Onibaba

Onibaba 1964

7.70

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

1964

Kuroneko

Kuroneko 1968

7.39

In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.

1968

The Naked Island

The Naked Island 1960

8.00

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

1960

Owl

Owl 2003

7.00

A mother and daughter are stranded in small, isolated cabin, and are starving to death. In order to survive, they plan to entice men that happen to stray to their cabin with sex, and kill them. All goes well until a local cop shows up and, then, an old relation.

2003

Children of Hiroshima

Children of Hiroshima 1952

7.25

Shows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.

1952

Rika 3: Juvenile's Lullaby

Rika 3: Juvenile's Lullaby 1973

5.50

Reform schools are a way of protecting society by ridding it of lawless juvenile delinquents. But who's protecting the juvenile delinquents from corrupt reform schools? Rica could be considered a bit of an expert on reform schools, having spent most of her early life in and out of them. When Rica is dragged back once again, she gets a severe beating and is finally sent off to a mental hospital with the intention of selling her and her pals into a slave trade. A trader takes Rica's friend Jun to a mountain cottage where she's pegged for the lead in his clandestine porno film operation. Once again, it's up to tough-as-nails Rica to bust up this corrupt racket once and for all!

1973

Will to Live

Will to Live 1999

6.30

It is based on the story of The Ballad of Narayama updated to the present day, with the substitution of putting a parent into an old people's home for the abandonment of the original. The film won the Golden St. George and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 21st Moscow International Film Festival.

1999

The Strange Tale of Oyuki

The Strange Tale of Oyuki 1992

8.00

A story of Japanese writer Kafu Nagai (1879-1959), a man about sixty with a huge reputation of seducer who falls madly in love for a young geisha named Oyuki. Meticulous and smartly dressed, Nagai patiently wrote in his diary his thoughts during many years. A melancholy reflection on the passage of time and a brilliant interpretive exercise.

1992

Adrenaline Drive

Adrenaline Drive 1999

7.10

A gas leak explosion at a yakuza hideout provides a shy nurse and a rental car clerk with the opportunity to take a briefcase full of money. A cross-country chase ensues.

1999

Lost Sex

Lost Sex 1966

1

A well-respected drama teacher confesses to his housekeeper that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima has left him impotent. With the coming of spring, the sympathetic housekeeper suggests that the Master observe the Yobai , a custom in which the young men of a village steal into the bedrooms of susceptible women to have sex.

1966

Rika: The Mixed-Blood Girl

Rika: The Mixed-Blood Girl 1972

4.86

First film of a trilogy following the dramatic life of Rika, a half-Japanese/half-American woman who becomes the tough-as-nails leader of an all-girl crime gang.

1972

Human

Human 1962

6.80

The ship Kaijin Maru is left adrift after losing all means of navigation in a storm. The four people on the ship are becoming increasingly desperate as food and water run out.

1962

The Strangling

The Strangling 1979

4.90

The men who surround and torment the young protagonist (demanding teacher, owner of the company that rapes his own daughter, despotic and uncompromising father) are opposed to women (victims of men) as embodiment of salvation.

1979

A Last Note

A Last Note 1995

7.00

A retired actress whose husband has recently died visits her summer home. There she has encounters with old friends and acquaintances who bring various stories and news of death and the past

1995

Dying at a Hospital

Dying at a Hospital 1993

6.20

Filmed in a documentary style, six patients in six wards of different ages and circumstances await death at a hospital in Japan. The sterile and dismal environment is contrasted against the emotional being of the patients, their visitors and relatives and the outside world, which they will never again survey.

1993

The Iron Crown

The Iron Crown 1972

5.60

A woman takes revenge on her husband after he leaves her for a younger woman by harassing the couple with unwanted phone calls at night.

1972

Libido

Libido 1967

1

aka Libido.

1967

Sakura-tai Chiru

Sakura-tai Chiru 1988

5.70

A documentary about the lives of actors in the Sakura-tai theatrical troupe, which had arrived in the island of Hiroshima to begin preparations for the staging of a play just before the atomic bombing.

1988

By Player

By Player 2000

8.00

The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.

2000

River of First Love

River of First Love 2004

6.70

8-year old boy, Shimpei, who loves fishing and painting, lives with his beautiful mother, surrounded by nature. His mother, Satsuki, has a weak constitution and lost her husband years ago. She takes care of her son lovingly but sometimes strictly, on her own. Shimpei's childhood sweetheart, Sayuri, is deaf, but somehow they can understand each other and they always spend time together.

2004