Gakuryuu Ishii
Junoshin Kake is a ronin. To get hired by the Kurokaze Han, he lies and tells them that a religious group is trying to destroy them. He gets hired by the Kurokaze Han, but they learn that Junoshin Kake lied. Junoshin Kake is given the death sentence and he must think of an escape plan.
Akago (Fumi Nikaido) is a red goldfish able to change into a girl. She possesses a pure and sensuous side. She lives with an old male writer (Ren Osugi) whom she calls “Ojisama.” One day, the ghost of Yuriko Tamura (Yoko Maki) appears. She is a woman the writer knew in the past.
Samao Daikoku’s family register was taken which keeps him from escaping the underground life that he has led. To get away once and for all, Samao Daikoku breaks into Daikichi Ebisu's coin locker to steal gold. Daikichi Ebisu is involved in a criminal organization. In the locker, Samao Daikoku finds a hard disk containing personal information on runaways, homeless people, bankrupt people and prostitutes. He hides the hard disk, but is locked up by Daikichi Ebisu. There, he sees a prostitute, Ami Nanmu and he also faces an evil gang boss, Kan Senju. Samao Daikoku is tortured by the gang boss. The mystery behind Samao Daikoku’s past is revealed.
A strange phenomenon takes place. A beautiful flower blooms on a selected woman's body and that flower is called the "Shanidar". When the Shanidar is in full bloom, the flower produces a substance which is then sold at a high cost to develop new drugs. Kenji Otaki works as a researcher at the facility where the Shanidar is grown.
Set in a university campus attached to a hospital, "Ikiterumono wa Inainoka" revolves around a girl who escapes from the hospital, a strange man, students who talk about an urban legend, students involved in a love triangle, coffee shop workers, men who witnessed an accident, an otolaryngologist who has a crush on a hospital employee, idol university students, a mother who looks for a child and suddenly the characters disappear. Laughing, the world comes to an end.
The film is a collection of one-minute short films created by 60 filmmakers from around the world on the theme of the death of cinema.
Amy and Sonny are two girls with contrasting personalities. Their "secret hideout" is an antique shop. One day, Amy falls in love at first sight with an older man named 'J'
Video collection of live performances by THE STALIN in Shinjuku during the 1980s indie era.
Works commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of Japan mapping Supervision Association
Essentially a vacation home video by Gakuryû Ishii of Balinese landscapes set to gamelan.
An actress suffers an identity crisis when she finds herself spirited away from the bustle of Tokyo to a tropical paradise. A visually stunning ode to the need for a spiritual and tranquil life.
A young boy gets jolted with electricity as he's climbing a cable pylon. As he gets older, he experiences intense fits of violence in which bolts of electricity burst from his fists. Elsewhere in Tokyo, there is an electronics wizard who also happens to be a vigilante with a taste for electric weapons. When the pair catch each others attention, the result is a battle that will light up the city.
Benkei, 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.
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.
A teenage girl gains supernatural power after an accident and comes to understand her place in the universe.
Psychiatrist Setsuko Suma is called in to help the police solve an ongoing case of female-centric serial murder in the local subway system. Her investigation leads to her former mentor and lover, who becomes the prime suspect in the case.
The encounter and parting of a man and woman in Hokkaido
Ami, a girl who works as a flower arranger, also works as a professional assassin
Tokyo Blood is an omnibus film of 4 short stories featuring various characters entrapped in Tokyo landscapes.
The film begins with some Polaroids of a young boy and a young girl. A female voice over tells us who these people are...they are brother and sister, she is seven and he is eight. She goes on to say that when she was seven and he was eight, she told her brother that she would marry him.
An elderly man and a young woman is in a bar where they tenderly begin to touch each other's hands. Soon they find themselves in a room where the woman has shiatsu massage of the man, putting her in ecstasy. The next morning, something starts to happen with the woman ...
A visual documentary of Einstürzende Neubauten, the German underground band, by Japanese cult director Sogo Ishii, made during their 1985 tour of Japan. The band makes an elaborate and remarkably choreographed appearance in the ruins of an old ironworks (which was scheduled for demolition; footage of same was incorporated into the movie) and a brief appearance on stage.
An in-depth and stylish look at the hardcore punk scene in Japan at the late half of the 70's and the beginning of the 80's. Features bands such as GASTUNK, THE EXECUTE, GAUZE among others.
The Kobayashi family finally get the chance to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment in favour of the suburban house of their dreams. But all is not well: the house is infested by termites and the family starts cracking up: Son Masaki is studying so obsessively for his exams that he's losing his mind; daughter Erika is oblivious of all but her forthcoming record company audition, grandfather Yasukuni starts getting World War II flashbacks and father Katsuhiko is so worried about his family's "sickness" that he thinks can only be cured by group suicide...
At an isolated location training camp for soldiers with supernatural powers makes a man revolt, causing a war to break out among the soldiers
Set in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands, a rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest slow, boring, Japanese living.
A light-hearted portrayal of three strange days in the life of a high school girl who is told she will die in three days. The best entertainment of student films, which became a legend. Many students aspired to film after seeing this film and many others gave up directing at the time.
Visions of a bleak, post-apocalyptic urban wasteland strewn with twisted hunks of mechanical wreckage. A rasping electronic buzz on the soundtrack. These impressions kick-start into a jarring, rapid-fire sequence of chrome, neon and showers of sparks alongside the howl of roaring motors, as boys in black leather with Be-Bop High School quiffs ride menacingly out into the night in the theatrical debut from arguably the most important director to emerge from Japan during the 80s. Completed by former punk musician Ishii for his film course graduation from Japan University in Tokyo, this raw-edged biker flick is a tour-de-force of automotive auto-eroticism. Originally shot on 16mm, Toei were so impressed by this violent counter-cultural kick-back against the anodyne fluff that typified early 80s cinema that they blew it up to 35mm for theatrical distribution.
MatsuiI's debut film, "Rusty Empty Can" (1979), was photographed by Sogo Ishii; nonetheless the film turned out to be a serious and emotionally painful one unlike Ishii's speedy roller-coaster movies. The film which depicts a homosexual relationship was success at the many film festival held in Japan. "Rusty Empty Can" is still shown at theatres today as it has become the pioneer of cult movies with devoted fans and approval from Nagisa Oshima and Shuji Terayama.
Known for his striking visuals and outlandish subject matter, maverick director Sogo Ishii is considered to be the master of Japanese punk cinema. In ‘Attack!’, biker gangs meet the Japanese punk scene.
A lonely man in Tokyo. Friendly gestures from strangers and sudden encounters with old friends are the only pillars available for the man about to slip into the abyss of absolute loneliness.
A parable about the inefficiency and anachronism of the Japanese educational system, which places an unusually large amount of importance on cramming for university entrance examinations, Panic High School is about the suicide of a high school student and its ensuing fallout at his school. When one of his classmates becomes frustrated with the math teacher's lack of sensitivity to the suicide, the student steals a rifle, returns to school, aerates the teacher's chest and then holds members of his class captive. This leads to an aggressive standoff with the police and lots of shots of his parents crying and bowing in shame, totally mortified.
A high school student has a mental breakdown and brings a gun to class. A standoff against the police ensues.
