8 Movies Starring Ken Ogata

Vengeance is Mine

Vengeance is Mine

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1979-10-17

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

139 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.9 (3892 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Genres:

CrimeDrama

Cast:

Writer:

Masaru Baba (screenplay)

Ryèzè Saki (novel)

Shunsaku Ikehata

Fullplot:

Iwao Enokizu is a middle-aged man who has an unexplainable urge to commit insane and violent murders. Eventually he is chased by the police all over Japan, but somehow he always manages to escape. He meets a woman who runs a brothel. They love each other but how long can they be together?

Why Not?

Why Not?

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1981-01-08

Languages:

Japanese, English

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

151 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.1 (393 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Shèhei Imamura

Ken Miyamoto

Fullplot:

Near the turbulent end of the Edo era, a man returning to Japan after exile in America searches for his wife and becomes swept up in the current of revolution in this incisive period drama from the great Shohei Imamura.

Samurai Reincarnation

Samurai Reincarnation

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1981-06-06

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

122 min

IMDB Ratings:

6.6 (575 Reviews)

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Cast:

Writer:

Kinji Fukasaku

Tatsuo Nogami

Fètarè Yamada (novel)

Fullplot:

After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage. He is Shito: he brings to life a woman who was abused by her husband, two swordsmen who want to prove their skill, and a young man yearning for love. Shito leads them in attacks on people powerless in the face of such spirits. It's up to Jubei, the son of one of the resurrected swordsmen, to seek out a maker of swords who can fashion him with a weapon that will kill the undead. Showdowns loom.

The Ballad of Narayama

The Ballad of Narayama

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1983-04-29

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

130 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.9 (4542 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Shèhei Imamura (screenplay)

Shichirè Fukazawa (novel)

Fullplot:

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 he or she would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1985-09-20

Languages:

Japanese, English

Countries:

USA, Japan

Runtime:

121 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.9 (4821 Reviews)

Director:

Paul Schrader

Cast:

Writer:

Paul Schrader

Leonard Schrader

Fullplot:

A fictionalized account in four segments of the life of Japan's celebrated twentieth-century author Yukio Mishima. Three of the segments parallel events in Mishima's life with his novels (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses), while the fourth depicts 25 November 1970, "The Last Day"...

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1997-06-06

Languages:

English, Cantonese, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, French

Countries:

Netherlands, UK, France, Luxembourg

Runtime:

126 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

6.7 (10207 Reviews)

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Sei Shonagon (book)

Peter Greenaway

Sei Shonagon

Fullplot:

As a young girl in Japan, Nagiko's father paints characters on her face, and her aunt reads to her from "The Pillow Book", the diary of a 10th-century lady-in-waiting. Nagiko grows up, obsessed with books, papers, and writing on bodies, and her sexual odyssey (and the creation of her own Pillow Book) is a "parfait mèlange" of classical Japanese, modern Chinese, and Western film images.

A Long Walk

A Long Walk

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2006-12-01

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

136 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (132 Reviews)

Director:

Eiji Okuda

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Eiji Okuda (story)

Yukiko Yamamuro

Sakura Momoyama

Fullplot:

Matsutaro Yasuda, a retired girl's High School Principal who has lost his wife to alcoholism and is forsaken by his Daughter, moves to an old apartment in a country town. Yasuda, at his new address, meets a little five years old girl who lives next door. Sachi, the little girl, clenches on an iron fence at the apartment. All alone, she is gazing into the distance. Angel's wings made of cardboard are on her back. She is barefoot and wears a summer dress in spite of it being winter. On her leg there are scratches and bruises. Yasuda speaks to Sachi but she does not smile or say a word. When night falls, violent voices can be heard from next door to the mother and her lover echoing in Yasuda's room almost every night. Yasuda blocked out his emotions. He didn't want to hear or see anything. However, little by little something moved his emotions we can call it passion. When he looked into the little girl's eyes, which are also lacking in emotion, something seemed to overlap his wounded heart. "Have you ever seen a blue sky? Where clouds appear like cotton candy and a white bird is flying high?" "Would you like to walk with me?" Yasuda and Sachi begin their long walk.... During their walk, the two meet a young boy named Wataru at a small desolate train station. Wataru seems to be easygoing. However, he is also lonely and holds an empty feeling in his heart. The passing Wataru joins the two on their journey but the trip goes in an unexpected direction when one day Sachi begins to open her heart to Yasuda and Wataru. Cardboard Angel wings begin to fly toward a real sky.......

A Long Walk

A Long Walk

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2006-12-01

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

136 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (134 Reviews)

Director:

Eiji Okuda

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Eiji Okuda (story)

Yukiko Yamamuro

Sakura Momoyama

Fullplot:

Matsutaro Yasuda, a retired girl's High School Principal who has lost his wife to alcoholism and is forsaken by his Daughter, moves to an old apartment in a country town. Yasuda, at his new address, meets a little five years old girl who lives next door. Sachi, the little girl, clenches on an iron fence at the apartment. All alone, she is gazing into the distance. Angel's wings made of cardboard are on her back. She is barefoot and wears a summer dress in spite of it being winter. On her leg there are scratches and bruises. Yasuda speaks to Sachi but she does not smile or say a word. When night falls, violent voices can be heard from next door to the mother and her lover echoing in Yasuda's room almost every night. Yasuda blocked out his emotions. He didn't want to hear or see anything. However, little by little something moved his emotions we can call it passion. When he looked into the little girl's eyes, which are also lacking in emotion, something seemed to overlap his wounded heart. "Have you ever seen a blue sky? Where clouds appear like cotton candy and a white bird is flying high?" "Would you like to walk with me?" Yasuda and Sachi begin their long walk.... During their walk, the two meet a young boy named Wataru at a small desolate train station. Wataru seems to be easygoing. However, he is also lonely and holds an empty feeling in his heart. The passing Wataru joins the two on their journey but the trip goes in an unexpected direction when one day Sachi begins to open her heart to Yasuda and Wataru. Cardboard Angel wings begin to fly toward a real sky.......

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