Izo (2004)

Izo Okada was the most famous assassin of the Tenchu movement, under the command of Hanpeita. This was dealt with brilliantly in Gosha's Hitokiri, with Shintaro Katsu as Izo. That film ends with Izo's cucifixion and multiple stabbings, which is where Izo begins. Izo then embarks on fulfilling his karma, which is basically to continue …

My Second Brother / Nianchan (1959)

Nianchan gives us a look at life in the coal fields that looks a lot like life in the Appalachians of the same era, but without cars. Set in a small town in southern Kyushu where everything depends on the one coal mine, it tells the story of a family whose father has died at …

Pigs and Battleships /Buta no gunkan (1961)

In Pigs and Battleships, Shohei Imamura manages to make a completely humane, humorous, and yet utterly cynical look at Japan of the time. It is a remarkable achievement, and I can't think of many movies from any nation with quite this unique mixture of attitude. Kinta (Hiroyuki Nagato) is a not too bright hustler and …

Stolen Desire / Nusumareta yokujo (1958)

Stolen Desire as a title suggests an overheated romantic melodrama.* Instead, it is one of the most entertaining back-stage comedies you'll come across in any language. Shinichi is a young man who has somehow gotten himself attached to the low-rent Yamamura acting troupe, which tours the countryside with crudely abridged versions of Kabuki plays and …