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Two years after the release of “In the Realm of the Senses”, arguably his most notorious work given the scandal it caused in many countries, Nagisa Oshima made “Empire of Passion”, which was advertised as a spiritual successor to his last work. Based on a novel by Itoko Nakamura “Empire of Passion” shares the idea of a fatal affair, emphasizing the link between devotion, passion and violence, but in the end is quite a different movie, especially due to its horror elements, which caused many to regard it as one of the inspirations for Hideo Nakata’s “Ringu”. You might even go one step further by not just calling it a different, but in many ways also a much more refined and better feature than its predecessor, telling the story of a small community whose deeply-rooted blend of superstition and predilection for gossip make it a very bitter portrayal of Japanese society and politics.

Only one year before he paved the way for the frenetic cool of the Japanese New Wave with his unabashedly sexual and violent taiyo zoku film ‘The Warped Ones’, Koreyoshi Kurahara took a huge breath before this plunge with a slightly more conservatively executed picture. Taking place a year before the Anti-Anpo demonstrations against the signing of the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan, ‘The Age of Our Own’ condenses the frustrations and anxieties of the country’s youth into an at times beguiling cinematic venture which loses its mind by its conclusion – both in good and bad ways.

“The Age of Our Own” is screening as part of Japan Society:

By following the parallel stories of two brother until their violent confluence in the third act, ‘The Age of Our Own’ explores the conflicting attitudes of the country’s youth. Minami (Hiroyuki Nagato) is largely indifferent...

With the population of Japan aging more and more, films that deal with the lives of the elderly have become somewhat of a trend, with films like “Sweet Bean“, “Pecoross’s Mother and Her Days”, and many more. “A Sparkle of Life” implements a rather humorous approach to the subject. The film was a huge hit in Japan, and even received praise from late theatre director Yukio Ninagawa who described it as “a movie that makes getting old Ok”.),

Tae Tsurumoto is a 77-year-old widow, who decides that she can still have a chance at love, and signs up with a matchmaking service. Ayako Tachibana, the attendant responsible for her case, is initially surprised a woman her age has decided to seek a matchmaking, but soon realizes that there are many other people Tae’s age in the company’s list. Subsequently, Tae meets a number of suitors, from every aspect of society,...

The bloody adventures of a swordswoman dedicated to murderous revenge provided Quentin Tarantino with a major inspiration. Director Toshiyo Fujita's impeccable images make the gorgeous Meiko Kaji into an almost abstract superheroine in beautiful cultured dress and hairstyles -- and soaked with sprayed blood. The Complete Lady Snowblood Lady Snowblood & Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 790 & 791 1973/1974 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 & 89 min. / "Shurayukime" & "Shurayukihime: Urami Renga" / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 5, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Noboru Nakaya, Eiji Okada; Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Yoshio Harada. Cinematography Masaki Tamura; Tatsuo Suzuki Film Editor Osamu Inoue Original Music MasaaakiHirao; Kenjiro Hirose Written by Norio Osada, Kazuo Kamimura, Kazuo Koike Directed by Toshiya Fujita

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

A worldwide revolution hit the movies in the late '60s, with the relaxing of censorship in the west and the collapse of foreign film industries with the rise of TV.

Exclusive: Japanese studio Shochiku is launching sales on two new projects from leading director Yoji Yamada – a drama based on a Hisashi Inoue story and the director’s first comedy since the end of the Tora-san series in 1995.

The drama, Haha To Kuraseba (literal translation: Living With My Mother) is currently in production with Sayuri Yoshinaga (Kabei: Our Mother) and Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters From Iwo Jima) heading the cast.

The story follows a midwife in Nagasaki who is stunned when she is visited by her son who she thought had died three years earlier when an atomic bomb fell on the city. Japanese release is tentatively scheduled for Winter 2015.

Currently in post-production, the comedy Kazoku Wa Tsuraiyo! stars most of the cast from Yamada’s Tokyo Family, including Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Masahiko Nishimura and Yui Natsukawa.

The story follows an older couple who decide to divorce after 50 years of marriage, and the efforts...

A soldier embarks on an affair with an older married woman.

After the controversial In The Realm Of The Senses, acclaimed director Nagisa Ôshima returned to theatres with this less explicit follow up - a dramatic ghost story.

The year is 1895, in a remote mountain village in Japan, a young soldier Toyiji (Tatsuya Fuji) has an affair with the fortysomething wife of the litter carrier Seki (Kazuko Yoshiyuki). Toyiji becomes jealous of her husband Gisaburo (Takahiro Tamura) and plots with Seki to kill him. They...

Today sees the hi-def release of two of the most controversial and sexually explicit films of the 1970s, both of which came courtesy of Japanese New Wave auteur Nagisa Oshima – later the director of the more widely seen David Bowie-starring WWII movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (incidentally itself coming to Blu-ray next week… we are giving copies away Here).

In two tastefully presented “double play” Blu-ray/DVD sets from StudioCanal come 1976′s In the Realm of the Senses and 1978′s more restrained thematic follow-up Empire of Passion. Both films share the same leading man, Tatsuya Fuji, but whilst the former was either banned or heavily censored upon released due to its many graphic scenes of “unsimulated sex”, the latter (less explicit) work earned Oshima a well deserved Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the Realm of the Senses

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Oshima’s most critically significant text,...

To mark the release of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983), In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978) all from Writer / Director Nagisa Oshima and all of which are all making their way to Blu-ray on 17th October, Studio Canal have given us 5 copies of each movie to give away!

Scroll down for more info on each:

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983)

Written by Nagisa Ôshima Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti and Ryûichi Sakamoto Available in Double Play disc set

In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto), who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In Yonoi’s view, the allied prisoners are all cowards after choosing to surrender in the war instead of committing suicide. When one of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence (Tom Conti), tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking,...

Last May, the film Railways was released in Japan and got unprecedented support from men in their 40s and 50s, unexpectedly attracting over 500,000 people to theaters. Today it was announced that Tomokazu Miura will star in Railways 2.

In the original work, Kiichi Nakai starred as a 49-year-old electronics company executive in Shimane Prefecture who suddenly quits his job to follow through on his childhood dream of becoming a train driver. Coincidentally, Miura’s son Takahiro Miura made his debut in that film.

In the sequel, Miura will play Toru Takishima, a man who has spent 42 years working as a train driver for Toyama Chiho Railway and is now 1 month away from the age of retirement. However, he and his wife of many years, Sawako (Kimiko Yo), reach a crossroads after a re-examination of a previously benign tumor changes her outlook on life. Miura and Yo previously played a married couple...

2009 Asian Festival of 1st Films Awards 2009 Asian Festival of 1st Films: Singapore, Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2009 Kazuko Yoshiyuki in Looking for Anne, the story of a young woman looking for the wartime lover of her grandmother on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, the setting of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of the Green Gables. Best Film: Looking for Anne Takako Miyahira Best Documentary: Superman of Malegaon Faiza Ahmad Khan Best Producer: For Real Sona Jain Best Director: Looking for Anne Takako Miyahira Best Director of Documentary: Addicted in Afghanistan Jawed Taiman and Superman of Malegaon Faiza Ahmad Khan Best Male Actor: For Real Sriharsh Sharma Churai Best Female Actor: For Real Zoya S. Hasan Best Screenplay (tie): For Real, Sona Jain and Land Gold Woman Avantika Hari Best Cinematographer / [...]...

Here’s the new poster (click to enlarge) & trailer for the movie which won the Best Foreign Language film at the 2009 Academy Awards. It’s called Depeartures (Okuribito), stars Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki and is directed by Yôjirô Takita.

It’s being released in UK cinemas 4th December and you can check out the synopsis and trailer below.

A delightful and sensitive journey into the heartland of Japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage, Departures tells the story of Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Matoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved who now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to...

Release Date: May 29 (limited)Director: Yojiro Takita

Writer: Kundo Koyama

Cinematographer: Takeshi Hamada

Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo Studio/Run Time: Regent Releasing, 130 mins.

Affable but unfocused hit from Japan

On its face, the odd, clunky Japanese dramedy Departures pitches itself as a classic story of reinvention and renewal. It follows a young cellist (Masahiro Motoki) who is let go and lacks the talent to move to a different orchestra. He answers a newspaper ad and finds a job with a peculiar old man who prepares corpses for burial, a sticky profession he hides from his wife but quietly grows to like.

We're all for getting out in the summertime, but there might not be anything more refreshing than cooling off in a movie theater... or seeing a movie in the comfort of your air-conditioned home on demand, on DVD, or online... or better yet catching a classic on the big screen at a nearby repertory theater. With literally hundreds of films to choose from this summer, we humbly present this guide to the season's most exciting offerings.

May 1

"Eldorado"

The Cast: Bouli Lanners, Fabrice Adde, Philippe Nahon, Didier Toupy, Franise Chichy

Director: Bouli Lanners

Fest Cred: Cannes, Warsaw, Glasgow, Palm Springs,

The Gist: When Elie (Adde), a hapless young thief attempts to rob Yvan (Lanners), a 40-year-old car dealer, the two form a unlikely friendship that leads to a road trip across Belgium in this slight comedy that won the Best European Film at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes last year.

See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. See the gallery here. Trailers in other formats What's "Departures" all about? Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to...

See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over...

See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over...