Crash Course in Japanese Cinema
by ahmada2 | created - 12 Nov 2016 | updated - 14 Nov 2016 | Publica few essential Japanese films from 60's till now.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Ballad of Narayama (1958)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yûko Mochizuki, Danko Ichikawa
Votes: 3,787
2. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,755
3. Sanjuro (1962)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûnosuke Itô
Votes: 41,155
4. The Pornographers (1966)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
While avoiding the mob and local authorities, a world-weary pornographer finds being a family man the most difficult as he wrestles with his own desires and afflictions.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Shôichi Ozawa, Sumiko Sakamoto, Keiko Sagawa, Masaomi Kondô
Votes: 2,528
5. Dersu Uzala (1975)
G | 142 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov, Vladimir Khrulyov
Votes: 33,532
6. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,296
7. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 434,024 | Gross: $2.38M
8. The Eel (1997)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After the release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking almost to no one except an eel he befriended while in prison.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô, Akira Emoto
Votes: 6,404 | Gross: $0.41M
9. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 850,119 | Gross: $10.06M
10. Gozu (2003)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Yûta Sone, Kimika Yoshino, Shohei Hino, Keiko Tomita
Votes: 12,739 | Gross: $0.05M
11. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
PG | 119 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin, Akihiro Miwa
Votes: 449,819 | Gross: $4.71M
12. Love Exposure (2008)
Unrated | 237 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô, Yutaka Shimizu
Votes: 15,918
13. Paprika (2006)
R | 90 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.
Director: Satoshi Kon | Stars: Megumi Hayashibara, Tôru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tôru Furuya
Votes: 97,008 | Gross: $0.88M
14. Still Walking (2008)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi
Votes: 18,631 | Gross: $0.16M
15. The Boy and the Beast (2015)
PG-13 | 119 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
When a young orphaned boy living on the streets of Shibuya stumbles upon a fantastic world of beasts, he's taken in by a gruff warrior beast looking for an apprentice.
Director: Mamoru Hosoda | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Shôta Sometani, Suzu Hirose
Votes: 26,944 | Gross: $0.45M
16. Sweet Bean (2015)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
Burdened with a heavy and ever-increasing debt, a dorayaki baker hires a kind ageing woman, after tasting her delicious surprise. Little by little, she unravels her beautiful inner world. Could she be holding the secret to his success?
Director: Naomi Kawase | Stars: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida, Miki Mizuno
Votes: 12,732 | Gross: $0.12M
17. Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama
Ryota is a successful workaholic businessman. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another boy after birth, he faces the difficult decision to choose his true son or the boy he and his wife have raised as their own.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Lily Franky
Votes: 28,158 | Gross: $0.28M
18. After the Storm (2016)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
After the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Yôko Maki, Satomi Kobayashi, Lily Franky
Votes: 12,765 | Gross: $0.27M
19. The Long Excuse (2016)
124 min | Drama
A recently widowed writer whose wife died in a bus crash comes to terms with his grief, or lack of it, in caring for the children of a working man who also lost his wife in the same accident.
Director: Miwa Nishikawa | Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Pistol Takehara, Eri Fukatsu, Kenshin Fujita
Votes: 1,318
20. Dear Doctor (2009)
127 min | Drama
A young medical intern student is dismayed when he is assigned to work in a remote countryside village.
Director: Miwa Nishikawa | Stars: Tsurube Shôfukutei, Eita Nagayama, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruka Igawa
Votes: 746
21. Dear Doctor (2009)
127 min | Drama
A young medical intern student is dismayed when he is assigned to work in a remote countryside village.
Director: Miwa Nishikawa | Stars: Tsurube Shôfukutei, Eita Nagayama, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruka Igawa
Votes: 746
Tell Your Friends