90% (2)  Rashomon  88 min,  Not Rated,  [Crime, Drama, Mystery]  [Akira Kurosawa]  [26 Dec 1951]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 83%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 98%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations.
Actors:  Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune
Writer:  Ryûnosuke Akutagawa (stories), Akira Kurosawa (screenplay), Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  Japanese    Country:  Japan
Plot:  A priest, a woodcutter and another man are taking refuge from a rainstorm in the shell of a former gatehouse called Rashômon. The priest and the woodcutter are recounting the story of a murdered samurai whose body the woodcutter discovered three days earlier in a forest grove. Both were summoned to testify at the murder trial, the priest who ran into the samurai and his wife traveling through the forest just before the murder occurred. Three other people who testified at the trial are supposedly the only direct witnesses: a notorious bandit named Tajômaru, who allegedly murdered the samurai and raped his wife; the white veil cloaked wife of the samurai; and the samurai himself who testifies through the use of a medium. The three tell a similarly structured story - that Tajômaru kidnapped and bound the samurai so that he could rape the wife - but which ultimately contradict each other, the motivations and the actual killing being what differ. The woodcutter reveals at Rashômon that he knows more than he let on at the trial, thus bringing into question his own actions. But another discovery at Rashômon and the resulting actions from the discovery bring back into focus the woodcutter's own humanity or lack thereof.
Rotten Tomatoes:   This landmark Japanese masterpiece is Akira Kurosawa's cinematic examination of the subjective nature of truth. In feudal Japan, three men sheltering from a storm discuss an incident where a bandit raped a woman whose husband then somehow died. The film's innovative narrative structure recounts that incident from four differing viewpoints.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]

87% (2)  Floating Weeds  119 min,  [Drama]  [Yasujirô Ozu]  [24 Nov 1970]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 80%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 95%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Ayako Wakao, Ganjirô Nakamura, Haruko Sugimura, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Machiko Kyô
Writer:  Yasujirô Ozu (screenplay), Kôgo Noda (screenplay)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  Japanese    Country:  Japan
Plot:  A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe, goes to visit his old flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi, even though Kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The leading actress Sumiko is jealous and so, in order to humiliate the master, persuades the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.
Rotten Tomatoes:   This 1959 Ozu production centers on the likable but fallible leader of an itinerant acting troupe ("floating weeds" being the Japanese name for such groups), Kimajuro, played brilliantly by Ganjiro Nakamura. The film opens on a lazy, stagnant river as the troupe lays spread about on a boat deck drifting downstream. It's obvious that they're a ragged bunch as they sit fanning themselves and smoking on deck. The boat pulls into a quiet fishing village where the troupe proceeds to canvass the town, hanging up posters and performing impromptu stunts for the inhabitants. Kimajuro and his actress mistress, Sumiko (Machiko Kyo), head to the theatre and secure their cramped quarters above the theatre's main hall. Kimajuro leaves to pay a visit to a local saki bar owned by Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), who, years previous, had conceived a child with Kimajuro. The child has grown into a strapping young man, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who has a good job at the post office. Kimajuro, although clearly proud of his son, has refused to take responsibility for the child and Kiyoshi thinks Kimajuro is merely his uncle. Unbeknownst to Kimajuro, Sumiko has discovered his secret, and, infuriated, hires a young actress to seduce Kiyoshi. Terrified that his son is falling for this woman of loose morals, Kimajuro has to decide what's most important: keeping his secret safe or saving his son by acknowledging his paternity. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]

86% (2)  Gate of Hell  89 min,  [Drama, History, Romance]  [Teinosuke Kinugasa]  [10 Dec 1954]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 72%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 100%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 1 nomination.
Actors:  Isao Yamagata, Kazuo Hasegawa, Machiko Kyô, Yatarô Kurokawa
Writer:  Kan Kikuchi (play), Teinosuke Kinugasa, Masaichi Nagata
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  Japanese    Country:  Japan
Plot:  In 1160, in the Heian Period, Lord Kiyomori travels with his court to another feud and his Castle Sanjo is invaded by two other lords, in a coup. The loyal samurai Moritoh Enda asks the court lady Kesa to pose of the lord's sister to create a diversion while the lord's real sister and his father flee in the middle of the people. Then Moritoh travels to meet Lord Kiyomon and fights with him to defeat the enemies and the coup fails. Lord Kiyomon rewards the warriors that helped him and when he asks Moritoh what he wishes, he requests to marry Kesa. The lord grants his wish but soon he learns that Kesa is married with Wataru Watanabe, a samurai from the imperial guard. Moritoh harasses Kesa and threatens her, promising to kill her husband, her aunt and her if she does not marry him. Kesa's decision leads the trio to a tragic fate.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Originally released as Jigokumen, Gate of Hell was one of the most popular Japanese imports of the 1954-55 American film season. Set in 12th-century feudal Japan, the film stars Kazuo Hasegawa as Moritoh, a samurai whose courage in defending his ruler is to be rewarded with anything he desires. He desires the beautiful, aristocratic Lady Kesa Machiko Kyo who happens to be already married to another samurai, Wataru (Isao Yamagata). Moritoh attempts to persuade Kesa to leave her husband but her devotion is unshakeable. The winner of two Academy Awards and a Cannes grand prize, Gate of Hell is perhaps the most dazzling example of Japanese color photography of the 1950s. The film was based on a well-known play by Kan Kikuchi. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]

81% (2)  Street of Shame  87 min,  [Drama]  [Kenji Mizoguchi]  [04 Jun 1959]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 80%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 82%,   External Reviews
Awards:  2 wins & 1 nomination.
Actors:  Aiko Mimasu, Ayako Wakao, Machiko Kyô, Michiyo Kogure
Writer:  Masashige Narusawa, Yoshiko Shibaki (novel)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  Japanese    Country:  Japan
Plot:  Five prostitutes work at Dreamland, in Tokyo's Yoshiwara district. As the Diet considers a ban on prostitution, the women's daily dramas play out. Each has dreams and motivations. Hanae is married, her husband unemployed; they have a young child. Yumeko, a widow, uses her earnings to raise and support her son, who's now old enough to work and care for her. The aging Yorie has a man who wants to marry her. Yasumi saves money diligently to pay her debt and get out; she also has a suitor who wants to marry her, but she has other plans for him. Mickey seems the most devil-may-care, until her father comes from Kobe to bring her news of her family and ask her to come home.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Kenji Mizoguchi's final film was on one of his favorite subjects: prostitutes. After a spate of universally lauded period pieces, Mizoguchi returned to the socially conscious dramas that he made famous in the 1930s. Here, as in Osaka Elegy (1936), he offered a scathing critique of society's hypocrisies and exploitative treatment of women, without the sort of transcendence seen in Life of Oharu (1952). This gritty drama of six working girls in one brothel in Tokyo's Yoshiwara red-light district explores how the women came to work in such a place -- trying to pay for their children's education, trying to bail their fathers out of prison, trying to support their out-of-work husbands -- and how they fight to maintain their dignity in spite of the degradations of their profession. Machiko Kyo gives a remarkable performance as Mickey, a cynical hooker with a heart of stone, who shames and then cruelly propositions her own father, while Aiko Mimasu plays the aging Yumeko, who is emotionally shattered after her son rejects her. This film was reportedly instrumental in the outlawing of prostitution in Japan.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]

77% (2)  The Teahouse of the August Moon  123 min,  Approved,  [Comedy]  [Daniel Mann]  [01 Dec 1956]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 68%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 86%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Nominated for 6 Golden Globes. Another 3 nominations.
Actors:  Eddie Albert, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyô, Marlon Brando
Writer:  John Patrick (screenplay), Vern J. Sneider (book), John Patrick (play)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, Japanese    Country:  USA
Plot:  This comedy-drama is partially a gentle satire on America's drive to change the world in the post-war years. One year after World War II, Captain Fisby is sent to the village of Tobiki in Okinawa to teach the people democracy. The first step is to build a school -- but the wily Okinawans know what they really want. They tell him about their culture and traditions -- and persuade him to build something they really want instead: a teahouse. Fisby has a hard time breaking this news to his superiors.
Rotten Tomatoes:   This filmization of John Patrick's Broadway play is set in Okinawa in the months following V-J Day. Paul Ford plays an American colonel in charge of the occupation troops. Determined to bring Western civilization to the Okinawans, the colonel assigns captain Glenn Ford to do his bidding.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]

64% (2)  Odd Obsession  107 min,  [Drama]  [Kon Ichikawa]  [12 May 1961]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 71%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 57%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.
Actors:  Ganjirô Nakamura, Junko Kanô, Machiko Kyô, Tatsuya Nakadai
Writer:  Keiji Hasebe, Kon Ichikawa, Jun'ichirô Tanizaki (novel), Natto Wada
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  Japanese    Country:  Japan
Plot:  An ageing antique specialist in Kyoto, Japan is losing virility but finds himself excited when he deliberately makes his daughter's boyfriend attracted to his younger beautiful wife. Things begin to spiral as his health declines and the plotted becomes the plotting.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Several cinematic variations on Junichiro Tanizaki's novel about jealousy, voyeurism, and sexual arousal began with this award-winning drama by director Kon Ichikawa. Kenji Kenmochi (Ganjiro Nakamura) is the older and increasingly impotent husband of young Ikuko (Machiko Kyo). He is desperate to regain his virility and when injections fail to do the trick, he discovers by spying on his daughter and her lover that jealousy will arouse him. Determined to succeed, he connives to bring his wife and his daughter's lover together -- so he can become jealous and sexually virile again. Unfortunately for Kenji, his plan has tragic consequences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 6]