Tadanobu Asano
A failing boxer uncovers a family secret that leads him to a mystical tournament called Mortal Kombat where he meets a group of warriors who fight to the death in order to save the realms from the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung. Based off the popular video game franchise.
Following the excitement of first Bangkok and then New York, a big murder case takes place in Tokyo. Chinatown master detectives Tangren (Wang Baoqiang) and Qinfeng (Liu Haoren) are invited to take up the mystery. Adding to the excitement are the other detectives on the CRIMASTER international detective list as well as the current top rank, Q. Yet another hilarious battle of wits is set to take place...
Jia Zhangke is starring in his first lead role, appearing as an artist facing a midlife crisis in Cheng Er's Pseudo Idealist.
The story centers on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a movie theater just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan’s feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.
A girl finds an old handgun in her attic and the symbolic object conjures a mystical scene of samurai (a stellar cast of actors joined by the 20-person Edo punk band Seppuku Pistols, who also provide the soundtrack) gathering within the moss-grown location of Kasosan Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture.
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.
The Bastard and the Beautiful World is an omnibus film consisting of four episodes. (1) Fujiko is running as fast as she can, being chased after by a creepy masked man called Mad Dog. They meet a talented pianist on the way. (2) A mysterious relationship between a little girl, Utagui, who eats songs to live, and an artist who can't sing anymore. (3) A married couple sets off on a journey to find the right arm of their dead son. They finally reached a beach in Okinawa and find...? (4) Bastards comes together on a night dance floor for a show.
A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.
Kasane Fuchi (Kyoko Yoshine) is the daughter of a beautiful, legendary actress. Kasane has excellent acting skills as well, but she is not attractive. She has a hard time due to her unattractiveness. Kasane has a lipstick left behind by her late mother. The lipstick holds a strange power. Whenever Kasane applies the lipstick and kisses someone, she takes that person's face. Meanwhile, Nina Tanzawa (Tao Tsuchiya) is a beautiful actress with poor acting skills. She meets Kasane Fuchi and their fates change.
A sequel to the 1980 movie The Legend of the Stardust Brothers. As well as being a rock musical comedy, it also borrows elements from other genres such as road movies, westerns, and meta fiction.
Fujiko is running as fast as she can, being chased after by a creepy masked man called Mad Dog. They meet a talented pianist on the way.
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
Makoto Tanaka (Tadanobu Asano) is 40-years-old and has remarried. His wife is Nanae (Rena Tanaka) and they care for 2 daughters from Nanae's prior marriage. Makoto tries to have an ordinary family. Nanae then becomes pregnant. Afterwards, things begin to change among the family members.
When Okita Kazuaki was starting out as a doctor, he was forced to resign from the hospital. He left his girlfriend Danjo Mifuyu behind and went to the US alone. 10 years go by and he comes back as a surgeon with outstanding skills to save his former teacher from illness. His teacher is none other than his ex-girlfriend’s father. In the time that Okita was away, Mifuyu had married his own good friend Masao, who is now the deputy director and the heir of the hospital. To make matters worse, this friend was the one who plotted to drive him out form the hospital 10 years ago. Okita has to face all sorts of ordeals to save his teacher. But he never gives up amid the swirl of love, desire, friendship, jealousy and pride. Okita may be awkward but deals with patients with all his heart. His way of life gets the people working at the hospital to start asking themselves what real healthcare is.
Yukimasa Yugami is a detective who chases after facts in cases. He will resort to illegal investigations and he uses his unique reasoning powers. His partner is rookie detective Torao Hanyu.
Tatsuhiko Shiratori works as a scout, recruiting girls to work in the adult entertainment business. He movies to Yokohama from Shinjuku, Tokyo. He comes into conflict with Masaki Taki who is the CEO of a scout company.
Set against a chaotic, war torn Shanghai, “The Wasted Times” follows a local crime boss at the receiving end of the Japanese army’s attempt to forge a dubious alliance. Spanning three separate times during the period, the story details mindsets from various perspectives, all culminating in a suspenseful and tense finale.
Movie contains the stories of three people: Suzuki (Toma Ikuta), Kujira (Tadanobu Asano) and Semi (Ryosuke Yamada). Suzuki is a former middle school teacher. His girlfriend was killed, which led him to quit his job and attempt to take revenge on her murderer. To do so, Suzuki has to infiltrate the underground world of criminals. Kujira is a contract killer for hire. He makes his targets fall into confusion and eventually commit suicide. Semi is a contract killer who uses the knife to take out his targets.
Nobuko (Sayuri Yoshinaga) works in Nagasaki, Japan as a midwife. Her son died 3 years earlier from the atomic bomb. On August 9, 1948, her son appears in front of her again. Since that time, Koji (Kazunari Ninomiya) appears in front of her and they reminiscence about pleasant times. These happy, but bizarre moments seem eternal.
Mizuki’s husband Yusuke went missing for 3 years. He suddenly comes back home one day and asks Mizuki to go on a trip with him. Their trip consists of visiting the people that helped Yusuke on his previous travel. While travelling together, Misuki sees, touches and feels what Yusuke did for those 3 years.
Alien pods come to Earth and, naturally, start taking over Human Hosts. One such pod only manages to take over one human's, Shin Izumi, right arm. Together they grow and co-exist, all the while the other aliens are making meals of other humans; Shin feels he must put a stop to it all, but his alien, Migi, doesn't see why.
With Taiwan remaining in the grip of martial law in 1982, a group of filmmakers from that country set out to establish a cultural identity through cinema and to share it with the world. This engaging documentary looks at the movement's legacy.
A merciless hit man rescues a prostitute from a violent incident in a Philippine slum before the two take flight. Though Khavn, a standard-bearer of the digital age in the Philippines, has already established himself as a director of countless films, he is also an accomplished poet and musician. The bewildering visuals and punk-opera soundtrack expertly convey a world that extends far beyond the dialogue. As the story unfolds, a poetic sentiment wafts out of the chaos, signaling a collision of the director’s many talents.
After losing everything in a tsunami, 10-year-old Hana is taken in by 26-year-old distant relative Jungo Kusarino. They live as father and daughter but share a profound sense of loss. Jungo works as a cook for the coast guard, leaving young Hana alone for days at a time. In wintry Hokkaido, Jungo and Hana both desire to fill their empty, love-starved hearts as they set foot into a forbidden world. Eventually, an elder benefactor in their small town learns of their illicit relationship. When he tries to separate them for Hana's own good, it provokes her emotional rage. Soon after, a murder quietly occurs atop the ice floes. With their dark secret, Jungo and Hana escape to Tokyo. However...
Alien pods come to Earth and, naturally, start taking over Human Hosts. One such pod only manages to take over one human's, Shin Izumi, right arm. Together they grow and co-exist, all the while the other aliens are making meals of other humans; Shin feels he must put a stop to it all, but his alien, Migi, doesn't see why.
Interpol Inspector Zenigata begins a world-wide hunt for the infamous thief Lupin The 3rd. But together, they face a powerful enemy and form the Lupin team in response. The Lupin team then faces the challenge of retrieving the "Crimson Heart of Cleopatra" locked away in a fort like safe. The treasure is thought to allow its owner to control the world.
A young girl named Kiki (Fuka Koshiba) must leave her home for a year to begin training in witchcraft. She leaves on her broom, but first says goodbye to her friends and family. Kiki then begins her new life with her trusted cat Jiji.
In this unauthorized adaptation of the novel "The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler set in Tokyo during the 1950s, Tamotsu is suspected of murdering his actress wife Shizuka Harada. He flees to Taiwan and commits suicide. Tamotsu's friend Banji Masuzawa, a private detective, has doubts about Tamotsu's death, but the case is covered up by powerful media mogul Heizo Harada. Banji is then involved in another case involving the neighbors of the Harada family. He encounters drunk novelist Joji Kamiido, a publishing house editor and a beautiful woman Aiko who holds the key to case. As it looks like Banji has solved the case, something unexpected occurs...
After the forced suicide of Nobunaga Oda at the Incident at Honnō-ji, powerful figures Katsuie Shibata (Koji Yakusho), Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Yo Oizumi), Nagahide Niwa (Fumiyo Kohinata) and Tsuneoki Ikeda (Koichi Sato) meet to decide on a successor. The conference would become Japan's first group made political decision. The meeting was known as the Kiyosu Kaigi. --AsianWiki
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos… but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.
Shinzo Egi is an asthma sufferer who does not want to be place on life support. As a last request, Shinzo Egi asks his doctor Ayano Orii if she could follow his wish. Doctor Ayano Orii is then questioned in a criminal case because of her decision.
A prison officer hands in his resignation after his wife's death, to drive to the port where she wants her ashes scattered at sea. Eiji (Ken Takakura) works as a prison officer in Hokuriku. At the age of 53 Eiji loses his wife who he loved the most. Eiji then receives a letter from his dead wife which requests that her ashes be spread by in the sea next to her hometown. Her wife never mentioned such a thing while she was alive. In order to find out her real intentions, Eiji heads to his wife's hometown of Nagasaki with his homemade camper van.
When mankind beams a radio signal into space, a reply comes from ‘Planet G’, in the form of several alien crafts that splash down in the waters off Hawaii. Lieutenant Alex Hopper is a weapons officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones, part of an international naval coalition which becomes the world's last hope for survival as they engage the hostile alien force of unimaginable strength. While taking on the invaders, Hopper must also try to live up to the potential that his brother, and his fiancée's father, Admiral Shane, expect of him.
Kota (Satoshi Tsumabuki) hears about an impending 1.5 billion yen gold bar heist from his friend Kitagawa (Tadanobu Asano), a former college classmate, and decides to take part. The gold bar sits in the basement of the HQ of Sumita Bank. Helping Kota and Kitagawa are bank security employee Noda (Kenta Kiritani), a North Korean spy pretending to be a college student (Shim Chang-Min), Kitagawa's younger brother Haruki (Junpei Mizobata) and a former elevator engineer (Toshiyuki Nishida). These 6 men are about to carry the boldest of schemes to bypass the bank's high-tech defense system.
A rookie editor Hatsumi Takeda becomes an editor of Fujio Akatsuka who is known as the king of gag manga. Hanging out with her, Akatsuka sees through Hatsumi's talent to be crazy, and they gradually become great partners...
Against his father Odin's will, The Mighty Thor - a powerful but arrogant warrior god - recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
The year is 1947, during the war torn period of the Showa era. The story begins when a man, presumed to have been killed in battle, returns home. Who was this man? Before the war, he had a bright future ahead of him as the proficient and popular rakugoka (comedic story-teller), Usagi Morinoya. However, because of an injury sustained during the war, his face is covered in bandages, and he suffers from total amnesia. As if trying to recover his memory, the man only keeps mumbling in a hollow voice his trademark rakugo, "Sokotsunagaya".
Defence lawyer Emi is assigned to a particularly unusual case: a man is suspected of murdering his wealthy wife, and his only alibi is a 421-year old ghost, Rokubei. At first Emi is hesitant, but when she pursues her lead she is visited by the ghost herself. And so the fun begins in the courtroom when Prosecutor Osano starts to cross examine…
A hotel concierge (Fukatsu) who has to deal with a variety of odd guests. --Tokyograph
War photjournalist Yasuyuki Tsukahara married popular manga artist Yuki Sonoda and had children. Because of Yasayuki's drinking problems the couple divorced. Yasuyuki is now coughing up blood, hospitalized, and violent. Even with all of these problems Yasuyuki can't give up drinking alcohol. His family gets tired. Yasuyuki is then hospitalized in an alcoholic ward. There he finds comfort living with other patients and having conversations with doctors. With the help of his family, Yasuyuki recovers mentally and physically, but his body has already paid a heavy toll.
Director Tominaga Masanori (Pandora's Box) brings Motoya Yukiko's offbeat play Ranbo to Taiki to the big screen in a juicy, neurotic tangle of love, hate and voyeurism. Hidenori (Asano Tadanobu) and Nanase (Minami) have lived together for ten years in a tense, platonic relationship. The wheels of change are set in motion when married couple Takao (Yamada Takayuki) and Azusa (Koike Eiko) move in next door. After Hidenori catches Nanase and Takao having an affair, he becomes obsessed with watching Nanase through a peephole, and planning his cruel revenge.
In 1907, a group of men climb an unconquered peak in the last unmapped region of Japan.
10-year-old Sota lives with his grandfather and a dog named Chibi in a small snowy village. They live in such a poverty that Sota cannot even afford to go to school, but however hard the situation is, Sota never holds a bad feeling against anyone around and keeps his dream alive to become a painter. He has been friends with Sayo, a girl brought up in a wealthy family, ever since they were little despite the difference of their family position, which Sayo’s father has uneasy feelings against. In spite of the difficulties he faces, Sota manages to complete a piece of painting which he wishes to give Sayo. He and Chibi goes down a snowy night path to Sayo’s house to find that her father’s storage is on fire... What waits for Sota and Chibi gently reminds that genuine happiness always exists in your heart.
The most dangerous and exciting car race in the universe is held only once every five years. And that's tonight. The competitors are lined up at the starting block. In his vehicle, JP, the most daredevil driver on the circuit, is ready for the green light. Female driver Sonoshee, with whom he is secretly in love, is also on the starting line. She will stop at nothing to get on to that podium. In this race, not only is anything possible, but also anything is allowed. In fact, their adversaries have modified their vehicles to equip them with highly destructive weapons; with such participants, it is hardly surprising that Redline is forbidden by the authorities, who will try anything to halt the proceedings. These speed addicts have to put themselves in mortal danger to achieve their aim: eternal glory for those who finally mount the podium.
How hard is it to kill an idiot? Just ask Kudo Kankuro! The acclaimed screenwriter brings his 2004 Kunio Kishida-winning stage play Donju (a.k.a. Dumb Animal) to the big screen in all its wacky tragicomedic glory. The one and only Asano Tadanobu sports a seriously nerdy bowl haircut to play the leading role of simple-minded novelist Dekogawa who has mysteriously disappeared. Dekogawa wrote an autobiography about his youth that reveals not only his past, but also some of his childhood friends’ best-forgotten secrets. In order to keep the skeletons in the closet, these buddies of yesteryear try to silence him permanently. But no matter how hard they try to kill Dekogawa, he just keeps coming back – because he’s simply too thickheaded to die!
This enticing period melodrama depicts a long-suffering woman's relationship with her brilliant but self-destructive writer husband in postwar Tokyo. Based on a semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by Osamu Dazai, the story centers less on the womanizing, heavy-drinking, suicidal hero than on the wife who loves him. Written by Palm Springs International Film Festival
The anthology film R246 Story centers around the major Japanese highway Route 246. Originating in Chiyoda Ward's Miyakezaka district, the 122.7 kilometers long Route 246 passes through Japanese trendsetting areas such as Aoyama, Omotesando, Harajuku, and Shibuya, on its way to Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Recently appointed dean at a film school, Kimuro Hajime develops a special concern for one of his students, Daisuke. The brash, headstrong young man is fixated on with the Second World War. He feels a sense of frustration at the irrational sacrifice of young people's lives during the war six decades earlier. Daisuke finds that he can vent his frustrations to Kimuro, who experienced the war firsthand. Kimuro's wife, Emiko, is also troubled by memories of the war. She lost a loved one in the war and has never gotten over it. And Kimuro himself also has something from the past that he has yet to face. He believes that the burden of his unresolved past will eventually be the death of him. When Daisuke's neurosis causes him to quit school, life changes for all three of them.
Motorcycles, drugs, and gangs terrorize Japan. The man who dreamed of a life of peace has instead been transformed into an angel of death!
Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. But his life reaches a turning point when he happens to meet Chiyoko, his long lost mother. She is now married to Mamiya, the owner of an express package delivery service. They also have a teenage son, Yusuke. Subdued feelings of alarm, discomfort and resentment between Chiyoko, Kenji, and his half brother Yusuke hide underneath and are seemingly caused by the inseparable blood ties that seem to wield control over everyone's destiny. Is blood that powerful? What exactly defines a mother or a father? While Kenji struggles with these questions and attempts to escape his fate, Chiyoko seems content to let these issues unfold and find a solution. Where will it ultimately lead them?
The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan, a slave who went on to conquer half the world in the 11th century.
The Film in commemoration of the 10 year anniversary of Shinich Hoshi's death and the 50 year anniversary of his debut as author.
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.
This atmospheric, violent thriller revolves around a hitman called Kyoji who has just killed his lover, Seiko. She was the wife of Kyoji’s boss, Wiwat, who, when he heard about the affair, hired his rival to murder the unfaithful Seiko. Kyoji hides himself away on a cruise ship bound for Thailand. On board he meet a mysterious beauty named Noi. A passionate affair ensues. Their destinies are more interwoven than Kyoji and Noi could ever imagine. As Kyoji fights for his life and struggles to cope with mounting feelings of guilt he discovers the truth about the secretive Noi. Furious, wounded and thirsting for revenge, Kyoji might even make it home again.
A.D. 2015: A virus has been spreading in many cities worldwide. It is a suicidal disease and the virus is infected by pictures. People, once infected, come down with the disease, which leads to death. They have no way of fighting against this infection filled with fear and despair. The media calls the disease "the Lemming Syndrome".
Three high school girls living out in the country build stories out from their local environment, mountainous and bordered by an unkempt buried forest.
Portrait of the Wind centers on Tamio Murase (Tadanobu Asano), a world-traveling photographer who came home to take over the family business after his father’s fatal heart attack. One day at the family photo studio, he finds a kindred spirit in Ayako (Erika) and the requisite sparks fly between them. The initial portions of the film deal with their budding romance, and it isn’t long before the two become a serious couple, and Ayako is pregnant with Tamio’s child.
An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Mars Canal - Within absolute silence, a naked man wanders through a dark and depressing landscape recalling the excruciating details of his last encounter with his former lover. Mirror Hell - When a series of women are discovered with their faces burnt and skulls charred, a young detective investigates, discovering that a unique hand mirror is always found at the scene. Caterpillar - A war hero returns home with no limbs and only his eyesight remaining. His beautiful wife, tired of taking care of him, turns to torturing her crippled husband for amusement. Crawling Bugs - A sexy actress is returning home from a successful night on stage, until her limo driver decides that she should be coming home with him.
Two Japanese friends accidentally kill their boss and dump his remains in Black Fuji, a mountain/landfill hybrid. This leads to poor results when the chemicals of the landfill mix with the corpse (and many other corpses) to give rise to a zombie infestation in Tokyo.
Making her way through life by forming superficial relationships, Yoko keeps everyone at arm's length, whether it's her father and stepmother or Hajime, the owner of a small bookstore who could be the father of her unborn child. Yoko seems most at home when she's riding the train, speeding around the city with only her thoughts to entertain her.
A man continually trying and failing to get his wife to stay dead; a self-absorbed ad agency creative director who comes up with one unworkably inane idea after another; a British hitman who only wants to know everyone's function in life; and an unfortunate office worker and father whose brain is left scrambled after a stage hypnotist is murdered in mid-performance.
A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.
Documentary about the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, where we see him attend film festivals, personal influences and of course the study of his main films, apart from the opinions about him by other filmmakers such as Takeshi Kitano or Kinji Fukasaku.
The title is "Thirsty Flower ~ four by four equal one ~", which is a short story of about 60 minutes with four women as the main characters.
Soul Dancing is an order placed to Kiyoshi Kurosawa by a Japanese alcoholic beverage brand named Shôchu. The director then uses this cine-commercial as an excuse to film a weird fable on the arrival of a stranger in a bloodless human community.
Based on a play by Hisashi Inoue, it focuses on the sufferings of the survivors of Hiroshima. The film takes place during 4 days in the summer of 1948, as the ghost of her father visits Mitsué (Rié Miyama). He had somehow learned that she has fallen in love, and tries to convince her to start her new life. But Mitsué obstinately refuses his warm and humorous encouragements : « People were killed in my place. I do not have the right to find happiness », she says.
Hiroshi wakes up in a hospital room and realizes that he was in a serious car accident that caused the death of his girlfriend, Ryoko, as well as the loss of his memory. While trying to regain his memory, one of the first clues that Hiroshi finds are his old medical textbooks that he studied prior to his accident. This gives him a renewed purpose in life and he delves forward into his medical school studies.
Kenzo was behind bars for killing a gangster. Upon his release, he goes to live with his son, whose marriage is on the rocks. His 14-year-old granddaughter Tamako is ostracized when she discovers that her grandfather is a murderer. Kenzo soon helps defend Tamako from bullies at school. When Tamako stands up for herself, she comes to believe that she has inherited some of her grandfather’s great strength. Eventually, an associate of the man Kenzo killed comes looking for revenge, along with the dead man’s son.
Two friends who work together at a Tokyo laundry are increasingly alienated from everyday life. They become fascinated with a deadly jellyfish.
Zatoichi is a 19th century blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and masseur. However, behind this humble facade, he is a master swordsman gifted with a lightning-fast draw and breathtaking precision. While wandering, Zatoichi discovers a remote mountain village at the mercy of Ginzo, a ruthless gang-leader. Ginzo disposes of anyone who gets in his way, especially after hiring the mighty samurai ronin, Hattori, as a bodyguard. After a raucous night of gambling in town, Zatoichi encounters a pair of geishas--as dangerous as they are beautiful--who've come to avenge their parents' murder. As the paths of these and other colorful characters intertwine, Ginzo's henchmen are soon after Zatoichi. With his legendary cane sword at his side, the stage is set for a riveting showdown.
Initially, Ambivalent Future was intended as a film about the production of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Bright Future". But director Fujii has taken the "behind the scenes"-concept to unprecedented heights with this unique documentary offering a close look into the world of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the auteur. Scenes from the surprisingly low key and relaxed production of "Bright Future" are of course sprinkled liberally throughout the documentary, but between these we are treated to interesting and revealing interviews with actors, producers and Kurosawa's many other collaborators. And perhaps the most surprising thing of all is how much of Kurosawa there is, talking candidly about his working methods and the philosophy behind it all.
We follow Ichi during his high school years. Mr. Dai is the best fighter in school... whenever he fights Ichi is there and has a huge smile on his face. Mr. Dai thinks that Ichi is laughing at him but in fact he enjoys watching the violence that goes through the fights. Everyone is bullying, taunting and making fun of Ichi... even little kids from his karate class. Yet Ichi refuses to let go of his anger and fight others. Just when Mr. Dai is about to get Ichi, a new transfer student starts to make his own laws... by beating up everyone and breaking their bones! In a fight with the new student, Mr. Dai ends up on the ground, beaten and broken up from almost everywhere. It seems like this new guy wants to fight Ichi because supposedly he is the only one that could give him some challenge.
An obsessive-compulsive Japanese librarian living in Bangkok spends most of his days contemplating suicide in his lifeless apartment. His life changes when he witnesses the death of Nid, seconds before he was about to jump off a bridge. This brings him in contact with Nid's elder sister Noi - these two lost and lonely souls help each other find the meaning to their meaningless existences.
Ryo (UA) personifies water, since whenever something important happens in her life, it rains. She inherits a bathhouse and meets a pyromaniac named Yusaku (Tadanobu Asano of “Electric Dragon 80.000 V,” “Distance”). Their confrontation leads to an inevitable union, just like elements of nature blend together.
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
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.
In Somai's final film, an alcoholic civil servant wakes up under a cherry tree in Tokyo next to a bar hostess with whom he's impulsively made a suicide pact. Though he's now changed his mind, he agrees to travel with her to Hokkaido, her preferred site for ending it all. An elegiac road movie of restrained emotion.
Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. Who will end up with the money?
Two shorts about the making of Hideaki Anno's movie "Love & Pop", one from the perspective of a bumbling assistant, and one from the perspective of a AV director filming a documentary about Anno but narrated by a worker from a bread factory
A biographical film of war photographer, Taizo Ichinose.
A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences.
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
In dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.
"Falling into the Evening" tells the story of a young woman’s confusion when her boyfriend starts a relationship with another. Rica and Kengo have been living together for the past four years. It’s been a very happy time for Rica; the only dark spot being an accident she caused during a shoot for a commercial in which Kengo’s good friend, Shibata, nearly lost his life. The memory of this event weighs heavily on Rica’s conscience. One night Kengo tells Rica that he has fallen in love with a charming but „inscrutable“ woman named Hanako.
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world, as she struggles to raise money for an expensive ring.
This is a biographical film about the late Yoko Araki, who was the wife of Japan's leading photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki.
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 short, direct and to-the-point media-commentary thriller. A sleazy TV producer trying to exploit a quiet otaku (an obsessive hobbyist) whose hobby is electronic eavesdropping ends up getting a lot more than he bargained for when they eavesdrop on the wrong conversation and he prods said otaku into helping him "investigate" the lead, only to find out that some things (and people) are not always as they seem, when a minor altercation causes things to take a rather nasty turn....
The scientist wants to prove that mermaids exist, which was the reason why he was pulled out from scientists circle in Japan. He settles down in Australia and refuses on his hypothesis. A Japanese student comes to him in Australia and gives him strange questions about mermaids. After the student a journalist comes and is interested to know how the young man survived in the ocean and why he doesn't remember anything.
Swallowtail Butterfly takes place in an alternate Japan, in a ghetto where immigrants from all over the world have come to live and make their fortune. The city is called Yentown, and it is much like Tokyo. Sixteen-year-old Ageha (Ito), a young girl whose mother has just died, is passed on from person to person until a prostitute named Glico (Chara) finally takes pity on her. Under Glico's care, Ageha has many experiences with the other poverty-stricken immigrants in Yentown. Eventually, due to a sudden twist in fate, the immigrants are given a chance to realize their dreams. But in doing so, they destroy their solidarity, and have to face their problems separately.
In Harari-cho, a small and quiet bayside town by the sea, the firemen have not seen a fire for nearly twenty years. Each day passes eventlessly... until one day. The monotony of their daily lives is interrupted by the appearance of a beautiful female college student, Momoko (Suzuki Kyoka), who comes to visit her aunt. After catching a glimpse of Momoko, both Tatsuya (Takenaka Naoto) and Nobuyuki (Akai Hidekazu) can't stop thinking about her. Since then, the small town is not so quiet anymore…
A salesman from Delta Works, a London-based computerized database, offers a one month free trial that seems uninteresting until he mentions that an operator, always selected from a group of young women in their 20's nick-named "Delta Ladies", will also be supplied in the trial period. Poo arrives at the one-man Aida Detective Agency with the Delta Mazelan 'F' Series hardware. A dragon fish has been stolen by Tetsu Tobiyama and biologist Thomas Earwing seeks its return (the Super-Red variety is worth 10 million yen). The system fails to provide info about Tetsu, but Poo worms her way into a top secret file at Delta headquarters, finding that he supplies trained assassins for use worldwide. Searching tropical fish outlets where Tobiyama shops for supplies, Poo is led to Natsuro, living alone with fish tanks, one of which contains a dragon fish. This enigmatic young man is not only mysteriously attractive to Poo, he also seems to attract the attention of hit men aimed at him.
Adaptation of the Arimasa Ohsawa novel Shinjuku Shark.
It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara Yasufumi Hayashi) hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.
One day after school, Kaoru glances at Sonoko at the pool side. He falls in love with her at first sight and decides to join the swimming team even though he cannot swim.
A lengthy study of the making of the movie, including interviews, a look into vehicle design, a glimpse at storyboards, an examination of the raw animation process, the film's visual stylings, its soundtrack, the voice acting work, its premiere, and more.
