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.
|  | |
The Ballad of Narayama 1982  N/R, 130 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Shohei Imamura
Cast: Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Aki Takejo, Tonpei Hidari, Shoichi Ozawa, Seiji Kurasaki, Kaoru Shimamori, Ryutaro Tatsumi, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Junko Takada, Mitsuko Baisho, Sansho Shinsui
Based on a Japanese legend of a famine-ridden village, a person is taken to the top of Mt. Narayama and left to die upon reaching the age of 70. This beautiful remake of the 1958 film is realistic as a 69-year-old woman is determined to climb the mountain despite her son's objections. Grand Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival.
| | |
Kagemusha 1980 PG, 179 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: The Shadow Warrior
The Double
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Daisuke Ryu, Masayuki Yui, Kenichi Hagiwara, Koji Shimizu, Jinpachi Nezu, Hideji Otaki, Kaori Momoi, Mitsuko Baisho, Hideo Murota, Takayuki Shiho
Set in 16th-century Japan, this is the story of a thief, Kagemusha (Tatsuya Nakadai), who resembles the warlord Shingen Takeda (also played by Nakadai). When Shingen is killed during a battle, his death is kept secret, and Kagemusha turns over a new leaf when he transforms himself into the dead clan leader. A visually beautiful movie.
| | |
Unagi 1997 N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: The Eel
Director: Shohei Imamura
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Fujio Tsuneta, Mitsuko Baisho, Akira Emoto, Sho Aikawa, Ken Kobayashi, Sabu Kawahara, Etsuko Ichihara, Tomorowo Taguchi
Takuro Yamashita (Koji Yakusho)–upon release from prison after serving eight years for killing his wife–opens a barbershop and brings along his "pet" eel. The eel becomes his confidante as he refuses to let people into his personal space.
| | |
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge 2001 N/R, 119 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Shohei Imamura
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baisho, Mansaku Fuwa, Kazuo Kitamura, Isao Natsuyagi, Yukiya Kitamura, Hijiri Kojima, Toshie Negishi, Sumiko Sakamoto
After losing his wife and job, Yosuke Sasano (Koji Yakusho) sets out in search of a stolen Buddha statue rumored to rest in a house near a red bridge. But, along the way he finds a more satisfying treasure: the beautiful, but sexually mysterious, Saeko (Misa Shimizu). After almost 50 years of filmmaking, Shohei Imamura continues to turn out superb films.
| | |
| 1. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)
2. The Ballad of Narayama (1982)
3. Kagemusha (1980)
aka: The Shadow Warrior
aka: The Double
4. Unagi (1997)
aka: The Eel
5. Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001)
In The News
|
