10 Movies Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda

Maborosi

Maborosi

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1997-03-21

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

110 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (2411 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Teru Miyamoto (novel)

Yoshihisa Ogita (screenplay)

Fullplot:

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.

After Life

After Life

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1999-04-17

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

118 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (6683 Reviews)

Genres:

DramaFantasy

Fullplot:

After people die, they spend a week with counselors, also dead, who help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week's end; eternity follows. 22 dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee. One old man cannot find a memory, so he watches videotape of his life. Others pick their memory quickly, and the film crew gets right to work. The trainee, 18-year-old Shiori, helps a teenage girl choose a memory other than Disneyland. The youthful staff have a secret and feelings, too, which play out, especially Shiori's affection for her mentor, Mochizuki

Distance

Distance

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2001-05-26

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

132 min

Rated:

UNRATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.1 (693 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

Members of a cult, modeled on Aum Shinrikyo, sabotage a city's water supply, then commit mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Family members of the perpetrators meet at the lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.

Nobody Knows

Nobody Knows

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2004-10-21

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

141 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

8.1 (16024 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

In Tokyo, the reckless single mother Keiko moves to a small apartment with her twelve years old son Akira Fukushima and hidden in the luggage, his siblings Shigeru and Yuki. Kyoko, another sibling arrives later by train. The children have different fathers and do not have schooling, but they have a happy life with their mother. When Keiko finds a new boyfriend, she leaves the children alone, giving some money to Akira and assigning him to take care of his siblings. When the money finishes, Akira manages to find means to survive with the youngsters without power supply, gas or water at home, and with the landlord asking for the rental.

Hana

Hana

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2007-05-06

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

127 min

IMDB Ratings:

(928 Reviews)

Genres:

ComedyDrama

Fullplot:

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.

Still Walking

Still Walking

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2008-06-28

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

115 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.9 (6603 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda (original story)

Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Still Walking is a family drama about grown children visiting their elderly parents, which unfolds over one summer day. The aging parents have lived in the family home for decades. Their son and daughter return for a rare family reunion, bringing their own families with them. They have gathered to commemorate the tragic death of the eldest son, who drowned in an accident fifteen years ago. Although the roomy house is as comforting and unchanging as the mother's homemade feast, everyone in the family has subtly changed.

Air Doll

Air Doll

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2009-09-26

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

125 min

Rated:

UNRATED

IMDB Ratings:

6.9 (3721 Reviews)

Genres:

DramaFantasy

Cast:

Writer:

Yoshiie Goda (manga)

Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Fullplot:

A life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.

I Wish

I Wish

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2011-06-11

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

128 min

Rated:

PG

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (3468 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Fullplot:

In Kagoshima, the boy Koichi lives with his mother Nozomi in the house of his grandparents. Koichi misses his younger brother Ryunosuke and his father Kenji, who live in Fukuoka, and he dreams on his family coming together again. One day, Koichi overhears that the energy released by two bullet trains passing by each other would grant wishes and he invites his two best friends, Tasuku and Makoto, to travel to the point of intersection of the two trains. Koichi also tells his plan to Ryunosuke that invites his three best friends to join him. Soon the seven children arrive to the meeting point in the journey of discoveries.

Like Father, Like Son

Like Father, Like Son

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2013-09-28

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

121 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (9755 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Would you choose your natural son, or the son you believed was yours after spending 6 years together? Kore-eda Hirokazu, the globally acclaimed director of "Nobody Knows", "Still Walking" and "I Wish", returns to the big screen with another family - a family thrown into torment after a phone call from the hospital where the son was born... Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not 'their' son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby. Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between 'nature' and 'nurture.' Seeing Midori's devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a 'father' all these years...

Our Little Sister

Our Little Sister

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2015-06-13

Languages:

Japanese

Countries:

Japan

Runtime:

128 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (289 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Akimi Yoshida (manga)

Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Fullplot:

A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister.

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