Chishu Ryu Movies

Wim Wenders' sprawling cyberpunk noir epic -- shot in no less than nine different countries -- is set in 1999 and stars Solveig Dommartin as Claire, a young Frenchwoman who comes into contact with a large sum of money stolen during a bank heist; in her travels she picks up a mysterious American hitchhiker (William Hurt), who himself steals some of the money before parting from her company. Upon discovering the theft, Claire sets out on his trail, with both a Hammett-styled German private eye (Rudiger Vogler) as well as her former lover, a novelist portrayed by Sam Neill, in tow. The hitchhiker is really Sam Farber, the son of an underground scientist (Max Von Sydow), and his mission is to travel the globe in order to acquire the funding necessary to develop the technology which will allow his blind mother (Jeanne Moreau) to "see" visual recordings of her family members; the second half of the film takes place largely in the Farbers' compound in the Australian Outback, where Sam, Claire and the others take refuge while attempting to bring the sight project to its fruition, in the meantime pondering earth's future in the wake of a nuclear disaster in outer space. Wenders' most ambitious film to date, budgeted at $23 million, Until the End Of the World is also among his most seriously flawed efforts -- despite a keen sense of cultural perception, a fascinating sci-fi take on life in the near-future and stunning Robby Muller cinematography, the picture never quite gels. Much of the blame seems to fall upon its distributors -- upon its wide release in 1991, the movie was drastically cut to a running time of 2 1/2 hours, resulting in a disjointed narrative that doesn't shift gears so much as grind them as the action moves from country to country. Still, while a three-hour version, issued on laserdisc in Japan, comes closer to realizing the full scope of Wenders' epic vision, rumors of a five-hour director's cut -- said to have been screened to thunderous applause at a handful of film festivals -- continue to persist, suggesting that a masterpiece may well exist here after all. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Kiyoshi Atsumi plays Tora-San, a legendary Japanese "everyman" whose seriocomic adventures have been documented in dozens of films. While taking a train trip, the Chaplinesque Tora-San comes to the aid of suicidal businessman Akira Emoto. When the businessman expresses a desire to visit Vienna, Tora-San obligingly goes along with him. Tora-San doesn't enjoy the Austrian city as much as he'd expected, but his visit is brightened by his romance with tour guide Keiko Takeshita. Alas, Tora-San is once more left alone at film's end, though there's always the prospect of new adventures just around the next corner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The environment and the movie stars at a Japanese film studio in the early '30s are recreated in this drama that looks back on a distinctive period in cinematic history. Using celebrated director Yasujiro Ozu as a model, fictional director Ogata (Ittoku Kishibe) discovers a new female star quite by accident. Koharu Tanaka (Narimi Arimori) works selling candy at a studio theater when she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this intriguing documentary, award-winning German director and producer Wim Wenders combines clips from one of his favorite directors, Ozu Yasujiro (see the tribute to Ozu, Ikite wa Mita Keredo.. by Inoue Kazuo), with actual scenes from the sprawling, crowded megalopolis of Tokyo to discover where the real world and cinematic license may intersect, if at all. Ozu's films captured the poignant and fleeting aspects of worldly existence -- as in colorful autumn leaves that cannot last long. Wenders almost emulates his technique when he decides, in this 92-minute look at Tokyo -- to spend time on fragments of city life that are telling, eloquent statements of a Japanese ethic. Golfers on city rooftops, the neon lights of the famous Ginza shopping area, baseball games in a cemetery, the omnipresent televisions (even in taxis), and the waxed-over food that stands for months and years in restaurant windows to advertise the menu are all surreal and eloquent scenes. Juxtaposed against the noise and bustling crowds in a city in which people live elbow-to-elbow -- and contrasted with viewpoints on Ozu offered by two former associates -- these scenes and their counterpoints present a well-rounded view of Tokyo, Ozu, and what it means to be Wim Wenders filming in Japan. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The directorial debut of Juzo Itami, this irreverent black comedy satirizes death and burial customs in a surprising manner for a Japanese film. Trendy film actress Chizuko (Nobuko Miyamoto) and her actor husband Wabisuke (Tsutomu Yamazaki) must rush from a movie set to mourn Chizuko's honored elderly father. The three-day wake is dramatized with rich comic detail and a funny supporting cast including Shuji Otaki, Kin Sugai, and Chishu Ryu as a greedy priest. Although Itami had yet to perfect the deft comic touch which made Tampopo (1986) such a treat, this darkly funny satire is still wonderfully entertaining and surprisingly touching. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Tora-san returns in this the sequel to Otokowa Tsuraiyo. Once again the film's gruff but kind-hearted protagonist ventures to the far reaches of Japan. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A clever injunction against war, this film by director Kihachi Okamoto centers on the character of a dedicated, old-fashioned soldier (Minoru Terada) versus the changes going on around him at the end of World War II. Slow on the uptake and innocent, the soldier still manages to handle the deprivations he and others face due to of Japan's prolonged war effort. Now he has been assigned the task of being a "human bullet." He is supposed to guide a torpedo all the way to an enemy ship when the bay around Tokyo is invaded. His assignment, though, is soon forgotten, and there he is, floating out in the water off Tokyo, unaware that the war has ended. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this Japanese comedy drama, a trading company office manager has a nice life with his wife and family. Of his four daughters, three are already married while the youngest is engaged to the son of his close friend. Later, the manager and his friend have a fight at a college reunion as to whether they should tell their other friend that he has terminal cancer. Meanwhile the manager's brother tells him that he has embezzled a huge amount of money, and this forces the manager to sell his stocks to preserve the family name. He loads the money in a briefcase, but instead of taking it to his brother he boards a train on a whim and flees town. Later the daughters and his wife gather together to talk about the missing money. The manager goes to Osaka and accidentally books a room at a whorehouse where he finds himself very pleased with the services offered. He remains for 10-days before deciding to return home. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi