Kamikaze Taxi (1995)

Kamikaze Taxi suggests either a wild, violent bloodfest or a crazy comedy, but though there will eventually be a lot of death, it doesn't quite fit either of those genres. In the way of Japanese story-telling, we do not even meet the taxi or its driver until fifty minutes into an almost three hour movie …

Love Bites Back / Woman Who Bites / Kamu onna (1988)

The Woman Who Bites takes us behind the scenes of Japan's new Adult Video industry that was essentially destroying the theatrical pinku film business while it simultaneously provides a complex plot and a sympathetic portrait of a marriage gone sour. Yuichi (Toshiyushi Nagashima) used to be an acclaimed screenwriter and director who now runs a …

Legend of Turmoil / Shura no densetsu (1992)

Akira Kobayashi had been the king of Nikkatsu's “borderless action” movies in the sixties, but in the seventies had moved to Toei and taken up yakuza movies, often in supporting roles. His appearances faded in the eighties, even trying to revive Chiezo Kataoka's old Detective Bannai series. After a long gap he returned for his …

The Bride Talks in Her Sleep / Hanayome no negoto (1933)

Like The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, Gosho's Bride Talks in Her Sleep is designed to show off the new sound technology that Shochiku was slowly introducing as their studio standard. It is also a light-hearted look at student and salaryman life in the early thirties, very much the same feel as Ozu's silent student comedies …

24 Hour Playboy / Ai to heisei no iro-otoko (1989)

Nagashima is a 24 Hour Playboy because he has a bad case of insomnia that can only be cured by a woman who can “tire him out.” By day a dentist, by evening a jazz saxophonist, by night a playboy, he can and does charm just about any young woman except his sister. In summary, …

Majoran (1984)

Though performances by the short-lived all-female rock band Majoran open and close the movie, they do not otherwise appear in Majoran, so I can't explain the title. Rei is a sharp but rather bull-headed teen-aged girl who drops out of school and runs away from home. She ends up in Osaka where Sabu saves her …

Sweet Home / Suito homu (1989)

Though basically an ignored genre flick at the time, Sweet Home was extremely significant historically. It served as the foundation for one of the earliest popular video games for home players, which due to a later loss of naming rights would later be called the Resident Evil games and movies.* More importantly for non-gamers, it …

Rape and Death of a Housewife / Fatal Case of Assault / Hitozuma shudan boko chishi jiken (1978)

Film-makers at Nikkatsu during the roman porno era often commented that Nikkatsu actually offered them more freedom than other studios – as long as there were 4-5 bare bosoms or sex scenes per hour, the studio bosses didn't much care what the movies were actually about. This doesn't necessarily mean that many great, subversive, or …

Comic Magazine / No More Comics / Komikku zasshi nanka iranai! (1986)

By the eighties, the tabloid world of Scandal or Detective Bureau had shifted to television, where celebrity gossip has become the major subject matter. Kinameri is a “reporter” for his network’s morning show, where he tries to get  stories from people who generally try to avoid him and his camera crew. He is generally thought …

Love Hotel / Rabu Hoteru (1985)

Though its two critical scenes occur in a hotel room used for sexual assignations, Shinji Somai’s Love Hotel is a love story, though admittedly an odd one. Overwhelmed by debts which lead to the yakuza rape of his wife, Muraki (Minori Terada) tries to jump out a window and is distracted by a fly. He …