|
|
|
Japanese Historical Movies
|
|
羅生門 Rashōmon The film depicts the rape of a woman and the apparent murder of her samurai husband through the widely differing accounts of four witnesses, including the rapist and, through a medium (Fumiko Honma), the dead man. The stories are mutually contradictory, leaving the viewer to determine which, if any, is the truth.
Humanity And Paper Balloons
1937 black and white film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. It is his last film. Largely unknown outside of Japan until recent years, the film has been hailed by critics (Tadao Sato, Donald Ritchie), and a number of other Japanese filmmakers (Akira Kurosawa among them) as one of the most influential examples of jidaigeki, or Japanese period films. The story is set in the 18th century, and dramatically depicts the struggles and schemes of Unno, a ronin, or masterless samurai in feudal Japan.
Hawai Mare oki kaisen ハワイ・マレー沖海戦
“The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malay” portrayed the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese wartime propaganda film made in 1942 to be shown in public for the first anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Seven Samurai 七人の侍
The film takes place in Warring States Period Japan (around 1587/1588). It follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai (ronin) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.Seven Samurai is described as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made.
Gate of Hell 地獄門
tells the story of a samurai (Kazuo Hasegawa) who tries to marry a woman (Machiko Kyō) he rescues, only to discover that she is already married to someone else. Filmed using Eastmancolor film, Gate of Hell was both Daiei's first color film and the first Japanese color film to be released outside Japan.Gate of Hell won the Palme d'Or grand prize award at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.
The Burmese Harp ビルマの竪琴
Set in Burma at the end of WWII. Private Mizushima, a Japanese soldier, becomes the harp (or) saung player of Captain Inōye's group, composed of soldiers who fight and sing to raise morale in World War II Burmese campaign
Kwaidan 怪談
It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales. The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories
Battles Without Honor and Humanity 仁義なき戦い
a 1973 yakuza film by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku Starting in the open-air black markets of bombed-out Hiroshima in 1945, the film spans a period of more than ten year
Yojimbo 用心棒
a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a ronin (masterless samurai), portrayed by Toshirō Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling. The ronin convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other
The Last Samurai
The film stars Tom Cruise (who also co-produced) in the role of American soldier Nathan Algren whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in the Empire of Japan in 1876 and 1877.
Battle of Tsushima 203 Kochi ( Hill 203)
|
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
|
