Keiko Sawai Movies
- 1970
This Japanese biopic chronicles reminiscences of renowned poet Hideo Yoshino as he speaks to the young Swedish student who interviews him. The story jumps from present to past as he speaks of his marriage to Yachigusa, the woman who inspired his best poetry. Following her death, Yoshino forgoes his art and concentrates on raising his children. Later he marries his housemaid and causes a major rift between his daughter and himself. His two sons begin to reject him, not because of his marriage, but because they hate living in his distinguished shadow. The film jumps to the present, and just before the old poet dies, he and one son reconcile. The poet is then inspired to write one more before he finally expires. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1967
Also known as Sasaki Kojiro, this sprawling Samurai epic stars Kikunosuke Onoe as a humble peasant youth. The Japanese feudal system being what it is (or was during the time in which this film is set), Onoe evidently hasn't much of a chance of becoming a samurai warrior. But he does, and along the way enjoys all the creature comforts attending his rank and reputation. Such is Onoe's prowess with his weaponry and physical equipment that he seems invulnerable. But a climactic battle with fabled Samurai Miyamoto (Tatsuya Nakadai) proves that Onoe is as capable of bleeding and dying as any ordinary mortal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kikunosuke Onoe, Yuriko Hoshi, (more)
Toho's bid to merge the Godzilla series with their popular alien-invasion films resulted in this entertainingly goofy entry. The plot involves the discovery of the mysterious Planet X in our solar system, leading to a joint U.S./Japanese space exploratory mission. The explorers bump into some aliens with no fashion sense whatsoever (even for 1965), who claim their planet has been under constant attack from the powerful Monster Zero -- also known to Godzilla fans as Ghidrah, the three-headed monster from the previous year. The aliens suggest a deal with the Earthlings: if they can "borrow" Godzilla and Rodan to help rid their planet of Ghidrah, they will cure all of humankind's diseases in return. Of course, this is actually an elaborate ruse to rid the Earth of its monstrous defenders, leaving it vulnerable to invasion. As always, it's up to a handful of resourceful characters -- including token American Nick Adams and series regular Akira Takarada -- to save the day and return Earth's monsters for the requisite city-smashing finale. After a slow start, this movie serves up a good portion of flashy pyrotechnics and noisy monster-grappling but lapses into several moments of deliberate silliness (particularly Godzilla's goofy Irish jig) and rampant use of ill-fitting footage from previous monster installments. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- 1965
In this Japanese feature, when diamond robbers find that a kind of goo from outer space is beating them to the diamonds and consuming the jewels for food, they have to do something about it. Meanwhile, an elderly scientist has been working on the problem and discovers that wasp venom freezes the extraterrestrial goo. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yoko Fujiyama
