Susumu Terajima Movies

Japanese anime guru Kazuaki Kiriya ascended to prominence with his sprawling fantasy Casshern (2004), a tale that coupled post-apocalyptic visions with early 21st century design, and shared the success of the manga and anime from which Kiriya and his colleagues adapted it. Kiriya waited five years before emerging with this follow-up, produced by J-horror godfather Takashige Ichise (The Grudge). Described by more than one source in the press as a Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood, it unfurls in the late 16th century. The year is 1582, and the most miserly warlord in Japan, Oda Nobunaga, promptly falls prey to an assassin's blade and is succeeded by his own right-hand-man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (voiced by Eiji Okuda). Unfortunately, all is far from well on the sociological front: a huge chasm exists between rich and poor, and evening things out is super-thief Goemon (voice of Yosuke Eguchi), who spends his day redistributing wealth to the lower economic classes. Fate takes an intriguing turn when Goemon acquires a small, ornate, handcrafted box of foreign design that he swipes from a merchant and hands to a homeless kid (voice of Arashi Fukasawa). Also after the box is the bugyo (or administrator) of Hideyoshi, who sends a vicious ninja (Kirigakure Saizo) out to take care of Goemon and retrieve the item; Goemon recovers it first, however, while saving the young homeless boy from a bellicose swordsman (voice of Tetsuji Tamayama). In no time at all, Goemon finds himself being pursued by everyone under the sun including Mitsunari, re-encounters a lost love from his past, Cha Cha (voice of Ryoko Hirosue) and realizes that the box will play an integral role in the nation's future. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Director Hirokazu Kore-eda writes and directs this family drama that unfolds over the course of a single summer day as the Yokoyama family gathers for a rare reunion held to commemorate the death of the one who was taken before his time. It was 15 years ago that eldest Yokoyama son, Junpei, drowned in a tragic accident, and the only changes around the family home since that fateful day are so subtle that they're not likely to be noticed by anyone outside of the immediate family. Retired family patriarch Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) used to run a successful medical clinic out of the home, though the lights in his medical examining room haven't even been turned on in years. The tiles in the kitchen where energetic Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) cooks family meals are slowly coming loose, and as youngest son Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) arrives home, he does his best to hide the fact that he's currently unemployed. His older sister, Chinami (You), has also arrived with her family, and does her best to entertain everyone despite the undeniable cloud of melancholy hanging over the home. As the festive gathering commences and Toshiko lays out a lavish meal, it gradually becomes obvious that resentment and sorrow bonds this family as powerfully as love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Hirokazu Koreeda turns the popularly held conventions of the typical samurai evenge tale on their head with this story of a man whose quest to avenge the death of his father gradually takes a back seat to his emerging role as a key figure in the community. The year is 1702, and young samurai Sozaemon Aoki (Junichi Okada) has arrived in Edo to seek revenge against Jubei Kanazawa (Tadanoby Asano). Kanazawa is the man responsible for the death of Aoki's father, and now it's up to the grieving swordsman to settle the score. When Aoki begins teaching the children of Edo to read and write, however, his bloodlust slowly begins to subside as he cones to realize the true value of his useful place in society. Upon falling in love with the beautiful Osae (Rie Miyazawa), Aoki comes to realize that although the sword may be a powerful symbol of strength, allowing oneself to fall victim to its savage allure may not always be the best way to realizing ones true heroism. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Taste of Tea director Katsuhito Ishii collaborates with filmmakers Shinichiro Miki and Hajime Ishimine) for this outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother (Tadanobu Asano), his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother. Dance numbers, pillow fights, animation, comedy, and science fiction all combine to create a unique and disorienting viewing experience featuring such highlights as an absurdist tribute to David Cronenberg, an ass-television, and a girl who fires lasers from her forehead in order to battle a floating space blob which emits spinning, spherical projectiles. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In the latest film by Japanese television comic-turned-cinema auteur Takeshi Kitano, a soft-spoken convenience store cashier named Takeshi Kitano finds his fate inexplicably intertwined with that of ubiquitous Japanese showbiz star Takeshi "Beat" Kitano. At times running parallel and at other times unexpectedly intersecting, the radically different lives of the shy everyman Kitano and superstar celebrity Kitano slowly begin to gel into a surreal fantasy of fame as the convenience store clerk and aspiring actor loses himself to fantasies of becoming his famous look-alike. When the unstable fan purchases a variety of handguns under the guise of preparing for an upcoming role, his obsession with the television and film star threatens to erupt into violence. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while capitalism rears its ugly head. A gadget-happy British lad named Ray (voice of Anna Paquin) receives a mysterious package from his grandfather Lloyd Steam (Patrick Stewart) -- a tiny ball that turns out to be an engine toting immense power. As it happens, several of these little balls run the O'Hara pavilion, a massive, mobile fortress. Ray later discovers that his dad and grandfather are located inside of the pavilion; his dad, Eddie, has become mesmerized by O'Hara and subject to their whims, while Lloyd suspects that O'Hara may want to use the balls for nefarious purposes, and tries to put a definitive end to those plans. Indeed, the O'Hara people soon take over the Great Exhibition and turn it into a veritable circus for weapons dealers. Meanwhile, Ray starts to develop feelings for a young girl named Scarlett O'Hara. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Combining yakuza, science fiction, and vampire elements may sound like an outlandish recipe for campy excess in the United States, but former pinku eiga director Takahisa Zeze plays things remarkably straight in this truly unique effort from Japan. In the near future, a group of desolate citizens spend their days and nights in Mallepa, a large refugee community located in the "Asian Special Economic Zone." Though brothers Sho and Shinji survive on the streets with a little resourcefulness and the help of friend Toshi, an encounter with wounded vampire Kei forever changes the course of their lives. Soon after taking Kei back to their hideout so that the desperate vampire may recover, an angry gangster shows up to reclaim a stolen briefcase full of cash. Although Kei is quick to make dinner out of the angry gangster, his efforts to keep his trio of friends from harm is too little too late when the determined gangster fires a fatal bullet into Shinji. When Sho and Toshi plan to rip off a rival gang a decade later, Kei follows and the team soon meets up with similar-minded Chinese troublemaker Son (Wang Lee Hom) and his sister Yi-Che (Zeny Kwok). Soon stalked by the revenge-thirsting rival gang, the trio lose track of their bloodsucking friend in the ensuing melee. It's not long before Sho and Son have a falling out and end up in rival gangs, but can the re-emergence of condemned vampire Kei be enough to bring the two old friends back on the same side of the fence again? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

From the Japanese cult-flick director known simply as Sabu, Koufuku No Kane (The Blessing Bell) follows Igarashi (Susumu Terajima) through the last 24 hours before the factory he works for closes down, leaving him unemployed. After a job hunt brings him no results, Igarishi ponders his fate at the banks of a local river. He isn't counting on an old man committing suicide right next to him, but that is precisely what happens. The problem gets further complicated when a policeman finds the body in the same vicinity as Igarishi, and sends him mistakenly off to jail. Rather than leaving Igarishi feeling even more persecuted, prison life gives the blue-collar young man a sense of purpose. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Shinya Tsukamoto's Rokugatsu No Hebi (A Snake of June) is an erotic drama abut a married couple. Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa) and her husband Shigehiko (Yuji Koutari) have seen their marriage become sexless, which frustrates Rinko. One day she receives a letter containing pictures of her pleasuring herself. The person who sends the letter calls her and reveals himself to be Igushi (Shinya Tsukamoto), a former psychiatric patient of Rinko's. Igushi begins to order Rinko to perform increasingly erotic acts. After Shigehiko finds one of Igushi's letters, the husband becomes involved in the mental games - with surprising results for their marriage. A Snake of June was screened at both the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Following up on his acclaimed debut feature, Kichiku Dai Enkai -- an intense portrait of a band of 1970s radicals who descend into morass of fratricidal blood lust -- Kazuyoshi Kumakiri shifts gears completely by offering this understated romantic drama. Ichio (Takeshi Kitano regular Susumu Terajima) runs a rundown eatery on a Hokkaido highway. One day, a couple gets into a spat resulting in the guy -- an overly tanned self-satisfied clod -- hopping in his red sports car and driving off without her. The woman, Taeko (Rinko Kikuchi), returns to order a meal. When she tries to dash without paying, Ichio nabs her but lets her off with a warning. Ichio soon finds himself similarly stranded when his horseracing-mad father -- and owner of the restaurant -- swipes Ichio's car for a crazed gambling road trip with his buddies. Later that night while camping out, Taeko inadvertently burns down one of the restaurant's sheds. This time around, Ichio puts Taeko to work. Soon, in spite of themselves, a relationship is born. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

One-time cartoonist, screenwriter, 'roman porno' director Takashi Ishii continues his famous film-noir series with Black Angel Vol. 2. The protagonist is Mayo, the Black Angel, a top hit-woman who belongs to a secret gang of murderers. Her latest assignment is to kill Yakazi, a powerful Yakuza (gangster) boss who is about to start a gang war. Mayo has her first try in a remote underground park but she is interrupted by Yamabe, Yakazi's bodyguard. Yamabe looks like the man who saved her when she was about to be raped as a teenager. However, Yamabe does not recognize her and shoots. He misses and hits a passerby, the husband of pregnant Suzu, who dies in his wife's arms. Mayo gets another urgent order to kill Yakazi, but her love for Yamabe is in the way. Meanwhile Yamabe is following Mayo and Suzu is following Yamabe to avenge her husband. The drama of the three characters is the film's focus, but the action scenes, as in the more action-oriented Volume 1, are as visually stunning as ever. Black Angel Vol. 2 had its international premiere at the 1999 International Film Festival in Rotterdam. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Like his previous drama Maborosi (1995), Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life is a brilliant meditation on death and memory. The premise of After Life is simple: over the span of a week, twenty-two souls arrive at a way station (which looks like an old junior high school) between life and death, where they are asked to choose just one memory to take into the afterlife. The new arrivals include an elderly woman, a rebellious dropout, a teenage girl, and a 70-year-old war veteran. Once they have chosen a memory, it is recreated and filmed by the staff of the way station, using all the tricks and illusions of cinema: cotton balls are used to mimic clouds, a fan is used for a summer breeze. In preparation for this project, Kore-eda interviewed 500 people from all walks of life about their memories. The film freely cuts between footage of these interviews, actors improvising, and actors reading scripts. Just as Kore-eda fuses documentary elements with a fictional narrative, we see over the course of the film how memories are distorted, improved on, and revised; and it is these subjectively constructed memories that the new arrivals value most. This film is not a typical Hollywood feel-good film; but its unhurried pace and lack of melodrama, like its subject, may linger in the memory long afterwards. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A courageous but naive boy from one of Japan's smaller islands goes to seek his fortune in Tokyo and ends up involved in Yakuza violence. Yoichi's descent into crime begins after he is befriended by the more worldly Michio who helps his new friend find work in a night club run by the Yakuza. Unfortunately, the boy messes up and enrages the club owner. He simultaneously makes a favorable impression upon a crime boss who likes the rude boy's insolence and refusal to bow to the brutish club owner. The Yakuza hires both Yoichi and Michio as thugs and assigns them to collect gambling debts. The two get into trouble when they begin interfering with their drug-addicted boss's relationship with his moll. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi