Movies: Sanshō Shinsui

In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mounta...

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison....

A scientist realizes his dead wife is an organization of mitochondria bent on making a new species that will wipe out humanity....

Based on a manga written by Tatsuhiko Yamagami, the story is set in a former seaport town Uobuka, where 6 former criminals were sent to live there by the government, with the intention of re-socialising them. Aside from the few who know about the pro...

At the time between the World Wars, Japan is involved in empire-building throughout East and Southeast Asia. After a brief career as a low-level military adventurer, Iheiji sets up chains of brothels throughout Asia. As Japan's power in the region gr...

Ryoro Kurojima (Sadao Abe) is the director of a Tokyo apology center. His job is to teach others how to apologize. Ryoro Kurojima solves problems by using his apology techniques on anything from simple arbitration to a national crisis....

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminate...

When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa...

A young man is conflicted. He is trying to raise his high school aged sister and keep her out of trouble in their rough and tumble neighborhood. But he is also a leader of a motorcycle gang of psycho rapists who are targeting school girls. Can he get...

2 almost inseparable friends. The talented painter recognized by all decided to leave the town where they live and become an artist and the shy poet who only sees his future in his mother's business....

In the desert of Egypt, Kurata, the CEO of the Japanese corporation Tokokaihatsu, is killed by a sniper. After the news reaches Japan, the CEO's lawyer, Yamamoto, receives a visit from two men that attempt to steal the deceased CEO's will. This is ...

The third series of action series depicting the success of a woman torpedo who was caught in two groups of conflicts at a small port town in the Seto Inland Sea....

2nd film in a 6-part series. Shock and suspicions circulate in the aftermath of the death of the WRC Chairman, and the competition between Umehara (Ozawa Hitoshi) and Tamura (Sugata Shun) begins in earnest. An internal spy was discovered and execute...

1st in a 6-film series. The W.R.C. is the largest yakuza-run conglomerate in Japan, and a war for succession begins when the current Chairman suffers a fatal traffic "accident". Tadano (Namioka Kazuki), the secretary to the current Vice-Chair Konno ...

One day, Mio, a reporter, is shown a manuscript for a contest by Kuribayashi, the editor-in-chief. The manuscript, which she is told will likely make it to the final round, is that of Kashiwagi, who was supposed to marry Kuribayashi's daughter. Heari...

Set in the late 60s in a small seaside town, this coming of age drama centres on a young girl named Nagisa. She spends her summer holidays working in a local seaside bar, searching for her lost cat, dancing to rock’n’roll and discovering first love....

The movie is absurd, and a thoroughly original take on the morale in Japanese society. The images are beautiful, and the people are as cold as the snow that surrounds them. The take on Melville's "Samoraï" from -67 is obvious, but Kobayashi turns the...

A massive yakuza war begins when the most powerful clan in Kansai plans to conquer all control of the country after attacking several headquarters of other clans in Japan and China....

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In a maelstrom of evil, can a new magistrate, samurai Mochizuki Koheita, with a reputation like an alley cat, bring order to the town of Horisoto, or is he, too a corrupt villain looking to gain wealth from the oppressed people? From the pen of famed...