Tokyo Sonata (2008)

Though it was widely seen and written about on its initial release, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata is so full of forgotten detail that it is more than worth a second or a third look. While it is the story of a salaryman who loses his job and almost loses his family, it is far more …

Umbrella Flower / Kaza-hana (2000)

A man and a woman wake in a Tokyo park after a night of alcoholic stupor. He can't remember how they even met. After he retrieves his pants that she has been using for a pillow, they part. After a day and a night of solitary drinking, Sawaki (Tadanobu Asano) finds himself in the airport …

Mosquito on the Tenth Floor / Jukkai no mosuquito (1983)

The first of two movies written by and starring the Japanese rock star Yuya Uchida, Mosquito presents a story familiar in America but exceedingly rare in Japan. Akami (Uchida) is a man in a dead-end job who, following his divorce, begins to slowly crack up until at last he explodes into violence. He is a …