5 Movies Starring Misa Shimizu

Sumo Do, Sumo Don't

Sumo Do, Sumo Don't

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1992-11-06

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

105 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.3 (483 Reviews)

Director:

Masayuki Suo

Genres:

ComedySport

Fullplot:

Yet another tradition in the tradition of "ragtag misfits" in Japanese comedy...Sumo Do, Sumo Don't tells the story of a university sumo club in Japan. In today's Japan, the younger generation is more interested in "Western" sports like baseball and basketball. Professor Anayama, a former university sumo champion, blackmails graduating (and slim) student Shuhei into joining the decimated university team, or he doesn't graduate. Along with a pro wrestler, an unpopular, chubby guy, and a gaijin (white guy), the team begins training for competition, even though none of them cares about sumo at all. Gradually, they develop a love and respect for the traditional sport.

The Eel

The Eel

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1998-08-21

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

117 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (4174 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Shèhei Imamura

Daisuke Tengan

Motofumi Tomikawa

Akira Yoshimura (novel)

Fullplot:

White-collar worker Yamashita finds out that his wife has a lover visiting her when he's away, suddenly returns home and kills her. After eight years in prison, he returns to live in a small village, opens a barber shop (he was trained as a barber in prison) and talks almost to no-one except for the eel he "befriended" in prison. One day he finds the unconscious body of Keiko, who attempted suicide and reminds him of his wife. She starts to work at his shop, but he doesn't let her become close to him.

The Eel

The Eel

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1998-08-21

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

117 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (4174 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Shèhei Imamura

Daisuke Tengan

Motofumi Tomikawa

Akira Yoshimura (novel)

Fullplot:

White-collar worker Yamashita finds out that his wife has a lover visiting her when he's away, suddenly returns home and kills her. After eight years in prison, he returns to live in a small village, opens a barber shop (he was trained as a barber in prison) and talks almost to no-one except for the eel he "befriended" in prison. One day he finds the unconscious body of Keiko, who attempted suicide and reminds him of his wife. She starts to work at his shop, but he doesn't let her become close to him.

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2001-11-03

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan, France

Runtime:

119 min

IMDB Ratings:

6.9 (2088 Reviews)

Director:

Shèhei Imamura

Cast:

Writer:

Yo Henmi (novel)

Shèhei Imamura

Daisuke Tengan

Motofumi Tomikawa (screenplay)

Fullplot:

An impossible tale. Taro, an old man who dies homeless in Tokyo has told Yosuke, a weak-willed out-of-work salaryman about a golden statue that he left years ago in a house by the sea in Noto. Yosuke goes and he's captivated by Saeko, a young women who lives in the house where Taro left the statue. She has a strange affliction: water builds up in her and she can only vent it by wicked acts, such as shoplifting, or, more powerfully, through orgasm. Yosuke obliges, the water gives him life, as well as the plants and fish it reaches. Saeko feels shame, and she has a past. Taro's ghost urges Yosuke to fulfill his desires, but can the relationship survive?

The Sea Is Watching

The Sea Is Watching

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2002-07-27

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

119 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.1 (1337 Reviews)

Director:

Kei Kumai

Genres:

RomanceDrama

Cast:

Writer:

Kei Kumai (screenplay)

Akira Kurosawa (original screenplay)

Shègorè Yamamoto (novels)

Fullplot:

19th century. Oshin is a prostitute in a brothel of a red-light district. A disgraced samurai, Fusanosuke, rushes in the brothel seeking for a refuge, because he had wounded a powerful samurai. Oshin hides him from the authorities and falls in love with him, against an older prostitute's, Kikuno's, misgiving. Fusanosuke advises Oshin to cleanse herself by giving up her line of work. Believing falsely that this is a promise for marriage, she turns her customers over to the other prostitutes, who are happy to help her. Funasukoke leaves to be reconciled to his family, but, when he returns, he reveals that he is engaged and is going to marry his fiancè. Some time later a desperate itinerant, Ryosuke, appears and Oshin falls in love again. Meanwhile, an older man asks Kikuno to buy her contract and marry her, but she is entangled with an old abusive customer of hers. One night, while the madam of the brothel is away to thermal baths, a storm hits the area and everybody tries to flee. Ryosuke kills Kikuno's customer who tries to steal madam's money and runs away. Oshin and Kikuno stay at the roof hoping for a rescue from the flood. Ryosuke returns by a boat.

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