Favorite Japanese Films
These are just favorites. If you'd like to visit a list of all the Japanese films I've seen and rated:
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/japanese/[/link]
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/japanese/[/link]
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- DirectorHitoshi YazakiStarsChizuru IkewakiNoriko NakagoshiYûko NakamuraStrawberry Shortcakes (2006) is a Japanese film by director Hitoshi Yazaki. The film, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Kiriko Nananan, concerns the life of four girls, as they deal with their own insecurities while living in the metropolis of Tokyo. This movie ranked 7th Best Film at the 2006 Yokohama Film Festival and got Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography prizes from the same festival.One of my all time favorite films. Great work from everyone involved.
- DirectorShinji AoyamaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiMasaru MiyazakiThe traumatized survivors of a murderous bus hijacking come together and take a road trip to attempt to overcome their damaged selves. Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose.Aoi Miyazaki, at twelve years old--and without saying a word for nearly the entire runtime--is mesmerizing. This film is a masterpiece, exploring the myriad layers of trauma, and what three people endure on a path to renewal. It'll take your breath away if you go for this kind of thing.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMakiko EsumiTakashi NaitôTadanobu AsanoA young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.This is the film where people come here and see the movie poster and say "So that's what she looks like". Kore'eda casts a model in his (and her) feature film debut and almost never photographs her face. This is a gorgeous film, one of the most painterly films you're likely to see. It's dark (in numerous ways), sad, slow, and ... did I say beautiful?
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsEri YuMiyuki YamamotoHidetoshi NishijimaYu, an employee at a clothing boutique, lives with Kei, an out-of-work actor who lives off of her. When one day he asks her to get married, the balance of their relationship seems to be irremediably disturbed.This is a small, quiet film with characters that seem overflowing with histories right when we meet them. It's a little sad and painful but it's executed so well there's an uplifting quality to it. This is mostly due to the performance of Eri Yu, who went on to make a few more films but then seems to have disappeared from the industry. Nishijima's performance isn't quite the caliber of Yu's, or perhaps his character isn't as interesting.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsKazue FukiishiTsugumiYuriko YoshitakaA teenager called Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Tokoyama, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.This is probably the closest I'll get to calling a film poetry. Sono has a delicate nonchalance to the soundtrack and yet it is so vital to the presentation.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsTakako MatsuYoshino KimuraMasaki OkadaA psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.Amazing how Nakashima married gobs of slow motion with a fast pace.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.Sono's masterpiece
- DirectorSion SonoStarsReina TriendlMariko ShinodaErina ManoA girl's life cascades into chaos as everyone around her suffers a gruesome fate while she becomes less certain of who she is and her once-once normal.I love the music. I love all the running. I love love the scene where the girls ditch class and run down to the lake. Pure. Innocent. Joy. I love this film.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.I applaud Koreeda for exploring "nice". It's got to be one of the greater challenges a filmmaker faces.
- DirectorDaihachi YoshidaStarsEriko SatôAimi SatsukawaHiromi NagasakuTraumatic incidents, conflicts, and bloody quarrels awaits the Wago family members who return home to bury their parents.This is what Japanese cinema is all about: A good title, twisted family drama, black humor that hurts more than it tickles, a little sexual deviance, beautiful women. Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! has it all.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsHitomi SatôYasue SatôYukiko OkamotoThe film follows three modern Japanese schoolgirls in Tokyo as they flirt with lecherous old men and dodge the yakuza in the lucrative and sometimes dangerous practice of "enjo kosai" or "date clubs".Bounce Ko Gals is a hip, fun, frank, and furious look at the, some would say uniquely Japanese, phenomenon of teenage girls who have discovered their sexual power and find very little reason not to use it even though the endgame of designer handbags and other assorted accessories might seem superficial—not to mention mind-boggling to those of a more mature bent. A straightforward approach to this subject matter results from the director's documentary style of filming, and it's got a great soundtrack. Highly recommended.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorIzuru KumasakaStarsChiharuYûji IshikawaSachi JinnoTsuyako turns the rooftop of her shabby love hotel into a park and opens it up to the lonely women of various ages who rent rooms.One of the strongest film debuts I've seen.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHitoshi TakagiNoriko HidakaChika SakamotoWhen two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.My favorite Miyazaki. I don't think I'll ever see an end to repeated viewings/
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsTomokazu MiuraMakiko WatanabeRyudai TakahashiTetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. Aki is annoyed because she was not asked, and she knows that she will have to do the bulk of the work in caring for him. This forces Aki to reevaluate her relationship, and decide whether she is to remain a modern working woman, or become a mother.Suwa's follow up to the marvelous 2/Duo. Another mostly improvised, watching-paint-dry indie flick. This one is a little more mature in content and character. Makiko Watanabe is amazing as a young woman shacked up with an older guy who brings his eight year old son to live with them while his wife recuperates from a car accident. At first she resents the idea, mostly because she wasn't consulted about it, but comes to sort of like the role and is conflicted when it's coming to an end. Competing, confused emotions and transformation of character observed, and executed, at a very high level.
- DirectorYuki TanadaStarsTokio EmotoYûya EndôIni Kusano17 year-old Hiruma is desperate to get laid and takes out his sexual urges on Anpai, a fat boy who has "boobs." His classmate Tomono, a sickly loner, is in a serious relationship with their married teacher.A small masterpiece. The polar opposite of Bounce KO Gals when it comes to teen sexuality. Sakura Ando fans should not miss this one. Yuki Tanada is a writer/director to keep an eye on (though she didn't script this one).
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsBae DoonaArata IuraItsuji ItaoA life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.A masterstroke of casting Bae Du-na as the Air Doll. It's hard to think of another actress who could have made such a success of the role.
Air Doll has a slow pace and a number of characters seem to just float by without explanation but when it's all over they will have made sense. The central conceit of the film doesn't hold up to scrutiny if you think about it too much so that kind of thing bothers you, take a pass. - DirectorSatoshi MikiStarsJoe OdagiriTomokazu MiuraKyôko KoizumiTakemura has no friends and no family. He's a law student but he doesn't have any particular ambitions. A thug offers to pay Takemura's considerable gambling debt if the student accompanies him on a trip across Tokyo."In my 8th college year, buying 3-color toothpaste I thought could spare me from my rock bottom situation."
Writer/Director Satoshi Miki has a stable of comedic actors who work with him often and who fill out this film playing the side characters. They remind me of the North American group that came out of Second City Television we now associate with Christopher Guest movies. They share that sense of humor too, where each of the characters seem to exist in their own orbit but since they all do, they get along fine. Dialog is somewhere between non sequiturs and honest answers when you don't anticipate them. And it's all about timing and delivery. Funny people. - DirectorToshiaki ToyodaStarsKyôko KoizumiAnne SuzukiItsuji ItaoA family struggling to live together even with the outrageous behaviors from each family members.Only from Japan. This has a sensibility and sense of humor similar to ADRIFT IN TOKYO and FUNUKE, SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS! Bizarro-land family dynamics. Things are said where the delivery and body language don't play at the same level of intensity as the words. Kyôko Koizumi plays this kind of role perfectly, similar to her character in ADRIFT. Hiromi Nagasaku also has a wonderful small role. The soundtrack is a little trite and annoying in parts as are the 360 degree camera swings but it's funny and intense with a spectacular ending.
- DirectorTakehiko ShinjôStarsAoi MiyazakiHiroshi TamakiMunetaka AokiA photographer named Makoto travels to New York during Christmas to look for his best friend, Shizuru. The two first met when Makoto attended his university entrance ceremony. Due to his inferiority complex, Makoto tends to shy away other people but Shizuru managed to make him open up to her. Because of their friendship, Shizuru also ended up taking an interest in photography and the two often went to the forest to take pictures. Shizuru wants nothing else but to be by Makoto's side, so when he started liking another girl called Miyuki , Shizuru decided that she too will like Miyuki and becomes her friend. One day , Makoto asked Shizuru what present she'd like to receive for her Birthday. Shizuru , who wants to enter a photography competition, had an idea to take a picture of the two of them kissing in a forest. Makoto agreed to do this and the two kissed for the very first time. After that day, however, Shizuru disappears from Makoto's life.I was a bit surprised by the sometimes frank and honest dialog coming from Aoi Miyazaki's character in what for the most part is a very family friendly bit of Japanese young love/first love cinema.
The film is beautifully photographed. The 'heavenly' forest is fairy-tale gorgeous, as are the three young actors we spend time with. The story is engaging too, clearly a novel-adapted one. - DirectorSion SonoStarsJun KunimuraFumi NikaidôShin'ichi TsutsumiA renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.
- DirectorNaoko OgigamiStarsSatomi KobayashiMikako IchikawaRyô KaseTaeko is a stressed career woman who leaves her life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what she expected as everyone on the island is strange.A woman visits a faraway inn where everyone seems happy about living and doing not much of anything else beyond eating some magical shaved ice. She learns how to slow down, enjoy life, and "Twilight". The performances are great, the script is witty, the scenery and photography are gorgeous. Wonderful film.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsTadanobu AsanoSinitta BoonyasakTakashi MiikeA suicidal, obsessively compulsive Japanese librarian is forced to lie low in Thailand with a pot-smoking woman coping with the recent loss of her sister.Since I don't have a "Favorite Thai Films" list, and this turned out to be such a wonderful film starring one of Japan's best actors, I'm cheating and including it here.
- DirectorIsshin InudôStarsSatoshi TsumabukiChizuru IkewakiJuri UenoTsuneo is a university student working part-time in a mah-jong parlour. Lately the customers have been talking about an old lady who pushes a baby carriage through the streets. They say she is carrying something for a crime syndicate, and they wonder what it is she has in the carriage. Money? Drugs? One day, the owner of the mah-jong parlour sends Tsuneo out to walk his dog. A baby carriage comes rolling down a hill and crashes into a guard rail. The old lady asks him to look into the carriage, where he finds a young woman clutching a knife. This is how Tsuneo first meets the girl who calls herself Josée.Chizuru Ikewaki brings a poet's depth to her role and Satoshi Tsumabuki is puppy dog cute as the boy who falls, surprisingly and so naturally, in love with her. This film could have been manipulative but it isn't, not in the least, and that's what is so refreshing about it. This is a bittersweet gem.
- DirectorAkihiko ShiotaStarsKenji MizuhashiTsugumiKôta KusanoTwo seemingly innocent school kids are obsessed in fetishistic s&m games.One of those "only from Japan" psycho-sexual dramas which explores adult themes of desire, domination, and twisted mind-*beep* games and perversion ... acted out by teenagers. No comment on this peculiar film tradition.
This is Akihiko Shiota's directorial debut and probably his strongest film. The focus is clear and concise. The powerful but flawed Harmful Insect would have benefited from such focus. - DirectorYuki TanadaStarsKento NagayamaTomoko TabataMieko HaradaA married woman has an affair with a high school student. A video of their exploits soon turns up on the internet affecting the lives of both couples.Yuki Tanada aims high this time, and while she barely misses the mark, the ambition, the performances, the parts that do hit, and the overall vision add up to one of the finest films of the year.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsShunji IwaiAyako FujitaniJun MurakamiA disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young girl who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.One thing is for sure, this film has some of the most gloriously thought out and constructed set designs ever. A lot of the film takes place in the young girl's "apartment" which is about the size of an average K-Mart. Each room is like a different department but it doesn't seem strange once you give in to the world Hideaki Anno has created. Anno comes from years working in Anime so his visual imagination works on a different level than most. Why not have the girl sleep in a bathtub in a big empty basement that's constantly and willfully flooded?
- DirectorHitoshi YazakiStarsMiki NakataniNao ÔmoriJûichi KobayashiStuck in a stale marriage, a soft toy designer and an office worker explore the limits of mutual honesty.There will be a lot of words written about how this film "makes you think"; how it makes you think about marriages which on the surface appear to be happy ones, and then how it (the film) proceeds to reveal the Sweet Little Lies that go on underneath in order to keep up that appearance.
Sweet Little Lies is shot in gorgeously austere and misty shades of gray. There are innumerable scenes in the film full of nuanced and subtle discomfort that will make you shiver. The script is smart, the performances are dazzling, and the film will make you think. Feel free to think about whatever you want. - DirectorRyôhei WatanabeStarsHiroki HorikawaGôta IshidaJûzô KakeiBecause of her last name "Kumada" (bear + rice paddy) and her appearance, Misa's high school classmates call her "Pooh" disparagingly. She obviously has no friends and can only let down her guard around her pet parrot and the goldfish in the science room at school. But then she finds herself quickly becoming best friends with Izumi, a cute and popular classmate. Although somewhat puzzled by Izumi's interest in her, Misa is excited about having a friend for the first time ever. But Izumi's initial angelic demeanor gradually transforms into a demonic one.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsMami NakamuraKazuma SuzukiKô ShibasakiHaving a crush on someone, including a neighbour, may not be considered unusual, but there is a line that is crossed when the infatuation includes going through the loved one's trash. Miyuki has crossed the line and cannot stop herself. Her reality, at least, allows her to be more understanding and available when a stalker, in turn, craves her.Mami Nakamura's performance makes this one a big winner. She's engaging, endearing, amusing, and sympathetic from start to finish. That's what it takes for a small film like this to succeed, a film which says: "Here's an offbeat character, do you like her? Does she draw you into her life, entertain you, and invite you to wonder what will happen to her?" It takes a clever script and a good performance. Tokyo Trash Baby delivers on both accounts.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsRyo IshibashiMasatoshi NagaseMai HoshoA detective is trying to find the cause of a string of suicides.This is one of the funniest albeit confounding movies I have seen in a long long time. It's ridiculous to argue this movie is a mature and well-thought out essay on contemporary culture with an emphasis on the 'problem' of teen suicide. The Writer/Director is a skilled artist in the vein of Kim Ki-Duk. Both take a subject and present images on film that touch on that subject. They are intentionally ambiguous and incomplete.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsTakako MatsuSeiichi TanabeKazuhiko KatoIn spring, a young girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo.This is a short film, at just over an hour, that doesn't attempt much more than capturing a few moments in the life of a girl who is not only changing her outward surroundings but also following her inward desires.
Broken umbrellas, a rainstorm, and a barrel full of young love, idealism, and hope. Simply beautiful. - DirectorSion SonoStarsAkiraEiji OkudaAyumi ItoShiro is twenty-seven years old and is tormented by his father's terminal cancer diagnosis. He copes by communicating his care and love to his father. We see the father and son relationship as it took form and evolved, the difficulties, the temperaments and how the man acted as his son's coach and instructor. Shiro has information he is concealing though and must take a step in that regard as well.I love you, man
- DirectorKenji UchidaStarsYasuhi NakamuraReika KirishimaSo YamanakaSix months passed and Takeshi Miyata is still depressed after his girlfriend dumped him in a sudden way especially after he bought a big apartment for both of them but in one night after he just finished work his childhood friend.This is one of those films that uses the device of repeating scenes from different perspectives to embellish a simple story and it does it in spectacular fashion. There are a couple lonely hearts, a couple con artists and a very well-mannered Yakusa boss who all intermingle over the course of one evening and a suitcase full of money. The scene where the Yakusa boss hiding under a bed sees only the shy dance of feet of the initial interaction between the two lonely hearts that we had seen earlier from a different perspective is one of the most hilarious and sweet scenes I've witnessed in a while. It's all handled in a lighthearted and charming manner. The film is chuckle friendly all the way through and the whole cast is perfect. Very highly recommended.
- DirectorKeiichi KobayashiStarsAi IkedaEna KoshinoReiko FujiwaraIzumi finds a wallet full of money and loans the cash to an older fishing buddy.
- DirectorYuki TanadaStarsYoshikazu EbisuNoriko EguchiAkira EmotoWhen an alluring young woman joins an erotic writing class, she begins a game of sexual cat and mouse with a naive college student. As they venture into more and more unpredictable territory in the bedroom, he begins to think she might be using him as a test subject for her fiction more than anything else.Moon and Cherry is a very well-acted, creative and intelligent film that takes a different look at love, sex, and relationships. It's a low budget indie film shot on digital video as part of a Love Connections series of 2004 and it's a welcome opportunity to see the marvelous Noriko Eguchi star in a film. It's a smashing feature debut from writer/director Yuki Tanada who's gone on to script the female and visual extravaganza, Sakuran; write and direct Yû Aoi in One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman; and most recently write and direct the small masterpiece, Ain't No Tomorrows.
- DirectorAkihiko ShiotaStarsAoi MiyazakiSeiichi TanabeTetsu SawakiFollowing the divorce of her parents, her mother's suicide attempt, and the rumors of an affair with her teacher, a lonely 7th grader starts skipping school in an attempt to find herself.The vision the director sets out to explore: bad things happen to good people, and the alienation of youth, is a train wreck of self-multiplying disasters that once begun is impossible to stop. It's seems awful to take such a cute and accomplished young actress and punish her for ninety minutes and call it a film, but it's the strength of Miyazaki's performance that makes Harmful Insect such a powerful and haunting experience. It's a shame that redemption is withheld from a character so deserving of it. If you are a fan of Aoi Miyazaki you should watch this film just to see what she was capable of at age sixteen. It's pretty powerful.
- DirectorKôji FukadaStarsFumi NikaidôMayu TsurutaTaiga NakanoAfter failing her university entrance exam, Sakuko is invited by her aunt Mikie to spend summer vacation in a beautiful seaside town. Sakuko gets to know the people of the town, including Takashi, a shy relative of her childhood friend.
- DirectorKaze ShindôStarsMika OkunoChika FujimuraToshiya NagasawaTwenty-something lesbian Chinatsu shares a one-bedroom apartment with heterosexual Kyoko. Although they have a passing attraction, Kyoko is mostly interested in men, especially one who work in a pet store.
- DirectorMomoko AndôStarsHikari MitsushimaEriko NakamuraKen MitsuishiThe story of the relationship between a college student whose relationship with her boyfriend is going nowhere and a bisexual medical artist who makes prosthetic body parts.There are a lot of things to like about this film. It's got a simple, honest, and wonderful vision which it explores with some effectiveness, and the two lead performances are outstanding. But it could have been a really, really great film instead of just a really good one if it would have practiced what it preaches and left out more of the stuff we've seen, heard, and grown tired of before.
Momoko Ando is a young director to keep an eye on. "A Piece of Our Life" is one of the best and brightest films I've seen recently. My criticisms are born of a frustration that the director came just short of making an other-worldly masterpiece by adding in elements she just wanted to make a point of rather than letting the world of the film dictate the boundaries. - DirectorKazuyoshi KumakiriStarsMaki SakaiGen HoshinoShingo TsurumiNobuko tried to be successful as an actress in Tokyo, but wasn't popular. She married her manager and soon divorced. Now a once-divorced woman in her mid-30s, she returns home to the Shinto shrine that her family runs, to help out with domestic chores.Non-Ko is a successful portrait of a woman who feels anger, isolation, and disappointment in equal measure. Another nearly great film from director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri. The direction isn't as innovative as in Green Mind, Metal Bats, and the story isn't as novel either but Maki Sakai's performance carries the film more than enough for it to be engaging.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsMiki NakataniEita NagayamaYûsuke IseyaWhen Matsuko is murdered, her nephew, Sho, gets to progressively unveil the many details of her mysterious past, discovering she wasn't just a forgotten outcast and had led an intriguing yet bizarre life.
- StarsMariya IsePatrick MöllekenYôko HikasaTakao worships the class beauty, Nanako, from afar. When he is alone in the classroom one day after school, he notices her bag of gym clothes on the floor. He can't resist picking it up. He plans to return it, but the next day, all the girls are commiserating with Nanako that some pervert has stolen her gym clothes. Worse than that, their classmate Sawa quietly lets him know that she saw him take the clothes and will tell Nanako if he doesn't make a contract with her to do whatever she asks of him and then their strange relationship begins.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsHitomi KurokiTsurutarô KataokaNorihei MikiThe film follows the life of Sada Abe, who became a celebrity in 1936 after strangling her lover and slicing off his penis.Sada may serve it's nominal content respectfully and respectably but it comes off so much more as a film than a biography that if it's approached with an educational curiosity its style may frustrate. Watch it for the whimsical stylings of the director and the lovely and remarkable performance of Hitomi Kuroki.
- DirectorHiroshi IshikawaStarsAoi MiyazakiHidetoshi NishijimaHiromi NagasakuA high school student named Yu has a crush on one of her classmates, Yosuke. The boy spends most of his time sitting outside and playing his guitar, and Yu sits nearby and listens. One day, however, a terrible tragedy occurs, and the two do not see each other again for many years.The script and story here aren't much, typical melodrama, but Nagasaku, and her younger self counterpart played by Aoi Miyazaki, are truly engaging. I could literally see their thought and emotional processes. If you are going to leave the camera on an actor for minutes at a time without any dialog, you better have good actors. The director's signature long, pale, landscapey photography compliments well here.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsRyô KaseAsaka SetoKôji YamamotoA young man is falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.Compelling and impeccably done. Japan's 99.9% conviction rate is the star of this show and it's scary stuff.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.The photography is beautiful, the direction is fluid and accomplished, the performances superb, and there is a surprisingly good amount of subtle humor throughout the film. Highly recommended to those who enjoy the slow-paced and thoughtful.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsShôta SometaniAtsuko MaedaRoy 5tionOver one day at this love hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo - where guests have the choice of staying for a short time or overnight - the dreams and desires of these characters intersect while aspiring for something greater.
- DirectorYutaka YamazakiStarsSakura AndôSora AoiYûko GenkakuHiroko is a young, alienated woman "in love" with a blow-up male torso. Tension rises when her sister discovers her secret desire.Don't worry about the odd Torso bit, just sit back and watch two of Japans best actresses play sisters with baggage.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsYo HitotoTadanobu AsanoMasato HagiwaraThe story revolves around Yoko Inoue, a pregnant woman in search of a cafe that was frequented by a Taiwanese composer whose life she is researching.Yo Hitoto, a Japanese singer making her film debut here, is fabulous. I enjoyed her 'hmm', 'hai', 'mmm', 'grunt' style acting. I've never heard acting like it before. She gives a very natural and genuine performance. She's great. Her mom and dad are great. Tadanobu Asano is here. He's a good enough actor that you can sense his muted desire in subtle ways. Almost every minute of people interaction in this film, even in silence, is superb. But the film is padded with a lot of train rides and walking.
- DirectorHidenori SugimoriStarsUaTadanobu AsanoHikaruRyo personifies water, since whenever something important happens in her life, it rains. She inherits a bathhouse and meets a pyromaniac named Yusaku; and their confrontation leads to an inevitable union.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKen'ichi EndôShungiku UchidaKazushi WatanabeA troubled and perverted family find their lives intruded by a mysterious stranger who seems to help find a balance in their disturbing natures.Yes Yes. Nothing like a necrophilia fail. this film is damn funny.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTatsuya FujiEiko MatsudaAoi NakajimaA passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
- DirectorSatoshi MikiStarsJuri UenoYû AoiRyô IwamatsuSuzume Katagura is a bored housewife who spends her days doing chores and taking care of her husband's pet turtle. One day she sees a wanted ad for spies. Hoping for some excitement she decides to give them a call.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA 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.This is a pretty normal film about a man who lost his wife to illness and is being encouraged by his colleagues and his son to find another partner. That is, until it goes bonkers at the end. Eihi Shiina's range of performance from ideal femininity to psycho-killer is fabulous and accounts for a sizable chunk of the shock we experience.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
- DirectorIsao YukisadaStarsTatsuya FujiwaraKarinaShihori KanjiyaFour youths share a two bedroom apartment in a corner of Tokyo. A series of assault cases occur in the same district. Eighteen year old Satoru, a male prostitute, joins them as a new house mate. Their daily life slowly starts to change.I liked this quite a bit as a Japanese "Friends", but was less interested in its attempt at being thought-provoking. Most of the acting and script are crisp and well-executed until real significance is attempted. It's only mediocre at the "what do we reveal to, and know about, the people around us" theme, but it's fun if you ignore that part and just have fun with the characters. Keisuke Koide is especially good.
- DirectorHisayasu SatôStarsTomori AbeHirofumi AraiToyotaka HanazawaA timid young woman who lives with her domineering mother accepts an Adult Video scout's offer to "become somebody else" by performing in porn videos. As she rises in popularity, the boundaries between her two lives begin to disintegrate.
- DirectorHiroshi IshikawaStarsAoi MiyazakiShioli KutsunaSakura AndôFour women, who have their own different sorrows, embark on a road trip. They look back at their past and restart their lives.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsAoi MiyazakiOsamu MukaiTatsuomi HamadaMovie adaptation of the Japanese novel "Kiroi Jou". A married couple Ayumu Muko (Mukai) and Aiko Tsumari (Miyazaki) live a peaceful life in a cozy old house in the countryside. Ayumu works as an unsuccessful novelist while Aiko is a happy but naive housewife. After a letter arrives for Ayumu their relationship grow distant and deteriorates.
- DirectorNaoki HashimotoStarsMiho FujimaAko MasukiSayoko OhoYou can't choose your mother but you can choose your victim.
- DirectorOsamu MinorikawaStarsKô ShibasakiYôko MakiShinobu Terajima"Su-chan Mai-chan Sawako-san" follows the lives of three women who are former co-workers. 34-year-old Su-chan works at a coffee shop and has feelings for the manager there. 34-year-old Mai-chan works at an OA machine maker. She is in a relationship with a married man. 39-year-old Sawako works as a web designer and also takes care of her grandmother.
- DirectorHiroshi AndoStarsMikako IchikawaManami KonishiAsami ImajukuAn introverted schoolgirl falls in love and starts a relationship with one of her classmates. Set in a small seaside town in Japan, the love of her life eventually leaves her for her boyfriend in Tokyo.
- DirectorAtsuro WatabeStarsSaki TakaokaAtsuro WatabeLeona HirotaQuiet and content woman lives in Hokkaido and occasionally helps her pharmacist with errands and deliveries. Her mother has died and her sister, who is a model, may be the father's favourite of the two. She meets a mute man one day who offers her shelter.
- DirectorYoshimitsu MoritaStarsShinobu ÔtakeHitomi KurokiEri FukatsuThe ups and downs of the Takezawa family after one of the four daughters found out that their father had been in an unknown love affair.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsMaki HorikitaShunsuke KubozukaSaki TakaokaNagisa, a high school girl who has been given only 3 months to live. Without telling her widowed father where she's going, she sets out from the city to the small town where she was born. She recalls her childhood memories, and her love for Satoshi begins to grow stronger. However, she is shocked to discover that Satoshi is having an affair with Eriko, a married woman. One day, when Nagisa meets Eriko's daughter, Madoka, she ends up taking her away.
- DirectorToru YamamotoStarsKumiko AsôYô ÔizumiAyaka MiyoshiAki, a former guitarist for a punk band, has a daughter Hatsuki and live together happily, but they have opposite personalities. Then Yagu, also an ex-member of the same punk band, who has feelings for Aki, enters their life.
- DirectorMasahide IchiiStarsGen HoshinoKahoSei Hiraizumi35-year-old Kentaro is a social misfit and has never dated a woman in his life. He lives with his parents and holds a modest job in city hall. Kentaro doesn't have any friends, nor received a promotion in 13 years at his place of work. His parents worry about Kentaro being single for the rest of his life. They then go to a parental matchmaking event, hoping to find a woman to introduce to their son. During the meeting, Kentaro's parents has only one other couple approach. The father is Akita Imai and his wife. They exchange profiles of their children. Kentaro's parents are impressed with the Imai's beautiful daughter Naoko. Meanwhile, Akita Imai is the president of a successful company and, after reading Kentaro's bio, believes he is beneath their daughter. The Imais leave, only saying thank you. They also don't reveal to Kentaro's parents that Naoko is blind. Kentaro and Naoko will soon experience love for the first time, but will it be fleeting?
- DirectorAkiko ÔkuStarsMayu MatsuokaKanji FurutachiAnna IshibashiYoshika is 24 years old and works in an office. She doesn't have a boyfriend in her life, but still romanticizes her former junior high school classmate.