Departures (2008)
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel ... (more)
GENRES: Drama
DIRECTION: Yôjirô Takita
CAST: Masahiro Motoki • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Ryoko Hirosue • Kazuko Yoshiyuki
A Taxing Woman (1987)
Ryoko Itakura is a government tax agent who has just landed a big promotion. Her first assignment is to catch wheeler-dealer Hideki Gondo. She has a tough job, since in Japan ... (more)
GENRES: Comedy • Crime
DIRECTION: Juzo Itami
CAST: Nobuko Miyamoto • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Masahiko Tsugawa • Yasuo Daichi
High and Low (1963)
An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. (more)
GENRES: Crime • Drama • Mystery • Thriller
DIRECTION: Akira Kurosawa
CAST: Toshiro Mifune • Tatsuya Nakadai • Kyôko Kagawa • Tatsuya Mihashi
Kagemusha (1980) RT 86% / Audience 92%
DVD release: Mar 2005
Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. ... (more)
GENRES: Action • Drama • History • War
DIRECTION: Akira Kurosawa
CAST: Tatsuya Nakadai • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Jinpachi Nezu • Takashi Shimura
Red Beard (1965) RT 77% / Audience 95%
DVD release: Jul 2002
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic ... (more)
GENRES: Drama
DIRECTION: Akira Kurosawa
CAST: Toshiro Mifune • Yûzô Kayama • Takashi Shimura • Kyôko Kagawa
Tampopo (1985) RT 100% / Audience 94%
DVD release: Jul 2000
A pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside fast food stop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, pleads them to help her turn her establishment into a ... (more)
GENRES: Comedy
DIRECTION: Juzo Itami
CAST: Tsutomu Yamazaki • Nobuko Miyamoto • Ken Watanabe • Kōji Yakusho
The Funeral (1984) RT Audience 88%
DVD release: Jun 1999
At the beginning of the film the father-in-law of the protagonist dies unexpectedly of a heart attack. The remainder of the film is episodic, moving from one incident to ... (more)
GENRES: Comedy • Family
DIRECTION: Juzo Itami
CAST: Tsutomu Yamazaki • Nobuko Miyamoto • Kin Sugai • Hideji Ôtaki
Go (2001)
Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him ... (more)
GENRES: Comedy • Drama
DIRECTION: Isao Yukisada
CAST: Yōsuke Kubozuka • Kou Shibasaki • Taro Yamamoto • Tsutomu Yamazaki
Space Battleship Yamato (2010) RT Audience 55%
DVD release: Apr 2010
In 2199, five years after the Gamilons began an invasion of Earth, the planet has been ravaged by the aliens' bombs. The remnants of humanity have fled underground to escape ... (more)
GENRES: Science Fiction
DIRECTION: Takashi Yamazaki
CAST: Hiroyuki Ikeuchi • Takuya Kimura • Meisa Kuroki • Toshirō Yanagiba
A Quiet Life (1995) RT Audience 66%
Melodrama about the life of a mentally handicapped young man and his devoted sister after their famous novelist father and housewife mother go to Australia on a business trip. (more)
GENRES: Drama
DIRECTION: Juzo Itami
CAST: Masayuki Imai • Nobuko Miyamoto • Hinako Saeki • Atsuro Watabe
Climber's High (2008)
On August 12, 1985, a jumbo jet crashes, causing 520 fatalities, making the accident the biggest single-plane accident in the world. The local press reporters are tossed about ... (more)
GENRES: Drama
DIRECTION: Masato Harada
CAST: Shinichi Tsutsumi • Masato Sakai • Machiko Ono • Masahiro Takashima
Wait And See (1998)
A salaryman faces a major life change as his firm undergoes financial difficulties. To add to his troubles, a man claiming to be his long-estranged father shows up at his ... (more)
GENRES:
DIRECTION: Shinji Sômai
CAST: Koichi Sato • Yuki Saitô • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Shiho Fujimura
Sweet Home (1989)
A TV production crew are making a documentary about the infamous painter Mamiya Ichiro. When they start filming at his old home, they come under attack from the ghost of the ... (more)
GENRES: Horror
DIRECTION: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
CAST: Nobuko Miyamoto • Shingo Yamashiro • Tsutomu Yamazaki
Mohou-han (2002)
Masahiro Nakai (SMAP) stars in this hit film based on the best-selling novel by Miyuki Miyabe. Directed by Yoshimitsu Morita, the film also stars Tsutomu Yamazaki and Yoshino ... (more)
GENRES: Crime • Drama
DIRECTION: Yoshimitsu Morita
CAST: Kanji Tsuda • Takashi Fujii • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Kimura Yoshino
Daiamondo wa kizutsukanai (1982)
A college student has an affair with a married, middle-aged teacher. (more)
GENRES: Drama • Romance
DIRECTION: Toshiya Fujita
CAST: Misako Tanaka • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Mariko Kaga • Yukiji Asaoka
Sanshiro Sugata (1965)
Remake of Kurosawa's films Sanshiro Sugata and Sanshiro Sugata part 2. A young man, Sanshiro Sugata, troubled by personal problems, takes up judo. His teacher, Shogoro Yano, ... (more)
GENRES: Action • Drama
DIRECTION: Seiichirô Uchikawa
CAST: Yûzô Kayama • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Eiji Okada • Takashi Shimura
Kuro no honryu (1972)
A ryokan maid is on trial for pushing a familiar guest off a cliff to his death. An eager attorney offers to take the case to gain notoriety. (more)
GENRES:
DIRECTION: Yûsuke Watanabe
CAST: Mariko Okada • Tsutomu Yamazaki • Keiko Matsuzaka • Kaori Taniguchi
Kôtei no inai hachigatsu (1978)
Taking the Chilean coup as an example, a group of young officers plan to overthrow the Japanese government on V-J Day. They aim to abolish the post-war constitution, restore ... (more)