In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute, and becomes entangled in a love triangle. A mystery emerges involving two portraits and the sudden disappearance of the artist Sharaku. Helmed by Cannes-selected director Tatsuji Yamazaki, the film employs kabuki-inspired sequences and stylised sets.
The Taste of Tea (2004)
A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
After the Rain (2000)
A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.
Becket (1964)
Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.
Reigen (1973)
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets an eager young lady of the evening. Later he has an affair with a young lady, who becomes a maid and does similarly with the young man of the house. The young man seduces a married woman. On and on, spinning on the gay carousel of life.
Three Days in August (2016)
An adopted Irish American artist confronts her past when both sets of parents come together over a weekend for her to paint a family portrait.
Dreaming Lips (1932)
The young Gaby is happily married to the musician Peter but cannot ignore the impression that his friend Michael, a violin virtuoso, makes on her. Even when Peter falls seriously ill, she cannot forget her love for Michael. Torn between the two men, Gaby sees only one way out...
Othello (1995)
The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic.
Miss Hokusai (2015)
A daughter is constantly overshadowed by her famous father, but she is determined to make her own mark in the world.
Beautiful Mystery (1983)
Shinohara, a young bodybuilder, joins a para-military sect in northern Japan. His instructor, Takizawa, takes a liking to the new recruit. After an early “special” training session the two develop a lasting and loving relationship.
An Actor's Revenge (1935)
An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.
Warau Iemon (2004)
Having put down his sword and given up the will to fight, the masterless samurai Iemon lives in solitude while being haunted by his violent enigmatic past...
Delirio (2009)
After a nuclear attack, a magician takes shelter in a forest with his assistant to complete his biggest magic trick to date, The Creation, a trick that requires that you do some of the most inhumane things known to man.
The Women of Niskavuori (1938)
Aarne marries Martta because his mother tells him it is his duty as the eldest son to marry a wealthy girl. However, the attractive school teacher Ilona arrives in the village and causes complications when Aarne falls in love with her.
The Almond and the Seahorse (2022)
For Gwen, it's always 1999. The face in the mirror is unfamiliar and her partner isn't recognizable to her despite waking up together every day. Joe's past is coming undone and his partner, Sarah, fears she will be forgotten. A doctor refuses to give up on them, determined not to let them unravel.
Ask This of Rikyu (2013)
Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nao Omori) and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide). Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival, the 30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award and the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in nine categories, including Best Art Direction, Excellent Film and Excellent Actor.
The Petrified Forest (1955)
Gabrielle Maple works in a dusty desert gas station-café, but yearns for the life of an artist in France, knowing there must be something finer than the provincial dead-end she is trapped in. A hitch-hiking writer, the disillusioned Alan Squier, appears and revitalizes her dreams of a better place, and finds his own sense of worth refreshed by this vital young girl. When Duke Mantee and his gang, wanted killers, show up and take hostages, Gabrielle falls in love with the poetic Alan, and Squier begins to see a way to give Gabby the life she deserves.
Death Note (2006)
Light Yagami finds the "Death Note," a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to create a Utopia by killing the world's criminals, and soon the world's greatest detective, "L," is hired to find the mysterious murderer. An all out battle between the two greatest minds on earth begins and the winner will control the world.
Ninomiya Kinjirou (2019)
Ninomiya Kinjirou is a biopic follows the life of the eponymous character, an 18th century peasant boy who worked to rescue over 600 poor villages and hamlets from financial ruin by developing new economic policies.
Castle of Revenge (1952)
The film vividly shows the misadventures of Oishi Kuranosuke and the human dramas inside the castle, which lead to the surrender of Ako Castle after seppuku by its lord Asano Takumi-no-kami and the termination of his family's power. This is the first film of the Ako Castle trilogy.