One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades, from techno-pop stardom to Oscarwinning film composer. The evolution of his music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan’s social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following cancer, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
Little Buddha is a movie about the life of Siddhartha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
Arun (Aamir Khan) is a reclusive and lonely modern art painter. Shai (Monica Dogra) is an American banker who is on a visit to Mumbai. Munna (Prateik Babbar) is a washerboy also living near Arun and Yasmin (Kriti Malhotra). The movie is about these four characters from different class of society and how the lives of four characters are intertwined
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. Being alone was normal since his mother died young and his father was always away with his jazz band. At school he studied art, but while his sketches are accurate and detailed they lack feeling. Used to being self-sufficient, Tony seems to find emotions illogical and immature. After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated by Eiko, a client who in turn is fascinated by high end fashion. Eiko is like an angel in Tony's daily existence, and for the first time in his life, he feels connected to the outside world. However, Eiko does have one fault: she's a clothing shopaholic. Eventually he marries her, and his life changes. He feels vibrantly alive and for the first time he understands and fears loneliness. But her obsession with designer clothes begins to worry him. When he asks her to economize, the consequences are tragic.
A mad scientist transfers his mind to a wicked robot, which then embarks on a program of kidnaping, rape and murder, during which a female detective is killed. To fight the robot, the police woman's corpse is then made into a robotrix.
Freelance writer Aoi Teshigahara (Miho Nakayama) lives in Paris, France. Sen Yagami (Osamu Mukai) is a photographer who came to Paris, France due to his younger sister Suzume's (Mirei Kiritani) insistance. Over the next 3 days, Aoi Teshigahara and Sen Yagami fall in love. Meanwhile, Suzume meets her boyfriend Kango (Gou Ayano), whom they have been in a long distance relationship.
When looking for alternative energy sources, the Japanese scientist Sekai tragically dies. Twenty years later the Brazilian mathematician Euclides continues his research. The lack of an essential component won't allow a breakthrough. Only AUN, Sekai's son, seems to hold the key to protect mankind from self-destruction. In the aftermath of the nuclear tragedy in Fukushima the film appears like a prophecy. AUN's dream-like images, complemented by music from Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto, lead into a fantastic and exciting world, full of brightness and darkness of life.
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
An tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
An American couple (John Malkovich, Debra Winger) drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
Starring Yellow Magic Orchestra and David Brooks Palmer, YMO Propaganda is 1984 Musical film directed by Shin Saito. Originally premiered theatrically throughout Japan in 1984 and is considered by some to be the best visual work from 'Y.M.O.'
High Heels is a murder mystery comedy centering on flamboyant actress Becky del Paramo and her daughter Rebecca, a television anchorwoman. After being estranged for 15 years, Becky re-enters Rebecca's life when she comes to perform a concert. Rebecca, she finds, is now married to one of Becky's ex-lovers, Manuel. The mother and daughter begin making up for lost time, when suddenly, a murder occurs...
A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident
In a utopian society created at the end of the third world war, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind?
The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.
A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.
Natsuko is a woman of 20 who feels entrapped in her long-running relationship with another man—she wants out of a "nowhere" life and into something better. To that end, she hooks up with a photographer and poses for him in the nude—if only to break away from her restricted existence for awhile. Soon the photographer leads her to a relationship with an open-minded man who helps her along the path of individual choice and freedom. Her next relationship is with a well-known actor who is able to introduce her to an acting job—an intimation that perhaps Natsuko's life will change after all. Given enough time and men, could she eventually run for Prime Minister?
Miyuki doesn't need to stalk the man she's crazy about, because he lives one floor down. He's Yoshinori, a not very successful long-haired musician. Miyuki, a coffee-shop waitress, nods when they pass on the stairs, but hasn't yet dared to strike up a conversation. Instead she slips out every night and helps herself to his trash.
In 1905, Japan was seriously threatened in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan determined a decisive attack on Russia to end the war. A reconnaissance troop was organized to penetrate into the supreme headquarter of Russia in Tieling Mountain of China to find out the enemy's situation...
Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. 1. During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as her personal slave to torment him, and tries breaking her spirit by means of rape, torture and pure sadism. After Iori refuses to participate any longer he is exiled, but vows to get her back. 2. When Sutezo is forced to serve the cruel master of a brothel to repay his debts, he becomes friends with the young girl Sato. Together, they escape and try to get by on scams and theft.
Kurosaki (Ren Osugi) is an erotic novelist who uses his editor and a hired model to act out scenarios in his living room he will use for inspiration in his writing. His wife Shizuko (Yôko Hoshi) calls him a pervert but we soon learn that what bothers her is that she feels her husband has intellectualized his carnal desires and she feels physically neglected. Shizuko tries to make him jealous, or simply goes after what she desires with someone else. At first she brings home a Caucasian English teacher but soon zeros in on her husband's editor after witnessing his accomplished S&M rope tying technique. Kurosaki's first response is anger, then forgiveness, then he decides to use the affair as inspiration for his current work in progress. He demands that his editor continue the affair and recount all the sordid details to him. He slaps his editor upside the head, then forgives him and offers him a drink each time before they get to work.
Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. We first meet her in a convenience store where she is buying too much alcohol and not enough food. At the magazine rack she pauses to contemplate the happiness of the glamour girls on the glossies for which she writes. Only later do we realize that this is self-reflection. A chance encounter with truck driving Takatoshi, leads to a two day romp of sex, friendship and introspection. It's unclear if what happens to her is the product of her writer self imagining it all as a magazine serial (hence the inter-titles and voice of the narrator).
When three older men buy a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Chikako (Ando Nozomi) for a year's-worth of sexual services -- her motivation, aside from money, is never explained -- the relationships among the men (whom she calls A. B and C) keep shifting in ways that redefine power and sex. These are not easy to read, except as male fantasy. (Real nudity is avoided.) What is clear is that the men are increasingly infantalized as Chikako grows up. They call her Hanako, in tribute to one's absent daughter. The pic's visual effects are somewhat Godardian, with found music, disjointed cutting and a strange finish involving a stuffed teddy bear, along with some Bunuel-like sexual motifs that add to the confusion and also dilute the prurience. In the end, though, the characters don't move forward enough to be more than ciphers.
Akira had to transfer schools upon graduation because of her father's job. She was reluctant to move because of her secret love for Nao...
On April 5, 2007, a couple married in a church. At first glance, it was a typical wedding. The bride, however, was suffering from late-stage breast cancer and had been given only a month to live. A young woman is diagnosed with breast cancer but keeps the information from her boyfriend. When he finds out, he decides to plan a wedding even though she only has one month to live. Based on the true story of Chie Nagashima, a women afflicted with breast cancer and her husband Taro Akasu.
This erotically charged drama from Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki (Vibrator) traces the intersecting stories of a group of employees and visitors at a notorious "love hotel" in Tokyo's red-light district.
Tsugumi Dozono (Nana Eikura) works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. One day, her grandmother passes away and Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in her grandmother's house while working from home. She finds a strange middle-aged man in the house. The man's name is Jun Kaieda (Etsushi Toyokawa). Jun Kaieda tells Tsugumi that he is her grandmother’s ex-student and her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house. Tsugumi, who does not know the exact relationship between her grandmother and Jun, begins to live with him.
Jam Films S is a Japanese omnibus movie. It was released by Phantom FIlm in Japan on January 15, 2005. The movie follows 2002’s Jam Films and its 2004 sequel Jam Films 2. This time around, the overall theme is “S” which stands for succession, success, and special. There are seven shorts, all produced by Ryuhei Kitamura. Included are the shorts Tuesday by Kenji Sonoda, Heaven Sent by Ryuichi Takatsu, Blouse by Hitoshi Ishikawa, New Horizon by Ryo Teshima, Suberidai by Yuichi Abe, Alpha by Daisaburo Harada, and Suit by Masaki Hamamoto.
Petrel Hotel Blue is about friends Yoji, Yukio, and Kohei attempting a vehicular robbery. Yoji never shows, Kohei flakes at the scene, and Yukio takes the fall for the failed endeavor. Years later, Yukio is freed from prison and enacts a revenge plot against Yoji. From this point, one might anticipate an unsympathetic vengeance story consistent with the Asian arthouse of the past decade, but with Wakamatsu the intrigue is a pretense. Yukio traces Yoji to the isolated island hotel that he now manages with a sensuous and silent woman named Rika. From this desolate environ, literally a kind of primordial Nowhere replete with ominous black volcanic sand, reality quickly deteriorates. Tensions and rivalries rise, things are said, people are killed, dreams are inhabited, space and time crumble. The catalyst of this degeneration, and the cause for Yoji’s absence all those years ago is one and the same: Rika. And she has curves that will make you blush.
One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades, from techno-pop stardom to Oscarwinning film composer. The evolution of his music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan’s social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following cancer, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades, from techno-pop stardom to Oscarwinning film composer. The evolution of his music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan’s social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following cancer, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Starring Yellow Magic Orchestra and David Brooks Palmer, YMO Propaganda is 1984 Musical film directed by Shin Saito. Originally premiered theatrically throughout Japan in 1984 and is considered by some to be the best visual work from 'Y.M.O.'
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
Miyuki doesn't need to stalk the man she's crazy about, because he lives one floor down. He's Yoshinori, a not very successful long-haired musician. Miyuki, a coffee-shop waitress, nods when they pass on the stairs, but hasn't yet dared to strike up a conversation. Instead she slips out every night and helps herself to his trash.
'Face' is a fascinating and difficult to categorize movie. Naomi Fujiyama gives an impressive performance (her movie debut) as the frumpy, clumsy and socially retarded Masako who one day strangles the pretty sister who loves to torment her. Masako flees from her home and then goes on a journey, both physically and emotionally, which ranges from everything from rape, earthquakes, learning to ride a bicycle, and working in a karaoke bar.
Kurosaki (Ren Osugi) is an erotic novelist who uses his editor and a hired model to act out scenarios in his living room he will use for inspiration in his writing. His wife Shizuko (Yôko Hoshi) calls him a pervert but we soon learn that what bothers her is that she feels her husband has intellectualized his carnal desires and she feels physically neglected. Shizuko tries to make him jealous, or simply goes after what she desires with someone else. At first she brings home a Caucasian English teacher but soon zeros in on her husband's editor after witnessing his accomplished S&M rope tying technique. Kurosaki's first response is anger, then forgiveness, then he decides to use the affair as inspiration for his current work in progress. He demands that his editor continue the affair and recount all the sordid details to him. He slaps his editor upside the head, then forgives him and offers him a drink each time before they get to work.
This movie is a political/espionage thriller, based on a real kidnapping incident of Korean politician, Kim Dae-Jun.
Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. We first meet her in a convenience store where she is buying too much alcohol and not enough food. At the magazine rack she pauses to contemplate the happiness of the glamour girls on the glossies for which she writes. Only later do we realize that this is self-reflection. A chance encounter with truck driving Takatoshi, leads to a two day romp of sex, friendship and introspection. It's unclear if what happens to her is the product of her writer self imagining it all as a magazine serial (hence the inter-titles and voice of the narrator).
A Middle-aged Japanese ex-pat journalist investigates child organ trafficking in Thailand and he uncovers a sinister network. In the darkest corners of Thailand, child prostitution and organ sales flourish. In order to save a child's life, another life must be taken. An outraged Japanese journalist and a passionate young Japanese NGO member attempt to save "children of the dark" from being consumed by arrogance and greed. However, the harsh realities of life intervene... Adapting Yan Sogil's book, which unflinchingly portrays the tragic realities unfolding today, filmmaker Junji Sakamoto directs a talented multinational cast to bring these stark events to life.
When three older men buy a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Chikako (Ando Nozomi) for a year's-worth of sexual services -- her motivation, aside from money, is never explained -- the relationships among the men (whom she calls A. B and C) keep shifting in ways that redefine power and sex. These are not easy to read, except as male fantasy. (Real nudity is avoided.) What is clear is that the men are increasingly infantalized as Chikako grows up. They call her Hanako, in tribute to one's absent daughter. The pic's visual effects are somewhat Godardian, with found music, disjointed cutting and a strange finish involving a stuffed teddy bear, along with some Bunuel-like sexual motifs that add to the confusion and also dilute the prurience. In the end, though, the characters don't move forward enough to be more than ciphers.
On an isolated ranch in the desert, one man must protect his wife from a secret past that he is now forced to confront. With the sun towering in the sky overhead, the ranch sits beneath the vast blue, isolated amidst the arid terrain, Though life is certainly evident as a house warming party ensues. Still under renovation, scaffolding and tools are strewn across the ranch, while benches and tables and are set up for the food and beverages. The neighbors chat amongst themselves as the hosts - Jack (Johnny Yong Bosch) and Lisa (Pamela Walworth) - hustle about to keep them entertained. As the evening creeps over the scene, the crowd disperses, and Maddy - the couple's daughter - prepares to leave for her first summer camp. As Jack and Lisa prepare themselves for a summer of settling and renovating, they soon find themselves swept up into a storm of confusion and terror, as a group of ruthless, masked strangers descend upon their home.
Akira had to transfer schools upon graduation because of her father's job. She was reluctant to move because of her secret love for Nao...
A pair of small time thieves bungle their biggest heist, get pulled into a scheme of deadly deceit and ultimately stumble onto a second chance to redeem themselves.
On April 5, 2007, a couple married in a church. At first glance, it was a typical wedding. The bride, however, was suffering from late-stage breast cancer and had been given only a month to live. A young woman is diagnosed with breast cancer but keeps the information from her boyfriend. When he finds out, he decides to plan a wedding even though she only has one month to live. Based on the true story of Chie Nagashima, a women afflicted with breast cancer and her husband Taro Akasu.
This erotically charged drama from Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki (Vibrator) traces the intersecting stories of a group of employees and visitors at a notorious "love hotel" in Tokyo's red-light district.
The Isokaze, an Aegis-class escort vessel, sets sail on a routine training exercise, playing host to a platoon from the Fleet Training Group. No sooner is the Isokaze on open water, however, then the FTG reveal themselves to be terrorist stowaways who kill the ship's captain, send the rest of the crew overboard and take control of the vessel. The ship is carrying a secret biological weapon which the terrorists are now threatening to use to level Tokyo! Only a stowaway NCO, Sengoko (played by Sanada Hiroyuki from Ring and Twilight Samurai) is in a position to stop them - but does he really have what it takes to save the day? Playing like a cross between a sea-faring version of Top Gun and Die Hard, director Sakamoto Junji shows that it's not just Hollywood that can produce thrill-a-minute action spectaculars.
Tsugumi Dozono (Nana Eikura) works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. One day, her grandmother passes away and Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in her grandmother's house while working from home. She finds a strange middle-aged man in the house. The man's name is Jun Kaieda (Etsushi Toyokawa). Jun Kaieda tells Tsugumi that he is her grandmother’s ex-student and her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house. Tsugumi, who does not know the exact relationship between her grandmother and Jun, begins to live with him.
Former high school teacher Kazuo Hatano (Toru Nakamura) reunites 12 years later with Masako Tezuka (Manami Konishi). Masako Tezuka was his former high school student whom he married after her graduation. Their marriage became a scandal & the couple divorced ...
Jam Films S is a Japanese omnibus movie. It was released by Phantom FIlm in Japan on January 15, 2005. The movie follows 2002’s Jam Films and its 2004 sequel Jam Films 2. This time around, the overall theme is “S” which stands for succession, success, and special. There are seven shorts, all produced by Ryuhei Kitamura. Included are the shorts Tuesday by Kenji Sonoda, Heaven Sent by Ryuichi Takatsu, Blouse by Hitoshi Ishikawa, New Horizon by Ryo Teshima, Suberidai by Yuichi Abe, Alpha by Daisaburo Harada, and Suit by Masaki Hamamoto.
The annual kabuki show is the main attraction in a rural Japanese mountain town. However, Yoshi's life is thrown into disarray days before the performance when his estranged wife and former best friend arrive back in town...
Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to his home in Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone who is willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lords' activities. He is soon approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be?
Ten years have passed since the discovery of inter-cosmic travel. The existence of three parallel worlds have been confirmed. What happens in one cosmos, even the slightest incident, can create a “butterfly effect” that influences events in the other worlds. In response to these discoveries, the “Dimension Police” and “Space Guardian Academy” are formed. The beautiful female investigator Ai is the Space Guardian Academy’s top agent. Along with her trusted android partner, Bridge, she has been assigned to eliminate the inter-cosmic terrorist group DOUBT. Amidst the struggle, Ai finds herself challenged like she never has been before when allies become enemies, enemies become allies, and the mastermind behind the evil plot is revealed.
Fourth film in the YAKUZA DEKA series, featuring Sonny Chiba as a crusading super-cop.
Marking the 75th anniversary of his birth, Shotaro Ishinomori's classic spy heroine manga "009-1" has been adapted into a live-action motion picture for the first time ever.
In Captured for Sex 2, a young man, Shingo, and his girlfriend, Miki, are driving in the countryside when their car breaks down. When they go and seek help from a nearby house, they are captured and kept as sex slaves by an unnamed man. Gradually Shingo becomes enraptured by the acts of forced S/M on both himself and Miki and offers to be the man’s apprentice, helping him abduct and torture two other women. And soon, the apprentice wishes to become the master.
Yuichi Mafune is known as a finance broker, but he's actually a conman. One day, two men show up in front of Yuichi. One man is "M" and the other is his underling Yuki Seki. They ask Yuichi Mafune to steal the "M funds". The "M funds" is thought to be a longheld legend that massive amounts of gold and other stolen loot from World War II were hidden in the basement of a Japanese bank. The loot was then taken by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces to fund secret operations. Yuichi accepts the proposal after hearing of the large fee offerred if successful. In order to steal the "M funds," which Yuichi isn't even sure if it exists, "M" plans an unprecedented money game which brings in interests from the U.S., Russia and other places. --AsianWiki
Based on an award winning novel, It's Only Talk is about the life of Yuko, a 35 year old woman. She is single and unemployed, and suffers from manic depression. The movie begins with Yuko moving to Kamata Town.
Four girls take part in illegal underground fighting event "Girl's Blood" held at an abandoned school building in Roppongi every night. The girls have their own stories and quirks from their private lives. Satsuki (Yuria Haga) suffers from a gender identity disorder, Chinatsu (Asami Tada) ran away from an abusive husband, Miko (Ayame Misaki) is a S&M queen and Mayu (Rina Koike) has a Lolita face.
Mixed up by desire, love and hatred, a disturbed young man begins tailing and eventually tries to save his neighbor, a housewife who has turned to prostitution despite her comfortable lifestyle.
Fourth film from "TOEI HERO NEXT" series featuring actors playing heroes of Toei tokusatsu series. This time, six cast of super sentai series "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger" star in a comedy film, "Oretachi Shokin Kasegi Dan." Directed by Koichi Sakamoto ("Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger").
Nagisa, a high school girl who has been given three months to live. Without telling her widowed father where she is going, she sets out from the city to the small town where she was born. She recalls her childhood memories, and her love for Satoshi begins to grow stronger. However, she is shocked to discover that Satoshi is having an affair with Eriko, a married woman.
Masayuki meets Nanami, who is on a journey with a refrigerator named Ullie. Nanami's Iranian friend Amir is helping her haul the refrigerator which contains Nanami's dead boyfriend. Masayuki joins the journey.
One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades, from techno-pop stardom to Oscarwinning film composer. The evolution of his music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan’s social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following cancer, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
When looking for alternative energy sources, the Japanese scientist Sekai tragically dies. Twenty years later the Brazilian mathematician Euclides continues his research. The lack of an essential component won't allow a breakthrough. Only AUN, Sekai's son, seems to hold the key to protect mankind from self-destruction. In the aftermath of the nuclear tragedy in Fukushima the film appears like a prophecy. AUN's dream-like images, complemented by music from Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto, lead into a fantastic and exciting world, full of brightness and darkness of life.
Starring Yellow Magic Orchestra and David Brooks Palmer, YMO Propaganda is 1984 Musical film directed by Shin Saito. Originally premiered theatrically throughout Japan in 1984 and is considered by some to be the best visual work from 'Y.M.O.'
The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.
This erotically charged drama from Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki (Vibrator) traces the intersecting stories of a group of employees and visitors at a notorious "love hotel" in Tokyo's red-light district.
Jam Films S is a Japanese omnibus movie. It was released by Phantom FIlm in Japan on January 15, 2005. The movie follows 2002’s Jam Films and its 2004 sequel Jam Films 2. This time around, the overall theme is “S” which stands for succession, success, and special. There are seven shorts, all produced by Ryuhei Kitamura. Included are the shorts Tuesday by Kenji Sonoda, Heaven Sent by Ryuichi Takatsu, Blouse by Hitoshi Ishikawa, New Horizon by Ryo Teshima, Suberidai by Yuichi Abe, Alpha by Daisaburo Harada, and Suit by Masaki Hamamoto.
Natsuko is a woman of 20 who feels entrapped in her long-running relationship with another man—she wants out of a "nowhere" life and into something better. To that end, she hooks up with a photographer and poses for him in the nude—if only to break away from her restricted existence for awhile. Soon the photographer leads her to a relationship with an open-minded man who helps her along the path of individual choice and freedom. Her next relationship is with a well-known actor who is able to introduce her to an acting job—an intimation that perhaps Natsuko's life will change after all. Given enough time and men, could she eventually run for Prime Minister?
Miyuki doesn't need to stalk the man she's crazy about, because he lives one floor down. He's Yoshinori, a not very successful long-haired musician. Miyuki, a coffee-shop waitress, nods when they pass on the stairs, but hasn't yet dared to strike up a conversation. Instead she slips out every night and helps herself to his trash.
In 1905, Japan was seriously threatened in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan determined a decisive attack on Russia to end the war. A reconnaissance troop was organized to penetrate into the supreme headquarter of Russia in Tieling Mountain of China to find out the enemy's situation...
Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. 1. During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as her personal slave to torment him, and tries breaking her spirit by means of rape, torture and pure sadism. After Iori refuses to participate any longer he is exiled, but vows to get her back. 2. When Sutezo is forced to serve the cruel master of a brothel to repay his debts, he becomes friends with the young girl Sato. Together, they escape and try to get by on scams and theft.
Kurosaki (Ren Osugi) is an erotic novelist who uses his editor and a hired model to act out scenarios in his living room he will use for inspiration in his writing. His wife Shizuko (Yôko Hoshi) calls him a pervert but we soon learn that what bothers her is that she feels her husband has intellectualized his carnal desires and she feels physically neglected. Shizuko tries to make him jealous, or simply goes after what she desires with someone else. At first she brings home a Caucasian English teacher but soon zeros in on her husband's editor after witnessing his accomplished S&M rope tying technique. Kurosaki's first response is anger, then forgiveness, then he decides to use the affair as inspiration for his current work in progress. He demands that his editor continue the affair and recount all the sordid details to him. He slaps his editor upside the head, then forgives him and offers him a drink each time before they get to work.
Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. We first meet her in a convenience store where she is buying too much alcohol and not enough food. At the magazine rack she pauses to contemplate the happiness of the glamour girls on the glossies for which she writes. Only later do we realize that this is self-reflection. A chance encounter with truck driving Takatoshi, leads to a two day romp of sex, friendship and introspection. It's unclear if what happens to her is the product of her writer self imagining it all as a magazine serial (hence the inter-titles and voice of the narrator).
When three older men buy a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Chikako (Ando Nozomi) for a year's-worth of sexual services -- her motivation, aside from money, is never explained -- the relationships among the men (whom she calls A. B and C) keep shifting in ways that redefine power and sex. These are not easy to read, except as male fantasy. (Real nudity is avoided.) What is clear is that the men are increasingly infantalized as Chikako grows up. They call her Hanako, in tribute to one's absent daughter. The pic's visual effects are somewhat Godardian, with found music, disjointed cutting and a strange finish involving a stuffed teddy bear, along with some Bunuel-like sexual motifs that add to the confusion and also dilute the prurience. In the end, though, the characters don't move forward enough to be more than ciphers.
Akira had to transfer schools upon graduation because of her father's job. She was reluctant to move because of her secret love for Nao...
On April 5, 2007, a couple married in a church. At first glance, it was a typical wedding. The bride, however, was suffering from late-stage breast cancer and had been given only a month to live. A young woman is diagnosed with breast cancer but keeps the information from her boyfriend. When he finds out, he decides to plan a wedding even though she only has one month to live. Based on the true story of Chie Nagashima, a women afflicted with breast cancer and her husband Taro Akasu.
Tsugumi Dozono (Nana Eikura) works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. One day, her grandmother passes away and Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in her grandmother's house while working from home. She finds a strange middle-aged man in the house. The man's name is Jun Kaieda (Etsushi Toyokawa). Jun Kaieda tells Tsugumi that he is her grandmother’s ex-student and her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house. Tsugumi, who does not know the exact relationship between her grandmother and Jun, begins to live with him.
Mark Sloper directs this feature-length documentary taking you through the thrills and spills of the 2013 British Superbike season. This year saw riders Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari battle it out for the chance to become the first ever four-time champion.
Chen Zhen, a Chinese engineering student in Kyoto, who braves the insults and abuse of his Japanse fellow students for his local love Mitsuko Yamada, daughter of the director, returns in 1937 to his native Shangai, under Japanse protectorate -in fact military occupation- after reading about the death of his kung-fu master Hou Ting-An in a fight against the Japanese champion Ryuichi Akutagawa.
Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to his home in Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone who is willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lords' activities. He is soon approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be?
A female reporter is fired for writing about police corruption; to make money while hiding from the press, she posts a bounty upon herself.
Fourth film in the YAKUZA DEKA series, featuring Sonny Chiba as a crusading super-cop.
When a priceless jewel owned by rich heiress Sabine is stolen, along with her daughter, Professional thief and hired killer Ryuichi Koga and his gang are hired to retrieve both. At a ransom exchange, the team save the girl but lose the money and the jewel. When Sabine decides to deal directly with the thieves and obtains the jewel on her own by paying the ransom, Koga, having been stiffed of his fee by Sabine, steals the jewel. Little does he know, it’s a fake. Now, Koga and the team must break into a high security bank to steal the real jewel.
In Captured for Sex 2, a young man, Shingo, and his girlfriend, Miki, are driving in the countryside when their car breaks down. When they go and seek help from a nearby house, they are captured and kept as sex slaves by an unnamed man. Gradually Shingo becomes enraptured by the acts of forced S/M on both himself and Miki and offers to be the man’s apprentice, helping him abduct and torture two other women. And soon, the apprentice wishes to become the master.
Tony Au directed this Hong Kong-Japanese co-production lovingly adapted for the screen by Joyce Chan. Tony Leung stars as Ryuichi Okagawa, a Japanese writer who worked as a reporter in China and has been sick ever since his return home. While in China, Okagawa had met a devoutly religious girl named Jin-hua. Okagawa was born with a predisposition to agonizing recurrent migraines, but found happiness with Jin-hua and married her. Unfortunately, he already had a wife in Japan, and this revelation crushed Jin-hua. When Okagawa returned home, leaving Jin-hua behind, she was forced to work as a prostitute, catching both a severe case of the flu and a rather less socially acceptable condition. Meanwhile, Okagawa's guilt has torn him apart enough for him to return to China in an attempt to bring Jin-hua home with him to get medical attention, but the girl is already too far gone for his help.
Jin Roh is a Japanese anime political thriller from 1999 based on a Manga from Mamoru Oshii. The film is set in the 1950’s depicting a Japanese dystopia city in a fight against terrorists.
Based on an award winning novel, It's Only Talk is about the life of Yuko, a 35 year old woman. She is single and unemployed, and suffers from manic depression. The movie begins with Yuko moving to Kamata Town.
Mixed up by desire, love and hatred, a disturbed young man begins tailing and eventually tries to save his neighbor, a housewife who has turned to prostitution despite her comfortable lifestyle.

© Valossa 2015–2024