170 Matches Found

The Pornographers

Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

The Pornographers

7.2 1966
Restoration Fire

Megastar Kataoka Chiezo is Vice-commander Hijikata Toshizo of the Shinsengumi in this realistic tale of Japan’s inner battles that led to the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Excellent performances and extremely good swordplay highlight this glimpse into the heart and soul of Japanese history. Although known as “Razor Blade” Hijikata, the vice-commander is a man of deep conviction with a little-known sense of humanity. Starting after the famed Ikedaya Incident, in which they saved Kyoto from Choshu’s plot to burn the city to ashes, they work hard to change the public’s view of them as merciless killers to their true mission of protecting the shogun. This is an extraordinary tale of blood and guts! From the pen of award winning author Shotaro Ikenami (Bandit Vs. Samurai, Hunter in the Dark, Misumi's The Last Samurai)

Restoration Fire

7.0 1961
Beyond the Green Hills

Shinko Terasawa was always considered to be the odd ball of the bunch. At a time when romance was against school regulations, Shinko was the first to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Expelled from her former school, she finds herself in an all-girls school in Jokamachi, where rumors fly. One day, Shinko delivers an anonymous love letter addressed to her English teacher, Ms. Shimazaki. Convinced that the students are playing a prank, Ms. Shimazaki is adamant about getting to the bottom of this "problem”.

Beyond the Green Hills

0.0 1963
The Sound of Waves

On a small island, inhabited by only fourteen hundred people, a young fisherman's son, Shinji falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of the richest and most difficult man on the island. Despite their differences in class, they begin to meet and rumors spread of them having an illicit affair. Soon after, Shinji jumps into a stormy sea to help a ship in distress. The vessel turns out to be owned by Hatsue's arrogant father, who now becomes an understanding and sympathetic parent and allows the two lovers to marry.

The Sound of Waves

0.0 1964
The Notorious Concubines

Based on the Chinese classic "Jin Ping Mei". Original Japanese cut directed by Koji Wakamatsu and produced by Shochiku. Set in Song-dynasty China, Wu Song rises to fame and becomes a guard captain. He is captivated by his brother’s wife, Pan Jinlian, whose beauty also ensnares the wealthy libertine Ximen Qing. To possess her, Ximen Qing has Wu Song’s brother murdered. When the corrupt authorities refuse justice, Wu Song is imprisoned, escapes with the help of the Liangshan bandits, and joins their ranks. Ximen Qing descends further into decadence, but Wu Song eventually returns, leading an attack on the town.

The Notorious Concubines

3.0 1968
Star of Hong Kong

Wang Xinglian returns from her studies in Japan to visit her father in Hong Kong where she has an encounter with the young Japanese Hasegawa Toru. The two meet again and fall in love in Hokkaido when Wang and her best friend Sugimoto Kanako are going on a holiday. Urged by her friend Zhang Yingming to concentrate on her studies, Wang remains ambivalent about the relationship, and is even more upset to realise that Sugimoto is in love with her fellow countryman. Feigning an engagement with Zhang, Wang initiates a break-up with Hasegawa and finds work in Singapore after graduation. Hasegawa learns the real cause of the break-up from Sugimoto in Hong Kong. A frenzy search finally leads to a reunion and a proposal in Kuala Lumpur. However, their love is doomed by a twist of fate as Wang must leave to see her desperately ill father in Hong Kong while Hasegawa has to leave for America to pursue his career.

Star of Hong Kong

0.0 1962
Red Peony Gambler

Ryuko was raised by her father, a gambler named Senzo Yano in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after her mother died when she was little. When she turned 18 years old, her father was attacked and killed by a stranger in alley. Ryuko then dissolves her yakuza family, and, carrying the wallet left by the killer, she sets out on a journey to avenge her father’s death. Five years later, she wanders the nation, known only as! Red Peony Oryu who has a red peony tattooed on her shoulder and has the defiance and courage of a man. She meets Katagiri - a loner gambler, Kumatora - boss of a family in Shikoku, and Otaka - female boss of the Doman Family in Osaka. With their help, she finally catches up with the man who murdered her father.

Red Peony Gambler

7.4 1968
Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong

The third and final chapter of MP & GI's Toho Trilogy expands the geographical reach of the franchise, taking stars Lucilla You Min and Takarada Akira across the Pacific to Hawaii, where scenic travelogue passages add to the cross-cultural affair. Also expanded is the romantic entanglement, as the love birds find themselves embroiled in an intricate love pentagon! By then a rising star of Toho boasting multiple talents, Jimmy Lin was bestowed the unenviable task of playing one of the five, the Lucilla character's long-lost fiancé…

Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong

0.0 1963