Stray Dog

Stray Dog 1949

7.50

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

1949

The Life of Oharu

The Life of Oharu 1952

7.80

In Edo Period Japan, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

1952

Jigoku

Jigoku 1960

6.40

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

1960

The Ghost of Yotsuya

The Ghost of Yotsuya 1959

6.65

This horror tale relates the consequences of a Japanese legend which tells of a man who has to betray his wife in order to achieve power.

1959

Love Letter

Love Letter 1953

6.80

A sad and troubled man finds a new job five years after the end of WWII, where he writes love letters for other people.

1953

Portrait of Madame Yuki

Portrait of Madame Yuki 1950

6.70

A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness.

1950

Mother

Mother 1952

6.90

A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.

1952

The Munekata Sisters

The Munekata Sisters 1950

7.00

Setsuko is unhappily married to Mimura, an engineer with no job and a bad drinking habit. She had always been in love with Hiroshi but both of them failed to propose when Hiroshi left for France a few years ago. Now he is back and Mariko tries to reunite them. She too is secretly in love with Hiroshi.

1950

Black Cat Mansion

Black Cat Mansion 1958

6.60

The descendant of the servant of a cruel and vicious samurai returns to the town where she was born, only to find that a cat who is possessed by the spirits of those murdered by the samurai is trying to kill her.

1958

An Inn at Osaka

An Inn at Osaka 1954

7.30

An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life. Notable for its exquisite framing and cinematography, An Inn at Osaka allows its complicated plotlines to disappear behind the minutiae of penury and humiliation that Mito and others suffer during the post-war economic and social reconstruction.

1954

The Lady Vampire

The Lady Vampire 1959

4.90

Tamio takes Itsuko to an art gallery and the two find one painting is a nude portrait of Itsuko's mother, who disappeared twenty years ago when she was just a baby. No one knows the first thing about the artist who painted it, but he goes by the name Shiro Sofue, and he's always wearing shades in the daytime...

1959

Evil Brain from Outer Space

Evil Brain from Outer Space 1966

4.70

An evil brain from outer space unleashes monsters with deadly diseases on Earth with trying to conquer the universe. Superhero Starman must battle them all to save his planet.

1966

Attack from Space

Attack from Space 1965

4.80

The superhero Starman is sent by the Emerald Planet to protect Earth from belligerent aliens from the Sapphire Galaxy. The Sapphireans (or "Spherions") kidnap Dr. Yamanaka and force him to use his spaceship against the Earth.

1965

Emperor Meiji and the Great Russo-Japanese War

Emperor Meiji and the Great Russo-Japanese War 1957

1

Meiji Tenno portrays the buildup to the Russo-Japan War. In addition to showing the political events that led to war, it also shows the era from the story of a farm family in rural Japan that sends their son off to war. As such, it could be considered an anti-war movie, showing how, while war is devised by governments, the people do not really understand what war is, and its combatants often do not know what they are fighting for.

1957

Invaders from Space

Invaders from Space 1965

4.20

A bunch of pernicious salamander men from the planet Kulimon in the Moffit Galaxy plan on taking over Earth by unleashing a lethal plague on mankind. It's up to valiant superhero Starman from the Emerald Planet to save the human race before it's too late.

1965

Where Chimneys Are Seen

Where Chimneys Are Seen 1953

6.40

Where Chimneys Are Seen focuses primarily on the interconnected lives of two couples in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Senju, a poor industrial section of Tokyo.

1953