shukichi Sugiyama is a senior bank employee who lives in Tokyo with his two grown-up daughters, Akiko and Takako. It has been many years since Shukichi's wife walked out on him and his daughters to pursue an affair with another man, and now history appears to be repeating itself... [More...]
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Richard Fleischer
1941. In an attempt to weaken Japan after its seizure of Indochina, the United States imposes an embargo that will deprive the country of essential raw materials... [More...]
Richard Fleischer
1941. In an attempt to weaken Japan after its seizure of Indochina, the United States imposes an embargo that will deprive the country of essential raw materials... [More...]
Ugetsu monogatari (1953)
Kenji Mizoguchi
In 16th Century Japan, Genjurô and Tôbei are peasant farmers who live on the shore of Lake Biwa with their wives, Miyagi and Ohama... [More...]
Kenji Mizoguchi
In 16th Century Japan, Genjurô and Tôbei are peasant farmers who live on the shore of Lake Biwa with their wives, Miyagi and Ohama... [More...]
Walk Cheerfully (1930)
Yasujirô Ozu
Koyama Kenji, nicknamed Kenji the Knife, is a small-time crook who makes a dishonest living with his friends Senko, Gunpei and Chieko... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Koyama Kenji, nicknamed Kenji the Knife, is a small-time crook who makes a dishonest living with his friends Senko, Gunpei and Chieko... [More...]
What Did the Lady Forget? (1937)
Yasujirô Ozu
Komiya is a respected professor of medicine at Tokyo University. His wife, Tokiko, rules the roost in his house. Sparks begins to fly when the couple's teenage niece from Osaka, Setsuko, pays a visit... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Komiya is a respected professor of medicine at Tokyo University. His wife, Tokiko, rules the roost in his house. Sparks begins to fly when the couple's teenage niece from Osaka, Setsuko, pays a visit... [More...]
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932)
Yasujirô Ozu
Tetsuo Horino, the spoiled son of an important company director, enjoys a carefree existence at college with his three close friends... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Tetsuo Horino, the spoiled son of an important company director, enjoys a carefree existence at college with his three close friends... [More...]
Woman of Tokyo (1933)
Yasujirô Ozu
Ryoichi is a student who is financially dependent on his older sister Chikako. To pay for her brother's education, Chikako supplements her daytime income as a typist by, so she claims, working evenings for a university professor... [More...]
Yasujirô Ozu
Ryoichi is a student who is financially dependent on his older sister Chikako. To pay for her brother's education, Chikako supplements her daytime income as a typist by, so she claims, working evenings for a university professor... [More...]
Yojimbo (1961)
Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1860. With the country in a state of terminal decline following the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, a Ronin Samurai who has fallen on hard times arrives at a small provincial town that has degenerated into gang warfare... [More...]
Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1860. With the country in a state of terminal decline following the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, a Ronin Samurai who has fallen on hard times arrives at a small provincial town that has degenerated into gang warfare... [More...]