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The 82nd Venice International Film Festival will run at the Lido di Venezia from 27 August to 6 September 2025. Here is the line-up of Asian films screening at this year’s event.

The Sun Rises on Us All by Cai Shangjun, China (In Competition)

The former lovers meet after many years. Estranged and fettered daily, opening the sighs of the past. Love and sacrifice, repentance and repayment. Finally saying goodbye again, with painful hearts but then upon waking up, two lost people finally embrace and cry. (Source: Mubi)

No Other Choice by Park Chan-wook, South Korea (In Competition)

After being unemployed for several years, a man devises a unique plan to secure a new job: eliminate his competition. (Source: IMDb)

Girl by Shu Qi, Taiwan (In Competition)

In 1988, the smoke and dust covered the sky in Keelung Harbor. Lin Xiaoli grew up in confusion and longed to escape the darkness. Until she met Li Lili,...

Severin Film's Restoration of Lo Spettro/The Ghost Receives Prestigious Film Festival Selections: "In one of the most prestigious events in company history, Severin Films proudly announces that their restoration of Riccardo Freda’s landmark 1963 horror thriller Lo Spettro/The Ghost starring Barbara Steele has been selected to premiere in the Venice Classics section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September and open for the Seven Chances section of the 58th Sitges Film Festival in October.

Hailed as “Riccardo Freda’s masterpiece” (At the Mansion of Madness), Lo Spettro/The Ghost resets the bar for Italian horror history with a screenplay by Freda and Oreste Biancoli (Bicycle Thieves), and featuring a career-best performance by the supernaturally beautiful Steele. But after 50-plus years of tattered prints and murky transfers, Severin’s global sleuths finally located the thought-lost original camera negative in a storage facility near Cinecittà, only to...

Venice Classics will screen restorations of Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita and Pedro Almodóvar’s Matador as part of an 18-film line-up at the 82nd Venice Film Festival (August 27-Septemer 6).

Lolita is a US-uk co-production, adapted by Kubrick from Nabokov’s novel, with James Mason and Sue Lyon in the leading roles. It first played at Venice in 1962.

Matador is one of Almodóvar’s early works. The 1986 erotic thriller sees Antonio Banderas play a student matador who wrongfully confesses to murder.

Among the four Italian films are Giuseppe De Santis’ once underestimated 1952 filmRome 11:00andLuciano Salce’s 1967 filmI Married You For Fun.

Restored movies by Pedro Almodóvar, Stanley Kubrick, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Manoel de Oliveira, Krzysztof Kieślowski and Tsai Ming-Liang are set to screen as part of the Venice Film Festival’s 18-title Venice Classics lineup.

Almodóvar’s 1986 erotic thriller “Matador,” featuring Antonio Banderas as a young bullfighter and exploring themes of sex and violence in the bullfighting world – a film that Quentin Tarantino has cited an inspiration – is part of a clutch of European titles in the selection. It also includes de Oliveira’s first film “Aniki-Bóbó”; Marcel Carné’s classic noir “Quai des brumes,” starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan, which was a prizewinner at Venice in 1938; and Kieslowski’s “Blind Chance, which heralded his famed “Decalogue.”

U.S. highlights comprise Kubrick’s 1962 Vladimir Nabokov adaptation “Lolita,” starring James Mason and Sue Lyon; Delmer Daves’ 1957 western “3:10 to Yuma,” redone by James Mangold in 2007 in a version starring Russell Crowe...

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the 18 recently restored movies that will be showcased in its Venice Classics sidebar at upcoming 82nd edition.

The line-up features Delmer Daves’ 1957 western 3:10 to Yuma, based on a 1953 short story by Elmore Leonard, which was revisited by James Mangold in 2007 in a version starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

Other U.S. highlights include The Delicate Delinquent, starring Jerry Lewis, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, House of Strangers, starring Edward G. Robinson in the role of a rags-to-riches Italian American banker accused of criminal activity.

The sidebar will also showcase Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 Vladimir Nabokov adaptation Lolita, starring James Mason and Sue Lyon.

European classics in the selection include Manoel de Oliveira’s first film Aniki-Bóbó, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blind Chance, which heralded Decalogue; Pedro Almodóvar’s Matador, and Marcel Carné’s pioneering film noir Le Quai des brumes, starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan,...

Although there are just a few of them produced nowadays, Japanese period drama, especially jidaigeki, remains one of the most popular genres within the Japanese film industry. While audiences enjoy taking a deep dive into another time, witnessing sword fights and ancient traditions, actors and directors also look forward to presenting their take on the samurai genre. At the same time, much like the yakuza film, it has proven to be a very versatile genre if features such as Ken Ochiai‘s “Uzumasa Limelight”, Gakuryu Ishii‘s “Punk Samurai” or Hiroyuki Nakano‘s “Samurai Fiction” are any indicator. In his latest feature, director Junichi Yasuda (“Gohan”) blends the conventions of the genre with the idea of time travel, culminating in story which has a lot to say about the principles of the samurai as well as the “reality” of filmmaking and how it may serve as time capsule into another era.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, a prisoner of war is any person captured or interned by a belligerent power during war. In the strictest sense, it is applied only to members of regularly organized armed forces, but by broader definition, it has also included guerrillas, civilians who take up arms against an enemy openly, or noncombatants associated with a military force.

Prisoner of War films have consistently been a popular and acclaimed subgenre of war movies. In the 1950s and 1960s, Hollywood prisoner-of-war movies reached the apex of their popularity thanks to films such as Stalag 17, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and The Great Escape. Japanese auteurs such as Masaki Kobayashi and Nagisa Ōshima directed The Human Condition and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, two iconic works within the prisoner-of-war genre. French filmmakers Jean Renoir and Robert Bresson made significant contributions to the prisoner-of-war genre through their films The Grand Illusion...

The IMDb top-250 is a curious portrait of populist taste. The list is, it's worth remembering, culled only from user ratings on the IMDb website, and, judging by the films on the list, the average IMDb user seems to be a college-age white male with a taste for crime, guns, fantasy, and the ultra-masculine. The top movies on the list all seem to be the types of movies that young men would own posters for, proudly displayed on their dorm room walls. There are many unassailable classics, to be sure, and young teens could easily look to the list as a rudimentary introduction to the world of cinema, but the list seems ... skewed. There's not a lot of variety. It's not curated by a single critic, nor even a panel of critics. It's just a general consensus of the taste of the types of people who like to rate movies on IMDb.

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Similar to its American cousin the Western, samurai movies reached the apex of their popularity during the middle of the twentieth century, and just like the Western, samurai films began to decrease in public interest during the late 1970s. Factors such as the overexposure of the samurai genre on television, the aging of samurai cinema's greatest stars, and the overall decline of the Japanese film industry in the 1970s and 1980s contributed to the diminishing appeal of samurai movies.

While there have certainly been some exceptional samurai films produced in the twenty-first century, the output of the genre as a whole pales in comparison to samurai cinema's most prolific period of the 1950s and 1960s. Indicative of this reality is the fact that of Paste magazine's 50 greatest samurai films of all time, only seven premiered in the twenty-first century. However, the recent...

Making a single war movie that exceeds three hours in length while managing to be great from start to finish is one thing, but creating a whole trilogy with each installment running for more than three hours, and having the whole thing be something groundbreaking and earth-shattering? Thats something else altogether, but Masaki Kobayashi managed just that with his The Human Condition trilogy, three epic World War II movies that were released between 1959 and 1961. To date, no other war movie has had quite the same impact, nor has succeeded on such a vast scale.

Toshiro Mifune is an iconic Japanese actor and producer, and his collaborations with renowned directors, particularly Akira Kurosawa, changed the world's perception of Japanese films. Mifune is recognized for his intensity, physical presence, and adaptability, portraying various hypermasculine characters, from samurai warriors to contemporary businessmen. His partnership created some of Akira Kurosawa's best films and defined Japanese cinema during the mid-20th century, drawing international attention to Japans burgeoning film industry. Mifune symbolized Japanese cinemas artistic excellence and impacted the film industry throughout his career.

Mifunes expertise extended beyond working with Kurosawa. He collaborated with arguably worked with some of the best directors of all time, such as Masaki Kobayashi and John Boorman, showcasing his versatility and global star power. Whether depicting a battle-weary soldier, a determined detective, or an expert samurai, Mifune elevated every role with unparalleled charisma and depth. His influence on cinema resonates today, as his finest films captivate audiences worldwide.

Harakiri contains a "highly realistic" fight scene, according to an expert. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, the 1962 Japanese jidaigeki film follows a rnin who requests to perform seppuku, also called harakiri, at a feudal lord's manor and uses the moment to recount the circumstances that led him to seek death in front of an audience of samurai, set between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate. The film's cast includes Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentar Mikuni, Shima Iwashita, Tetsur Tamba, Ichir Nakatani, Kei Sat, and Yoshio Inaba.

In an Insider video, a martial arts and katana instructor, Seki Nobuhide Sensei, rated the portrayal of samurai battles in movies and TV shows, including the scene in Harakiri in which the protagonist battles multiple opponents at once. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 20:36 minute mark:

Seki Nobuhide Sensei praised the scene's realism, highlighting the protagonist's strategic movements to...

Get ready, horror fans! A new series is set to thrill genre enthusiasts later this month. Horror's Greatest, a Shudder Original series, premieres on August 27 and will be a deep dive into the best horror has to offer. From the creators of the hit series The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time, Horror's Greatest brings together a gallery of the most knowledgeable and passionate figures from the industry to celebrate the films that have defined and redefined the genre.

The recently released trailer for Horror's Greatest gives us a sneak peek into the films that will be discussed. The lineup includes a diverse range of titles, like Ari Aster's Midsommar, Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan, Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, Karyn Kisama's Jennifer's Body, Edgar Wright's Shaun on the Dead, Jordan Peele's Nope and Takashi Miike's Audition. Wow, that is quite the lineup! This selection highlights the...

Akira Kurosawas Seven Samurai is known as one of the best action films ever made a must-watch for any cinephile, those in film classes, or action/samurai movie lovers. That being said, this means that many covet the chance to own such an iconic piece of media in physical form, which they now get to, in 4K.

Blu-ray has just announced that Seven Samurai will be released once again in 4K Blu-ray and on regular Blu-ray on Oct. 21 for its 70th anniversary, marking a huge milestone for such a beloved film. It is the British Film Institute's best-selling Blu-ray, VHS, and DVD release of all time, and will also be the first release ever of the 4K Blu-ray in the United Kingdom. After being newly restored by Toho, Japan, it had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

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Related 10 Best Samurai Movies (That Aren't Directed by Akira Kurosawa...

Due to Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi's directorial prowess within the samurai genre, crafting a list of the greatest samurai films of all time is essentially just assembling the best works by Kurosawa and Kobayashi. Nine of the 32 films Kurosawa directed were within the samurai genre and each of the nine is iconic enough to qualify as one of the genre's very best. Kobayashi's two seminal samurai movies, Harakiri and Samurai Rebellion, are also undeniable masterworks of the genre that arguably belong among the top five samurai movies ever made.

While Kurosawa and Kobayashi's samurai films are more well-known to Western audiences, the samurai genre has a plethora of other brilliant movies that are formative works of Japanese cinema. Auteurs such as Hiroshi Inagaki, Hideo Gosha, Kihachi Okamoto, and Kenji Misumi played an equally important role in the development of the samurai genre as Kurosawa and Kobayashi. Films such as The Sword of Doom,...

There’s a creative freedom to the horror anthology; they’re not tethered to one central narrative, style, tone, or even voice. Some anthology collections unite multiple filmmakers, each taking on a segment. Some employ a single director for cohesion. Even the framework in which the film weaves its tales varies, whether by conventional wraparound or a complete remix.

For the viewer, anthologies offer a grab bag of bite-sized horror treats; there’s no telling what kind of horror the next segment will bring. This week’s streaming picks highlight horror anthologies that run the gamut from classic anthology format to experimental, from lighthearted to bone-chilling.

As always, here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Ghost Stories – AMC+, Plex, Shudder

Written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, based on their 2010 stage play, Ghost Stories challenges the traditional anthology’s boundaries.

Shōgun, the highly anticipated ten-episode limited series by FX Productions, is a jidaigeki drama that will air on FX and Hulu from February 27, 2024, to April 23, 2024. Based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name, Shōgun is the second adaptation of Clavell's story after the 1980 five-episode limited series that aired on NBC. A fictionalized account of real events, Shōgun focuses on the relationship between Lord Toranaga, a powerful daimyō, and John Blackthorne, a shipwrecked English sailor.

While samurai films date back to the silent era, it was not until the Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the post-World War II years that the samurai genre truly exploded in international popularity. Led by the works of Akira Kurosawa, samurai films helped expose Western audiences to Japanese cinema throughout the 1950s. Directors such as Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Kihachi Okamoto, Hideo Gosha, Kenji Misumi, and Hiroshi Inagaki played a crucial role in the...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDahomey.Mati Diop’s Dahomey (2024), a documentary about the repatriation of artifacts plundered by French colonists to the present-day Republic of Benin, won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. It is only the second film from the African continent to take the festival’s top prize.The Berlinale has filed criminal charges against activists who hacked the festival’s Instagram account on Sunday to post calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which the festival deemed “anti-Semitic.”The festival has also released a statement disavowing the acceptance speeches of award winners who used their platform to speak out against the occupation and war. Such speeches included those by Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau, whose Direct Action won Best Film in the Encounters section, and by Yuval Abraham,...

In 1929, the Academy Awards were established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate global excellence in the film industry. While it had its fair share of detractors over the years, the Academy has managed to navigate through the mire of controversies, especially the touchy topic of racial and cultural representation (case in point: #OscarsSoWhite movement), to stay relevant throughout its illustrious history.

Asian Films have been honoured starting with the 19th edition of the Awards when they were first given as a special honorary prize for the Best Foreign Film released in the USA. Nine years later, the prize became a competitive one and a winner was chosen from within a pool of predominantly non-English nominees.

Seven illustrious motion pictures from within Asia have clinched this top honour but many others, some of which are amongst the most iconic of Asian cinema, have been nominated and acknowledged as well.

Underappreciated film trilogies offer innovative storytelling beyond mainstream blockbusters, pushing creative boundaries. The significance of niche trilogies lies in showcasing artistry and creativity outside the mainstream limelight. Obscure trilogies like The Human Condition, The Road Trilogy, and The Apu Trilogy contain hidden gems for cinephiles.

Obscure and underappreciated movie trilogies typically focus on substance over spectacle. Despite limited recognition, they offer hidden gems for cinephiles seeking innovative storytelling beyond mainstream blockbusters. Their significance lies in pushing creative boundaries and challenging traditional filmmaking norms. Although these trilogies never achieved widespread commercial success, many have garnered dedicated cult followings, international accolades, and stellar critical reviews.

For most viewers, the best movie trilogies of all time don't always include these obscure franchises, which commonly incorporate unconventional filmmaking techniques, or seek to push the boundaries of cinematic artistry. While lacking blockbuster appeal, these niche trilogies contribute to the rich tapestry of film history, quietly...

When it comes to prominent Japanese filmmakers, many know the likes of Hayao Miyazaki, Akira Kurosawa, and perhaps Yasujirō Ozu, too. Equaling those directors when it comes to the quality of his filmography (though not being quite as much of a household name) is Masaki Kobayashi. Active as a feature film director from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s, he made his best work during the late 1950s and throughout the '60s; some of these arguably ranking among the greatest films of all time.

We recently learned that five years after Dragged Across Concrete, S. Craig Zahler will soon announce his next feature. In the meantime, the director has unveiled his favorite music, books, and––most pertinent to this site––films he watched in the past year.

The 21-movie list includes not only his ten favorites of the year but revival screenings as well, including Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky’s Werckmeister Harmonies, Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, Nagisa Ôshima’s The Pleasures of the Flesh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.

When it comes to new releases, amongst the favorites of the Bone Tomahawk director were Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, Skinamarink, Godzilla Minus One, the Indian action-thriller Jawan, films by Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer, and the latest in the Saw franchise.

Check out the list below.

Godzilla Minus One...

Unlike other genres like fantasy and sci-fi, horror films don't usually exceed a two-hour running time. This is great for someone like me who considers films that long a chore more than a viewing experience. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all, and that most certainly applies to horror movies too. In fact, many of the most spine-chilling stories come from short films, such as Lights Out, Backrooms, or any of Crypt TV's greatest hits. No explanations, no lore, and no need to draw things out any longer than necessary; just a strong concept, an unsettling vibe, and a big scare. That's not to say that all horror films are short, sharp, and to the point; in fact, many horror films that go over 120 minutes are considered some of the best of all time. Maybe it's adapting every part of an especially famous book, like The Shining or...

The tenants of the Jedi code mirror the romanticized notions within Inazo Nitobe's 1899 book, "Bushido: The Soul of Japan," which is the prevailing influence on which the Samurai motif is built. Inazo Nitobe's thoughts on the Samurai can be seen in the works of Akira Kurosawa, which heavily influenced George Lucas. Because the Jedi can be traced back to Nitobe's interpretation of the Bushido code, their philosophy creates an unintentional shortcoming within the Jedi Order.

It's no secret that George Lucas turned to Akira Kurosawa's films for inspiration when creating the Jedi for the Star Wars franchise, so there's a close connection between the galaxy's peacekeepers and samurai. However, the fact that these directors' understanding of samurai philosophy, or Bushido, can be traced back to one writer -- Inazo Nitobe -- and his 1899 book, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, is often overlooked and needs to be recognized. Bushido, at least through Nitobe's interpretation,...

Film composers easily rank among cinema's greatest unsung heroes. While many directors and movie stars eventually become household names, very few film composers receive adequate adulation from the mass audience. Film scores are integral to a movie's success, providing and enhancing the mood, tone, atmosphere, and emotion of the drama at hand.

Imagine the shark attack scenes in Jaws without John Williams' score or the shower scene in Psycho without Bernard Herrmann's score. The music is arguably the primary reason these scenes have become touchstone moments in film history. Cinema's elite film composers have impacted popular culture just as much as actors, directors, and producers.

Related: 10 Best Movies With Famous Soundtracks

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin is a foundational figure in movie history who is beloved for his acting and directing. However, a much-overlooked facet of Chaplin's career is his brilliance as a film composer. Starting with City Lights, Chaplin...

Tatsuya Nakadai is undeniably one of the greatest Japanese actors of all time, and arguably the country's greatest living actor. His first roles date back to the mid-1950s, and by the end of that decade, he'd established himself as a capable leading man. He worked steadily throughout the decades since, including starring in multiple movies directed by legendary filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, with his most recent credited role being in 2022 (the year he turned 90).

After years of countless propaganda productions orchestrated by an aggressive government with ultra-nationalistic desires, Japanese cinema started to see more of a pacifistic approach to the sensitive topic of World War II following its conclusion. Yet, plenty of filmmakers in Japan were not proud of the country's war activity and their leaders at the time. Directors like Akira Kurosawa would go on to shamefully disown the jingoistic projects that were assigned to them to make during the Second World War. Fast forward to 1952; once the American occupation was lifted, bold directors like Masaki Kobayashi, Ishiro Honda, and Kihachi Okamoto were free to make anti-war features presented on a more honest and grander scale. For filmmaker Kon Ichikawa, “The Burmese Harp” was his opportunity to express his distaste for the concept of war and his admiration for humanistic values.

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The...

by Cláudio Alves

This month, in the Criterion Channel, there's a spotlight on Kwaidan, the Masaki Kobayashi classic that became the first significant example of Japanese horror to reach international audiences. You can find critic Grady Hendrix exploring the 1964 anthology on the streaming service, but that's far from the only reason you should check it out. Kwaidan collects four ghost stories that, together, form cinematic poetry of ravishing beauty. No wonder Kobayashi's film has entranced The Film Experience for years. Dancin' Dan once wrote about Kwaidan for the Oscar Horrors series, Nathaniel and Juan Carlos discussed it in podcast form, and I highlighted its costuming for an idealized Oscar ballot. 

Still, it's never a wrong time to re-consider Kwaidan, to get lost anew in its visual splendor...

In the history of Japanese cinema, the period drama, whether a chambara or jidaigeki, is a genre which many filmmakers want to explore for themselves at least once during their career, with many of them even building their bodies of work on just these types of features. While many cite directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi as being the most important examples, cinephiles and people familiar with Japanese culture know the genre is far more varied and has a lot more names to offer. One of those directors has to be Hideo Gosha, who already made a strong impression at the beginning of his career with two lasting masterpieces of the genre, “Three Outlaw Samurai” and “Sword of the Beast”. In the years to come, he would continue making strong entries within the samurai genre, such as his two “Samurai Wolf”-movies, both starring actor Isao Natsuyagi as a ronin named Kiba,...

Unlike many of his Japanese filmmaking peers such as Yasujirō Ozu and Masaki Kobayashi, Akira Kurosawa often adapted Western literature in his films. That said, he was always sure to give them a Japanese reframing. He remade "Macbeth," "Hamlet," and "King Lear" as "Throne of Blood," "The Bad Sleep Well," and "Ran," respectively. However, "Throne" and "Ran" traded medieval Scotland/England for Feudal Japan while "The Bad Sleep Well" was about the 20th-century Japanese corporate world, not the Danish monarchy.

While Kurosawa was a student of Shakespeare, he didn't only trade in high-end literature. For "High and Low," he adapted the pulp detective novel "King's Ransom," moving the setting from Manhattan to Yokohama.

National Shoes executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is disgusted by his colleagues' greed and apathy. He plans a leveraged buyout of the company, putting his life savings on the line. Unfortunately for Gondo, a kidnapper picks the...

Revenge is a popular theme in movies, with Netflix's latest feature, Do Revenge, tackling the subgenre by blending characters' quests with a Mean Girls flair. But compared to other revenge movies, it took the vengeance exploits to the next level by showing far more deception between two new friends, leading to one of the most shocking plot twists that changed the tempo.

Audiences continue to clamor for revenge movies as these kinds of films promise them a wronged character who is ready to do what it takes to get a taste of sweet revenge. Some of the best revenge movies released in the 2010s have the most intriguing plots and characters, from an assassin who seeks revenge for his dead dog to a woman who plots her cheating husband's downfall.

Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai (2011) - 7.3 Stream On Vudu, Tubi, Plex, & Freevee

The 1962 Masaki Kobayashi film Harakiri has been...

Masaki Kobayashi was a filmmaker who was never afraid to speak his mind on a matter. He was always open with his mindset, regularly criticizing systematic corruption and violation of human rights throughout the majority of his filmography. He didn’t often direct jidaigeki cinema, but when he did, the director generally delivered a stellar picture. His haunting masterpiece “Harakiri” gives a darker examination of the flawed aspects of the Bushido Code. Kobayashi would bring corruption and humanism to the forefront in his excellent film “Samurai Rebellion.”

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The original Japanese title for the feature translates to “Rebellion: Receive the Wife,” which is fitting, considering what transpires within the story. The movie is based on Yasuhiko Takiguchi’s short story “Hairyozuma shimatsu.” The screenplay is written by acclaimed screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, who had previously collaborated with Masaki Kobayashi on his samurai movie “Harakiri.

With so many great Japanese directors who made a name for themselves, it is always interesting to see some collaborate. One of the most interesting collaborative efforts was the company “Yonki-no-Kai,” which translates to the “Club of the Four Knights,” established in 1969 by filmmakers Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kon Ichikawa. The group of friends put together this effort to support one another, as the film industry in Japan at the time was in a state of financial hardships. Yet, things did not go according to plan with Kurosawa’s film “Dodes’ka-den,” being a box-office failure, leading to many projects being shelved. The four wrote a jidaigeki feature that would go unmade for a long-time when they couldn’t raise funds to make it. Years later, following the passing of his companions, Ichikawa would eventually be able to direct this initially canceled feature while...

The psychological effect war has on the human mind is unimaginable. Following the end of World War II, many anti-war projects would come out of the Japanese entertainment industry from visionaries like Kon Ichikawa, Kaneto Shindo, and Masaki Kobayashi. Jingoistic propaganda was no longer as common and wasn’t being forced upon artists anymore by militarists. Many post-war Japanese war films stand by a humanist nature while reminding audiences how horrific errors should not be repeated. A notable reminder of evolving from past mistakes in history is the superb political thriller “Japan’s Longest Day.”

Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Kazutoshi Hando and Soichi Oya, this haunting recollection of disturbing events would kickstart the “Toho 8.15 series,” a collection of war movies that recreate Japan’s war history. Fittingly, nihilistic filmmaker and anti-war advocate Kihachi Okamoto would be appointed as the movie’s director and frequent...

Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto” was a critical and box office success. It was time to continue the narrative in the second entry of “The Samurai Trilogy.” Inagaki would raise more stakes, and much of Musashi’s history would be covered, albeit in a more theatrically romanticized way. Also, a major player in the narrative would be introduced, one that would participate in a significant event in the life of Musashi Miyamoto. So much content would be covered in the entertaining follow-up “Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple.”

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A majority of the cast from the previous returned, but some were recast here. Rentaro Mikuni was replaced in the part of Matahachi Honiden by Sachio Sakai. This change was likely due to Mikuni’s demanding schedule as he became more and more of a popular star in Japan. The renowned talent would work with...

In this hour-long mix devoted to musician Tôru Takemitsu’s soundtrack oeuvre, the Japanese master’s varied body of scoring sounds and collaborations is in full effect, offering a spectrum of different emotions and genres.Takemitsu was a pivotal figure in modern classical music and much of his work continues to influence the contemporary canon today. Early in his career the composer was exposed to Western sounds while working a job for the US Armed Forces, and many of his groundbreaking compositions synthesized Western and Eastern sensibilities. Membership in the avant-garde Jikken Kōbō (an experimental music workshop formed in Japan’s postwar 1950s) led to an interest in and passion for the work of John Cage and concepts such as musique concrète, which can be heard throughout Takemitsu’s singular sound. Additionally, images of Japanese gardens, water, and the poems of Emily Dickinson inspired the tonalities of Takemitsu’s sound,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Kwaidan"

Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, DirecTV

The Pitch: Four Japanese folk tales come to life in Masaki Kobayashi's visually inventive '60s horror anthology, which remains spooky and timeless in its evocation of people haunted by secrets and regret.

I used to work at an English conversation school in Tokyo, and group discussions on Halloween often fell into a recounting of campfire tales and urban legends like that of Kuchisake-onna ("The Slit-Mouthed Woman") and...

The post The Daily Stream: Kwaidan Offers Four Japanese Ghost Stories With Universal Themes appeared first on /Film.

Above: 1981 French grande for Stalker. Art by Bougrine.It’s been six months since I last did one of these round-ups of the most popular posters featured on my Movie Poster of the Day Instagram (previously Tumblr).With some 3,349 likes to date, this rare French poster for Tarkovsky’s Stalker, posted just last month, outstripped the pack and is in fact the second most “liked” poster I’ve ever posted, just a couple of hundred likes shy of Andrew Bannister’s UK poster for Parasite which I posted over a Pandemic ago. With art signed by one “Bougrine” the poster is currently offered for sale at Posteritati. Though the style and signature don’t quite look right, there was a Vladimir Bougrine (1938-2001) who was a prominent Soviet dissident painter who ended up in Paris in 1977 where, according to Wikipedia, “the French Ministry of Culture introduced him to...a community of writers,...

Masaki Kobayashi’s six-part adaptation of the book by Jumpei Gomikawa may be the most ambitious, most truthful film about the big-picture reality of war. Idealist Tatsuya Nakadai thinks he can avoid complicity in human evil by volunteering as a civilian to manage a work camp in occupied Manchuria, only to find that he’s expected to starve and torture Chinese slave laborers. Resistance leads to his conscription in a brutal boot camp, and his deployment on the Northern front as the Russians invade leads to an extended struggle to survive amid mounting horrors. There’s no escape: the ‘human condition’ is that barbarity is a given, a constant. It’s nine hours of suffering that can change one’s world view.

The Human Condition

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 480

1959-61 / B&w / 2:39 anamorphic widescreen / 575 min. / Ningen no jôken / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 8, 2021 / 59.95

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai,...

What’s to be said about The Human Condition? In the case of the epic-length Japanese film of that title made, plenty. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi (Harikiri) and released in three distinct parts between 1959 to 1961, the whole 579 minutes of The Human Condition is nothing less than an immaculate endurance test of sensibility. It is a beautifully made and sometimes brilliantly compelling endurance test, but an endurance test all the same. Around the hour-and-twenty-minute mark, I realized that in terms of ordinary running times, I was only the equivalent of fifteen minutes in. I was then warned by a fellow Criterion buff to pace myself — as great of an undertaking as the production is, there’s not a single moment of levity in the whole ten hours....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

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When you think about summer movies, big-budget blockbusters tend to come to mind. But it’s smart to diversify your viewing list. For the movie lovers who enjoy watching films in stunning clarity with bonus-scenes and extra content, all from the comforts of home, Criterion Collection Blu-rays are the way to go. To help with your summer movie list, we rounded up a handful of new Criterion Collection movies due out this month, and that you can pre-order right now. The selection includes LGBTQ stories to celebrate Pride Month, a gripping documentary on homeless teens, and much more. Below, find our selection of Criterion Collection Blu-rays to pre-order for the month of June,...

All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

May has arrived! And this month’s offering of Criterion releases contain the collection’s signature mix of high and lowbrow content, with an ‘80s high school sex comedy sharing space with a nearly 10-hour Japanese drama. Each release has been remastered, so you know you’ll be getting the best video quality available.

In honor of Asian American Heritage month, Asian cinema is particularly well represented in May’s Criterion drops with the Taiwanese classic “Flowers of Shanghai,” and the Japanese epic “The Human Condition,” among the most notable releases. Plus, Criterion’s bonus features and interviews with the cast and directors serve as indispensable pieces of film history.

All of Criterion...

Above: 1962 poster for The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer.The extraordinary German graphic designer Hans Hillmann (1925–2014) should need no introduction to readers of this column: I’ve written about him on a number of occasions and anyone who loves movie poster design should know his name. For a long time, however, it has been hard to find a lot of his work online, certainly not all in one place. For a while I had entertained the idea of trying to collect images of every single movie poster he ever designed and ranking them from best to least-best. But I knew that even if I could gather together his more than 160 posters that I would tie myself in knots trying to put them in any kind of order.Thankfully author and publisher Jens Müller has done half of the work for me. Müller had first met Hillmann when he curated...

The Criterion Collection’s June 2021 lineup has been unveiled, led by Masaki Kobayashi’s staggering, 9.5-hour epic The Human Condition, a seven-film set dedicated to poignant, incisive works of Marlon Riggs, best known for Tongues Untied, and Dee Rees’ acclaimed debut Pariah.

One of the greatest film noirs, Samuel Fuller’s immensely entertaining Pickup on South Street, will also get a release, along with Martin Bell’s two-film series Streetwise and Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, and the Munich 1972 Olympics feature Visions of Eight, with contributions by Miloš Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Juri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, and Mai Zetterling.

Check out the cover art for each below and see more here.

The post The Criterion Collection's June Lineup Includes The Human Condition, Marlon Riggs, Pariah & More first appeared on The Film Stage.

Toho is not a name everyone knows, but most people will probably recognize the movies this company has produced and distributed. From kaiju movies that feature Godzilla and other monsters to Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces and Studio Ghibli's fantastical creations - Toho has made them all.

Related: Pixar: 5 Best Original Movies (& 5 Incredible Sequels)

But even though the company has worked with many notable directors, not all of its movies are as widely known outside of Japan as others. Hence, this list looks at movies from Toho that have at least 50 thousand ratings on IMDb, to make the ratings more objective and highlight the best of their more widely recognized films.

Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most internationally recognized Japanese directors of his era, with many of his films still receiving continued and undiminished critical acclaim. The ghost anthology “Kwaidan”, the samurai films “Samurai Rebellion” and “Harakiri” and the anti-war epic “The Human Condition” are some of his films to remain highly regarded. In 1956, Kobayashi tackled the businesslike nature of Japan’s sports industry in a film with an extremely provoking title: “I Will Buy You”.

Daisuke Kishimoto is a talent scout working for the professional baseball team Toyo Flowers. He is sharp, no-nonsense and relentless in his ways to acquire new players for the team. His latest target is a promising pitcher, but the assignment fails when he finds out that the promising talent is recovering from losing a finger in an accident at the factory he works in. Kishimoto’s character is revealed further when...

In the district of the Mino Mountains, the locals believe that there is a legendary female spirit who comes out at night and kills anyone who’s unfortunate enough to lay eyes on her. This horror folktale of the snow woman was also one of the four stories told in Masaki Kobayashi’s “Kwaidan” (StrangeTales) from 1965.

Yosaku is an orphan, an apprentice who works for master sculptor Shigetomo. The movie starts off with them looking for a suitable tree to carve a statue of the goddess of mercy for their temple. However, they’re caught in a snow storm on their back prompting them to take refuge in a rundown cabin. During the night, the evil snow spirit pays them a visit and freezes the old sculptor to death. Being enchanted by Yosaku’s innocence looks, she spares his life but on the promise that he has to keep the encounter a secret.

Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010s films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.In mid-2011, Takashi Miike unveiled two films in characteristically quick succession. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, a remake of Masaki Kobayashi’s seminal Harakiri (1962), premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was the first 3-D movie ever to screen in competition. Two months later at the New York Asian Film Festival came Ninja Kids!!!, a live-action adaptation of the long-running anime series Nintama Rantarō (itself an adaptation of the manga series Rakudai Ninja Rantarō). These two films are plainly different from one another: Hara-Kiri is a grim movie intended for grown-up audiences, while Ninja Kids!!! is a bright, goofy film aimed principally at young children. At the same time, the movies have a surprising amount in common,...

Based on four ghost stories from books of Lafcadio Hearn, Masaki Kobayashi’s first effort in the genre and in color film was a huge success, netting him the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Eureka presents the film in its uncut, 183-minute-version, in a rather impressive 2K digital restoration.

The first part, titled “The Black Hair” revolves around an impoverished samurai, who, tired of being poor, abandons his wife who loved him passionately, for a woman of higher statute and wealth. However, soon he comes across his new wife’s cruelty and begins missing his first wife’s love. Alas, when he finally manages to return, he is met with the worst fate of all.

This part has a highly didactic tone, about the benefits of loyalty and the blights of blind ambition. However,...

Acclaimed stuntman and action director extraordinaire Jesse V. Johnson joins us to discuss the U.S. based action films and filmmakers that have influenced him the most.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

On The Waterfront (1954)

Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)

Undisputed (2002)

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

The Killer Elite (1975)

Convoy (1978)

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Birdcage (1996)

Cross of Iron (1977)

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)

Easy Rider (1969)

Fail Safe (1964)

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Ride The High Country (1962)

Major Dundee (1965)

Jinxed! (1982)

Beowulf (2007)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Girl Hunters (1963)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Point Blank (1967)

Falling Down (1993)

M (1951)

M (1931)

The Black Vampire (1953)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Scum (1979)

Elephant (1989)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...