A Japanese Movie Starters Guide
Wow! There are some amazing Japanese films to choose from. This is a guide to get you started on you journey to discovering some of the best directors, actors and films ever made in the world.
When I met director Edgar Wright (SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, BABY DRIVER) several years ago we immediately connected over his use of Japanese movie posters in his film SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Someone asked him what his favorite zombie movie was, and he answered "You wouldn't know it." I immediately said "VERSUS" and that was the only word I said to get his undivided attention... we spent the rest of the evening nerving out on Japanese film genre films and filmmakers... I would like to think Mr. Wright would approve of this list.
When I met director Edgar Wright (SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, BABY DRIVER) several years ago we immediately connected over his use of Japanese movie posters in his film SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Someone asked him what his favorite zombie movie was, and he answered "You wouldn't know it." I immediately said "VERSUS" and that was the only word I said to get his undivided attention... we spent the rest of the evening nerving out on Japanese film genre films and filmmakers... I would like to think Mr. Wright would approve of this list.
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- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.The sequels are not as good as this original. This also the source material that inspired huge young adult franchises like The Hunger Games and several others.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShô AikawaRiki TakeuchiRenji IshibashiA yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world.The first ten minutes of this film are cinema gold. Stick around after the pace slows to a crawl and you will be rewarded with some of the best film making director Takeshita Mike has to offer.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShôsuke TaniharaMiho NomotoTamaki KenmochiIn order to settle a business dispute, a mob leader murders one of his own teenage sons. The surviving son vows to avenge his brother's death, and organizes his own gang of teenage killers to destroy his father's organization.This film pushes the limits on what you can put in film and still make it pay the censors... it is also a great Yakuza flick.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoClaude MakiOmar EppsA Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence.Aniki. You will know how to say big brother in Japanese before you get to the end of this movie. One of the best gangster films ever put to film... and it stars a few familiar faces from the states.
You will immediately want to watch all of Takeshi Kitano's Yakuza films when you finish this one.
The most unfortunate thing about BROTHER is that this was Kitano's American directing debut and it flopped so badly that it discouraged him from directing any other American films. Very unfortunate since this is one of his best films. - DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoMaiko KawakamiMakoto AshikawaA violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.Dirty Harry style crime thriller/gangster shit with Yakuza. This about when the new era or the NEW New Wave of Japanese cinema started... Amazing film that showcases not only Kitano's acting chops but also his directing as well.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.Also known as Hana-bi, this is the movie that brought Japanese films back into the spotlight in the mid 70s. This also helped cement Takeshita Kitano as a legend in cinematic history forever. This one will shake you.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.Forget the classic Japanese samurai movies, this one is the only one you need to see. Takashi Miike takes everything great from the Samurai films in the past and boils them all down to this epic film. You get amazing story telling, deep characters and lots of the trademark Miike gore you love in his yakuza films.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsYûta SoneKimika YoshinoShohei HinoA yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.Can I say this movie is weird as fuck? Well it is. And you will need to watch it more than once to properly appreciate it. From the opening scene showing the Yakuza leader on a downward spiral to all the strange things that happen afterwards, you will find yourself saying “What the fuck was that?!” You will be tempted to turn this off more than once but if you make it to the end you will feel the need to watch it again.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsTadanobu AsanoNao ÔmoriShin'ya TsukamotoAs 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 achieving.Plant jizz, graphic depictions of women who like being beaten up, and cutting people in half... don't say I didn't warn you... this manga adapted movie is over the fucking top.
This notorious movie has been banned in several countries and caused widespread controversy.
There are several versions of this movie due to ratings challenges. Get the uncut extended version if you can. This movie is bloody gruesome and introduces some new ways to show violence on screen. The violence never seems cartoonish, that is what makes it even more impactful. - DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.Fackin weird... but gloriously weird. There were a lot of these weird films about 15 years ago... this is the same director, Katsuhito Ishii, who also did FUNKY FOREST, another gloriously weird film... but not as good as THE TASTE OF TEA.
Ishii also directed one of my favorite films SHARK SKIN MAN AND PEACH HIP GIRL, also on this list. - DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.Modern classic brought to you by one of the oldest filmmakers in the business. It is a sad Samurai movie, but an incredible film.
If there was a category for best group samurai ensemble in a film, then 13 ASSASSINS would win hands down. But if there was a category for best lonely former assassin in his his twilight years samurai film, then this is the best in category. Amazing slow burner of a film. - DirectorHideo NakataStarsNanako MatsushimaMiki NakataniYûko TakeuchiWhen her niece is found dead along with three friends after viewing a supposedly cursed videotape, reporter Reiko sets out to investigate. She finds the tape, watches it and receives a phone call informing her that she'll die in a week.The original pale Asian girl with long black hair horror movie that set off a a whole new sub-genre of horror films. If you haven’t seen this before all the other knockoffs and remakes it might not impact you the same way it did audiences when it originally hit theaters. Some of the themes are out dated and played out by now, but look past that and you are in for a treat.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.This movie will fuck you up. The first half of this movie is a romantic man looking for love sad sack story. The main characters does some questionable things to find a girlfriend and he ends up regretting it big time.
When I saw this in the theatre, people walked out at the halfway mark and more walked out towards the end because it freaked them out.
“Kitty kitty kitty.” - DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsTak SakaguchiHideo SakakiChieko MisakaThere are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The forest of resurrection.Fuck yeah! Best movie ever! Zombies verse Yakuza what else could you want in a straight up genre actioner? Low budget but big ideas. Highly influential film. This director and actor went on to make several bad ass films.
FUN FACT The main actor, Tak gave me hard time when he and I were posing together with a Japanese sword I had at my house. I didn’t take him serious and I ended up cutting myself. Kind of embarrassing. I wish I still had that sword. - DirectorYûji ShimomuraStarsTak SakaguchiTakamasa SugaKentaro SeagalAn unknown time. An unknown place. Without reasons. With no future. His only desire is - Destruction. I'ts good versus evil, and the awakening of an unlikely hero with ultra-kinetic action to create the "action" spectacle of the year.A mysterious man wanders through post apocalyptic terrain dragging something behind him - that should be a genre. I would love that genre. Another classic Tak Sakaguchi performance. And this one is weird as fuck. Genre bending for sure. But fun.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsAya UetoKenji KohashiHiroki NarimiyaRaised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.I love, love, love this movie and the sequel is not too bad. A female assassin arises from the ashes of wore torn feudal Japan to seek revenge, and she gets it in the most glorious blood drenched ways you have ever seen.
For the first 10 years of director Ryuehi Kitamura's film career, he could do no wrong... everything he did was gold, but the last ten years or... Meh, at best. Sadly, this is one of his last great movies. - DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsTakao OsawaMasaya KatôKanae UotaniA raging god of battle and a master samurai duke it out in a series of sword fights in a remote temple.If there was a genre called two bad asses in a room this would be the King. For several years director Ryuhei Kitamura insisted that he proved a well written action movie that takes place in a single room with only two actors was possible and it could be incredible. Tak is in this one too. Amazing action film. Genre buster for sure.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsHideo SakakiRyôKoyukiAfter surviving his own execution, Tenshu chooses to be subjected to the bizarre experiments of the prison officials.So much with so little. There was a time when I would watch any movie that was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, especially if they starred Tak Sakaguchi. Tak is Kitamura like Bruce Campbell is to Sam Raimi.
This movie is low budget sci-fi at its absolute best. Enough of the story is hidden from you until the right moment so that the pacing of basically two characters in a single room never gets boring. - DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsTakeshi KaneshiroAnne SuzukiGorô KishitaniA young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.Best time travel sci-fi action film I have seen. This was the movie that kicked off my desire to bring Asian films to American audiences in the film festival format. This movie made such an impression on me that several years later I had to get the main actor Tak Sakaguchi out to Dallas. I needed to meet this badass. And he didn’t disappoint. He has about six badass movies and two dozen shit bombs.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.Shion Sono, much like Takashi Miike, is a prolific moving maker, sometimes delivering more than one film in a year. But like Miike, this often comes at the cost of most of their films being sub-par. But when you stumble on one of their gems like LOVE EXPOSURE or WHY DONT YOU PLAY IN HELL?... well damn now we are talking some of the most bizarre and greatest movies of all time.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsJun KunimuraFumi NikaidôShin'ichi TsutsumiA renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.Holy shit! With a title like that you know what you are in for... and this one delivers on that title and the anticipation that comes when you see the that it is also a Shion Sono directed film. And this one is a good one... it makes you immediately wish all of his movies were this good. This was definitely a fan favorite at film festivals.
This is one of those movies you hear about at film festivals that stand out above all the rest. But then you can never find the film until years later. Go watch this shit now! - DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsTadanobu AsanoSie KohinataShingo TsurumiIn 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.Tadanobu Asano stars in the ode to Tarantino films, which in turn are an ode to Japanese and exploitation films... so meta. Asano is in more than a hundred movies and deserves his own list.
Much like classic Tarantino, this an over the top, wild violent movie that is also funny sometimes. Prompting you to laugh at things you should not be laughing at.
This is another Ishii directed classic that still feels modern if you can find it. - DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoTadanobu AsanoYui NatsukawaThe blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.When I heard that Takashi Miike and Takeshi Kitano were teaming up to direct a samurai movie starring Tadanobu Asano and it was a remake of the class Zatoichi character... I knew I had to show this movie at film festival that year.
Miike dropped out early in production, but this movie went on to be the definitive version of the blind swordsman tale. Kitano could do no wrong for about twenty years of his film making career. - DirectorGen SekiguchiStarsTadanobu AsanoReika HashimotoKyôko KoizumiFive bizarre stories with no apparent connection to one and other eventually become intertwined, resulting in surreal circumstances.Another weird Japanese movie that crosses several genres. This is a polarizing film to say the least, some love it and some hate it. Most hate it... but is worth giving it a watch. It won't make much sense until the end but it is worth the wait.
This film features ex-footballer Vinny Jones, who happens to have also been in the Japanese directed MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, but notably famous for his role in SNATCH. - DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.