Hiroshi Wada Movies

Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka), a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school that is dedicated to memory of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His father (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is a grizzled ex-boxer who recently changed his citizenship from North to South Korea so he and his wife -- Sugihara's mom (Shinobu Otake) -- could visit Hawaii. Though his father regularly gets drunk and thrashes him, he also taught Sugihara the finer point of the sweet science. At one point in the film, Sugihara takes out an entire basketball team that was bent on taking him out. Upon graduation, Sugihara enters a normal Japanese high school where he meets and soon falls for Sakurai (Kou Shibasaski) -- a loose-sock copper-haired damsel who is attracted to Sugihara's restless spirit. As the film progresses, Sugihara desperately struggles to throw off the stigma of his ethnicity and live a quiet, successful life. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This is a comedic look at the clash between a naive, countryside mentality and the wild life of urban Tokyo. A farmer and his kimono-clad wife decide to go to the big city to visit their son. They get a room in a hotel where she makes the bed, and they set out to find their son's apartment. He is none too thrilled at their arrival, and his fears are justified. His mother starts cleaning up the place, and his father heads out to greet the neighbors, one of whom is a transvestite. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this Japanese gangster flick, a young man accepts the blame for a killing done by his girlfriend's brother. He then leaves Japan only to return five years later. Upon his arrival, he discovers that his girl has married an older, very rich banker. The unemployed man gets involved with a drug dealer who hires him to kill the banker who has been thwarting major drug deals. The man then finds out that Jono, his ex-girlfriend only married the banker so she could get enough money to help her brother keep his promise to go straight. Unfortunately, the brother secretly reneged on that promise and is actually using the money to raise his status in the mob. The hero decides to take on her brother's mob and kill them. Unfortunately, he is shot and dies before he can see his true love again. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi