3 replies to this topic

[pherank]

For anyone interested in finding out more about Japanese cinema - here's a starter list...

Ugetsu
Tokyo Story
The Munekata Sisters
Early Summer
Floating Weeds
Sansho the Bailif
Ikiru
Woman in the Dunes
Branded to Kill
Tokyo Drifter
The Hidden Fortress
Red Beard
Seven Samurai
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
High and Low
Stray Dog
The Bad Sleep Well
Throne of Blood
Samurai Rebellion
Chûshingura
My Neighbor Totoro
Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (I see this as a French-Japanese co-production)

Classic Japanese cinema is full of Samurai-themed stories, but there is plenty of humanity between the sword fights. ;)

[dirac]

I've never had any trouble enjoying samurai pictures, even if the the female characters can get on my nerves after too much exposure - I'm thinking specifically of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, where the women are constantly mewling and sniveling at the feet of one man or another while receiving stern lectures on the relative unimportance of canoodling when there's fighting afoot. (You get the same thing in Westerns, of course, but not to the same degree. That said, I prefer samurai to cowboys, at least in the movie house.)

Chushingura is one of my favorite movies. I also liked the Mizoguchi version.

[canbelto]

You forgot Late Spring. What a wonderful film, I prefer it to Tokyo Story.

[pherank]

dirac, on 07 October 2012 - 04:48 PM, said:

I've never had any trouble enjoying samurai pictures, even if the the female characters can get on my nerves after too much exposure - I'm thinking specifically of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, where the women are constantly mewling and sniveling at the feet of one man or another while receiving stern lectures on the relative unimportance of canoodling when there's fighting afoot.

I agree that the female roles often leave a lot to be desired. That's one reason why I love "Hidden Fortress" - the princess gets to be a strong and forceful personality (yikes!)
Samurai Trilogy is a tough one for me. Some of it is simply great, and some of it is really annoying. I am a huge Mifune fan, which you can probably gather from my list, so I should probably include Samurai Trilogy just for his participation.

canbelto, on 08 October 2012 - 05:05 AM, said:

You forgot Late Spring. What a wonderful film, I prefer it to Tokyo Story.

Deciding which Yasujirō Ozu films to mention is tough as he was remarkably consistent. But I like to hear what others prefer...
"In the 2012 version of the widely-respected decennial "Greatest Films of All Time" Sight & Sound poll, published by the British Film Institute (BFI), Late Spring appears as the 15th greatest film of all time."