Released Date:
1997-03-21
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
110 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.7 (2411 Reviews)
Director:
Hirokazu KoreedaGenres:
DramaTeru Miyamoto (novel)
Yoshihisa Ogita (screenplay)
A young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant. Yumiko remarries and moves from Osaka to a small fishing village, yet continues to search for meaning in a lonely world.
Released Date:
1996-07-26
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
68 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.3 (1099 Reviews)
Director:
Shunji IwaiBelieving that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Walking upon the tops of the walls of the city, they seek to find a picnic spot with the best vantage point to view the final event.
Released Date:
1997-02-15
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
90 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.5 (395 Reviews)
Director:
Gakuryè IshiiGakuryè Ishii
Kyuusaku Yumeno (novel)
Tomiko is a conductor in a rural bus driven by the handsome Niitaka. Tomiko had received a letter from her best friend Tsuyako, a conductor in another bus company, just after Tsuyako was killed in a bus accident. Tsuyako wrote that she felt that her fiance and driver, Niitaka, planned to kill her. Tomiko therefore plans to take revenge on Niitaka. However Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.
Released Date:
1998-01-09
Languages:
Japanese, Japanese Sign Language
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
110 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.3 (645 Reviews)
Director:
Hideaki AnnoGenres:
DramaHideaki Anno (screenplay)
Akio Satsukawa (screenplay)
Ryè Murakami (novel)
Teenage drama; schoolgirls, enjo-kosai (compensated dating)
Released Date:
1999-12-18
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan, France, UK
Runtime:
100 min
Rated:
UNRATED
IMDB Ratings:
6.9 (5889 Reviews)
Director:
Nagisa èshimaRyètarè Shiba (novel)
Nagisa èshima
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Released Date:
2001-10-07
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
138 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.6 (755 Reviews)
Director:
Gakuryè IshiiBenkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only as "the demons". Taking up his sword once more, he sets out to end their murderous terror.
Released Date:
2002-07-25
Languages:
Japanese, Cantonese, English
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
129 min
Rated:
R
IMDB Ratings:
7.1 (40329 Reviews)
Director:
Takashi MiikeHideo Yamamoto (comic)
Sakichi Satè (screenplay)
When a Yakuza boss named Anjo disappears with 300 million yen, his chief henchman, a sadomasochistic man named Kakihara, and the rest of his mob goons go looking for him. After capturing and torturing a rival Yakuza member looking for answers, they soon realize they have the wrong man and begin looking for the man named Jijii who tipped them off in the first place. Soon enough Kakihara and his men encounter Ichi, a psychotic, sexually-repressed young man with amazing martial arts abilities and blades that come out of his shoes. One by one Ichi takes out members of the Yakuza and all the while Kakihara intensifies his pursuit of Ichi and Ichi's controller Jijii. What will happen as the final showdown happens between the tortured and ultra-violent Ichi and the pain-craving Kakihara?
Released Date:
2005-05-04
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
115 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.7 (248 Reviews)
Director:
Hidenori SugimoriReleased Date:
2003-08-08
Languages:
Thai, Japanese, English
Countries:
Thailand, Japan
Runtime:
112 min
Rated:
R
IMDB Ratings:
7.7 (9404 Reviews)
Director:
Pen-Ek RatanaruangPen-Ek Ratanaruang
Prabda Yoon
A mysterious, obsessive-compulsive, suicidal Japanese man living in Bangkok, Thailand, is thrown together with a Thai woman through a tragic chain of events. The woman is everything he is not. He is a neat freak who keeps his dishes washed and his books neatly stacked and categorized. She dresses like a slob, smokes pot and never picks anything up. It's a match that somehow works, though. Slowly and entertainingly, more is revealed about the Japanese man and why he's suicidal and living in Bangkok.
Released Date:
2003-12-03
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
92 min
IMDB Ratings:
(2040 Reviews)
Director:
Kiyoshi KurosawaGenres:
DramaTwo young guys work in a plant that manufactures oshibori (those moist hand-towels found in some Japanese restaurants). Their weird bond is based on uncontrollable rage--something neither can articulate or control--and the strange jellyfish that they keep as a pet.
Released Date:
2003-09-06
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
116 min
Rated:
R
IMDB Ratings:
7.6 (38480 Reviews)
Director:
Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitano (screenplay)
Kan Shimozawa (novels)
Blind Zatoichi makes his living by gambling and giving massages. But behind his humble facade, Zatoichi is a master swordsman, gifted with lightning-fast draw and strokes of breathtaking precision. Zatoichi wanders into a town run by sinister gangs and a powerful samurai. He's destined for violent showdowns when he stumbles on two beautiful geishas avenging their parents' murder... Duels, wit and a touch of zen! Cult anti-hero Zatoichi is back in a sword-fighting adventure written, directed and starring Takeshi Kitano.
Released Date:
2004-09-01
Languages:
Japanese, English
Countries:
Japan, Taiwan
Runtime:
103 min
IMDB Ratings:
(2107 Reviews)
Director:
Hsiao-hsien HouGenres:
DramaHsiao-hsien Hou (screenplay)
T'ien-wen Chu (screenplay)
Released Date:
2005-04-20
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
143 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.9 (4277 Reviews)
Director:
Katsuhito IshiiA spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.
Released Date:
2008-07-04
Languages:
Mongolian, Mandarin
Countries:
Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan
Runtime:
126 min
Rated:
R
IMDB Ratings:
7.3 (35870 Reviews)
Director:
Sergey BodrovThe movie is an epic story of a young Genghis Khan and how events in his early life lead him to become a legendary conqueror. The 9-year-old Temèjin is taken on a trip by his father to select a girl as his future wife. He meets Bèrte, who says she would like to be chosen, which he does. He promises to return after five years to marry her. Temèjin's father is poisoned on the trip, and dies. As a boy Temèjin passes through starvation, humiliations and even slavery, but later with the help of Bèrte he overcomes all of his childhood hardships to become one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known.
Released Date:
2004-12-11
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
86 min
Rated:
R
IMDB Ratings:
(2250 Reviews)
Director:
Shin'ya TsukamotoAfter a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryèko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a book about dissection, he decides to join the medical school with the support of his parents. In the dissection class, his group participates of the autopsy of a young woman, and while cutting apart the tissue, he partially recalls his accident. Later, when he sees a tattoo in the arm of the corpse, he discloses that she was his girlfriend and becomes obsessed to go further in the examination of the body.
Released Date:
2005-11-05
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
134 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.5 (842 Reviews)
Rampo Edogawa (short stories)
Atsushi Kaneko (screenplay)
Akio Satsukawa (screenplay)
Suguru Takeuchi (screenplay)
Shirè Yumeno (screenplay)
Released Date:
2005-04-19
Languages:
Japanese, English
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
120 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.8 (7617 Reviews)
Director:
Gen SekiguchiA man continually trying and failing to get his wife to stay dead; a self-absorbed ad agency creative director who comes up with one unworkable inane idea after another; a British hitman who only wants to know everyone's function in life; and an unfortunate office worker and father whose brain is left scrambled after a stage hypnotist is murdered in mid-performance. Starting off as unrelated plot lines, they intertwine with each other as they continue on their respective ways.
Released Date:
2005-10-22
Languages:
Japanese, Mandarin, English
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
150 min
IMDB Ratings:
(1677 Reviews)
Genres:
ComedyKatsuhito Ishii (screenplay)
Hajime Ishimine (screenplay)
Shunichiro Miki (screenplay)
An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.
Released Date:
2006-03-02
Languages:
Thai, English, Japanese, Korean
Countries:
Thailand, Netherlands
Runtime:
115 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.7 (1410 Reviews)
Director:
Pen-Ek RatanaruangAfter killing his boss's girlfriend (with whom he was having an affair) on his boss's orders, a man (Asano) is sent from Macau to Thailand in an attempt to escape the consequences of his crime and to cover it up. But the relocation doesn't prevent his problems from following him, as his new friends could be potential enemies.
Released Date:
2008-01-26
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
133 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.6 (905 Reviews)
Director:
Yèji YamadaGenres:
DramaTeruyo Nogami (biography)
Yèji Yamada (adaptation)
Emiko Hiramatsu (adaptation)
Based on childhood days of Teruyo Nogami.
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
133 min
IMDB Ratings:
5.6 (627 Reviews)
Director:
Ryèhei KitamuraMonkey Punch (manga)
Mataichirè Yamamoto (screenplay)
Mataichirè Yamamoto (story)
Ryèhei Kitamura (story)
Joey O'Bryan (story)
Interpol Inspector Zenigata begins a world-wide hunt for the infamous thief Arsene Lupin III.
Released Date:
2013-12-25
Languages:
English, Japanese
Countries:
USA
Runtime:
118 min
Rated:
PG-13
IMDB Ratings:
6.3 (106539 Reviews)
Director:
Carl RinschChris Morgan (screenplay)
Hossein Amini (screenplay)
Chris Morgan (screen story by)
Walter Hamada (screen story by)
While hunting in the forest, Lord Asano of Ako and his samurai find a young half-breed and take him with them to live in the castle. Several years later, Lord Asano holds a tournament to welcome the Shogun to Ako. The night after the tournament, Lord Asano is bewitched into hurting Lord Kira of Nagato, and is punished into committing seppuku by the Shogun. Realizing that it was a Lord Kira's evil plot, the samurais and the half-breed sets out for revenge against the Shogun's order.
Released Date:
2010-10-09
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
102 min
IMDB Ratings:
7.5 (5044 Reviews)
Director:
Takeshi KoikeKatsuhito Ishii (original story)
Katsuhito Ishii (screenplay)
Yoji Enokido (screenplay)
Yoshiki Sakurai (screenplay)
An action drama centered on a deadly racing tournament held every five years and the reckless dare-devil driver who wants to win it.
Released Date:
2013-11-09
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
IMDB Ratings:
6.9 (300 Reviews)
Director:
Kèki MitaniGenres:
HistoryKèki Mitani (based on the novel by)
Kèki Mitani (screenplay)
After the forced suicide of Nobunaga Oda at the Incident at Honno-ji, powerful figures Katsuie Shibata, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Nagahide Niwa and Tsuneoki Ikeda meet to decide on a successor. The conference would become Japan's first group made political decision. The meeting was known as the Kiyosu Kaigi.
Released Date:
2015-03-26
Languages:
English
Countries:
Philippines, Germany
Runtime:
73 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.2 (71 Reviews)
When violence is the only life you know, will love save you or just unravel everything?
Released Date:
2014-06-14
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
129 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.7 (242 Reviews)
Director:
Kazuyoshi KumakiriKazuki Sakuraba (based on the novel by)
Takashi Ujita
After losing everything in a tsunami, 10-year-old Hana is taken in by 26-year-old distant relative Jungo Kusarino. They live as father and daughter but share a profound sense of loss. Jungo works as a cook for the coast guard, leaving young Hana alone for days at a time. In wintry Hokkaido, Jungo and Hana both desire to fill their empty, love-starved hearts as they set foot into a forbidden world. Eventually, an elder benefactor in their small town learns of their illicit relationship. When he tries to separate them for Hana's own good, it provokes her emotional rage. Soon after, a murder quietly occurs atop the ice floes. With their dark secret, Jungo and Hana escape to Tokyo. However...
Released Date:
2015-10-01
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
127 min
IMDB Ratings:
5.2 (63 Reviews)
Director:
Kiyoshi KurosawaKiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay)
Kazumi Yumoto (based on the novel by)
Takashi Ujita (screenplay)
Mizuki's husband (Yusuke) drowned at sea three years ago. When he suddenly comes back home, she is not that surprised. Instead, Mizuki is wondering what took him so long. She agrees to let Yusuke take her on a journey.
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