Ushio Akashi Movies

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

This star-studded and relatively lavishly produced fact-based war drama, set in 1945 Japan during WW II, chronicles the attempts of Japan's War Minister, (played by Toshiro Mifune), to prevent Emperor Hirohito from publicly broadcasting the declaration of surrender. The War Minister rallies those officers around him who also want to keep the war going. The conspirators murder the leader of the Imperial Guards and storm the palace. Fortunately they are stopped by the palace guard. On learning of this failure, the War Minister commits suicide. At least one Western reviewer of this 1967 film (for Variety) still bore very harsh memories of the war and attributed all sorts of face-saving propagandistic intent by the Japanese to this relatively innocuous movie. He was particularly distressed that the aura of sanctity surrounding the Emperor remained intact and was even enhanced by this film; even so, he praised it as expertly acted and entertaining in its own right, despite being an apparently "official" film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi