Akira Kurosawa's Dreams 1990  PG, 120 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Akira Terao, Martin Scorsese, Chishu Ryu, Mieko Harada, Mitsuko Baisho, Chosuke Ikariya, Toshie Negishi, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano, Yoshitaka Zushi, Hisashi Igawa, Masayuki Yui
Famed writer-director Akira Kurosawa put together a number of his dreams and presents a sequence of incidents exploring the relationship of human beings to their environments.
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The Bad Sleep Well 1960 N/R, 135 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Thriller
aka: The Rose in the Mud
The Worse You Are, the Better You Sleep
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Takeshi Kato, Takashi Shimura, Ko Nishimura, Tatsuya Mihashi, Kamatari Fujiwara, Kyoko Kagawa, Chishu Ryu, Seiji Miyaguchi, Koji Mitsui, Ken Mitsuda, Nobuo Nakamura, Susumu Fujita, Koji Nambara
This indictment of the Japanese approach to business emphasizes the corruption at high levels through the story of Kiochi Nishi (Toshiro Mifune) who marries his boss Iwabuchi's (Masayuki Mori) daughter, Kieko (Kyoko Kagawa), to avenge his father's suicide, which can be traced back to Iwabuchi. But, as Kiochi plots revenge against Iwabuchi, Kiochi falls in love with Kieko just as Iwabuchi realizes who Kiochi really is.
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Early Summer 1951 N/R, 150 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichiro Sugai, Haruko Sugimura, Shuji Sano, Chieko Higashiyama, Kuniko Ikawa, Seiji Miyaguchi
Culture clashes provide the theme in this story, which is set in post-war Japan. Twenty-eight-year-old Noriko (Setsuko Hara) has grown up in her family home in which three generations live together. Harmony has reigned until her concerned family tries to arrange a marriage for her, but Noriko has her own plans for finding a husband. An excellent film about Japan's changing society following World War II.
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Floating Weeds 1959  N/R, 119 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Ukigusa
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Haruko Sugimura, Ayako Wakao, Koji Mitsui, Hitomi Nozoe, Chishu Ryu, Haruo Tanaka, Yosuke Irie, Hikaru Hoshi, Mantaro Ushio, Kumeko Urabe, Toyoko Takahashi, Mutsuko Sakura
Komajuro (Ganjiro Nakamura) is a "floating weed"–the Japanese term for an itinerant actor–whose acting troupe is not headed for success. When the company arrives in a fishing village, Komajuro visits his ex-mistress, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who happens to be the mother of Komajuro's grown son. Although he has never acknowledged his parentage, events transpire that bring Komajuro to the brink of telling the truth in this film about parents and children and just living life.
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Japan's Longest Day 1967  N/R, 157 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: The Emperor and a General
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, So Yamamura, Chishu Ryu, Seiji Miyaguchi, Takashi Shimura, Toshio Kurosawa, Shogo Shimada, Susumu Fujita, Yunosuke Ito, Daisuke Kato, Etsushi Takahashi, Jun Tazaki, Nobuo Nakamura, Koshiro Matsumoto
This is the true story of failed efforts by the Japanese War Minister Anami (Toshiro Mifune) to continue the war and includes plots for a coup to overthrow the Emperor. But, the problem was resolved when Emperor Hirohito (Koshiro Matsumoto) broadcast to his nation on August 15, 1945, that Japan would agree to the Allies' demand for unconditional surrender.
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Late Spring 1949 N/R, 107 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Haruko Sugimura, Jun Usami, Hohi Aoki, Masao Mishima, Kuniko Miyake, Yoshiko Tsubouchi, Yumeji Tsukioka, Yoko Katsuragi, Toyoko Takahashi, Jun Tanizaki
Twenty-seven-year-old Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is content living with her widower father Somiya (Chishu Ryu), but he fears that she will become an old maid and is determined to find a husband for her.
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Tokyo Story 1953 N/R, 139 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, So Yamamura, Haruko Sugimura, Kuniko Miyake, Nobuo Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Kyoko Kagawa, Eijiro Tono, Shiro Osaka, Hisao Toake, Teruko Nagaoka
Aging couple Shukichi (Chishu Ryu) and Tomi Hirayama (Chieko Higashiyama) travel to Tokyo with their daughter Kyoko (Kyoko Kagawa) to visit their son Same Per (So Yamamura) and daughter Shige Kaneko (Haruko Sugimura). After they arrive in Tokyo, they learn that their children are too busy to visit with them when they send them to Alami Hot Springs resort instead. The parents soon return to Tokyo where their children still ignore them. They leave for home, but tragedy strikes on the trip, and–after the funeral–the children return to their self-centered lives in this story that illustrates how modern society does not hold the elderly in high regard.
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| 1. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)
2. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
aka: The Rose in the Mud
aka: The Worse You Are, the Better You Sleep
3. Early Summer (1951)
4. Floating Weeds (1959)
aka: Ukigusa
5. Japan's Longest Day (1967)
aka: The Emperor and a General
6. Late Spring (1949)
7. Tokyo Story (1953)
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