Gambler’s Luck / Un ga yokerya (1966)

One of the earliest available films of Yoji Yamada, Gambler's Luck provides a rare look at Japanese film comedy. Like so many films the world over featuring a famous comedian, its plot verges on the non-existent. We see the lives of a small tenement over the course of a year, during which the tenants are …

Sun’s Burial / Taiyo no hakaba (1960)

Oshima's The Sun's Burial is a brutal, if somewhat clumsy, look at Japan through its permanent underclass in Osaka. To call this a dog-eat-dog world would be an understatement. Hanako is a young prostitute working for one gang while helping Shin set up a rival operation financed by selling blood, mostly from Korean dockworkers.  Every …

Policeman’s Diary/Keisatsu nikki (1955)

There is a type of movie the Japanese have regularly made that I have rarely found in any of the other major film cultures. It's not quite a comedy, though there are often many chuckles (rather than laughs). It's not quite a tragedy, though things often end badly for many of the characters. It's not …