Shizue Kawarazaki

Saga of the Vagabonds, Part Two: Forward at Dawn

Story of a bandit king part 2.

The 47 Ronin

In 1701, Lord Takuminokami Asano has a feud with Lord Kira and he tries to kill Kira in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Lord Asano to commit suppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Lord Kira. Lord Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the dishonor of their Lord. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi asks the Shogun to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses his request and Oishi and forty-six ronin revenge their Lord.

Double Suicide

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.

The Ceremony

Oshima’s magisterial epic, centering on the ambivalent surviving heir of the Sakurada clan, uses ritual and the microcosm of the traditional family to trace the rise and fall of militaristic Japan across several decades.

Banzuiin Chōbei

A jidaigeki film on Banzuiin Chōbei produced in 1940 and directed by Yasuki Chiba.

The Stand in Hakone

A period film about a peasant revolt in the region near Mount Fuji, occasioned by high officials' depriving the farmers of their water rights.

The Cannery Boat

Describes the oppressed life of the crab fishermen and their final revolt which is bloodily suppressed by the Royal Navy.

The Village Tattooed Man

A tragic period film about a gangster who comes out of prison and finds it hard to find a place again in society. Considered a lost film.

Priest of Darkness

A boy steals a knife from an old samurai, unaware of its value, setting off a strange chain of events.

Hiroshima

Historical fiction about the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and its effects on various civilians, especially children, of that city.

Humanity and Paper Balloons

In a slum in Edo Japan, a ronin hopes that his deceased father's former master will hire him while a disgraced hairdresser attempts to regain his pride by kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy pawnbroker, who is set to be married.

Still I Live On

About the struggles of day labourers to achieve dignity and a standard of living above the starvation level. Utilising the Zenshinza theatrical troupe.

The Beauty and the Dragon

Kabuki adaptation: A princess, a figure from the literary past who anticipates a modern woman, tempts a self-righteous priest.

Ōma no tsuji

Set in the late Edo period of the assassination of Dairo Ii, the sword and emotional romance that depicts the murderous world. The turmoil of the end of the Edo period is depicted through the nameless Ichii people, centering on the main character of the Hatamoto collapse that is drunk by the waves of the end of the Edo period.