Isuzu Yamada Movies
The daughter of an actor, from early childhood Isuzu Yamada took acting lessons, and debuted onscreen at the age of 14. In the mid-'30s, she became a significant screen personality in films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi; later she often worked with director Teinosuke Kinugasa, who became one of her six husbands. She remained busy in films through the mid-'60s, at first in leads and later in character roles. She is best known in the West for her work in such films as Hiroshima (1953), Throne of Blood, and The Lower Depths (both 1957), and Yojimbo (1961). She has also done much work on the Japanese stage. She is the mother of actress Michiko Saga. ~ Rovi
Akira Kurosawa was arguably the most important Japanese filmmaker who ever lived; he was certainly among the most revered and most influential. His award-winning feature Rashomon was one of the first major international successes in Japanese filmmaking, convincing many western cineastes for the first time that Japan had a national cinema worth investigating, and his subsequent body of work -- including Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, and Ran -- is emotionally rich and esthetically compelling in a way few filmmakers can match. Kurosawa is a documentary which explores the personal and professional lives of this giant of world cinema, including interviews with his friends, family, contemporaries, actors, fellow filmmakers, and noted cinema historians -- and in archival clips, Kurosawa himself. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Paul Scofield, (more)
- 1965
In this Japanese historical epic, set 230 B.C. China, a tyrannical conqueror tries to bring all of China's warring tribes together. He marries a woman whose father he murdered. She later tries to exact revenge by killing him. Later, his enemies attempt to assassinate him, but they fail and kill his wife instead. The conqueror then builds the Great Wall of China which becomes his lifelong obsession. When a massive earthquake stops construction, the insane ruler sacrifices a man and his fiancee. This causes a major revolt amongst his subjects who finally succeed in getting him killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shintaro Katsu, Fujiko Yamamoto, (more)
- 1964
Sakiko Okamura (Michiko Saga) is a poor girl with an appetite for expensive things. She willingly allows herself to be debased and degraded to afford her taste of luxuries she desires. Sakiko eventually becomes a prostitute at a sex club where Sasaki (Minoru Chiaki) and Hyodo (Eitaro Shindo) teach her the ropes. Contains considerable nudity. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michiko Saga, Ichiro Sugai, (more)
- 1961
An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kojiro Hongo, Charito Solis, (more)
Toshiro Mifune portrays a Samurai who finds himself in the middle of a feud-torn Japanese village. Neither side is particularly honorable, but Mifune is hungry and impoverished, so he agrees to work as bodyguard (or Yojimbo) for a silk merchant (Kamatari Fujiwara) against a sake merchant (Takashi Shimura). He then pretends to go to work for the other, the better to let the enemies tear each other apart. Imprisoned for his "treachery," he escapes just in time to watch the two warring sides wipe each other out. This was his plan all along, and now that peace has been restored, he leaves the village for further exploits. Yes, Yojimbo was the prototype for the Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" picture A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The difference is that Fistful relies on Eastwood for its success, whereas Yojimbo scores on every creative level, from director Akira Kurosawa to cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa to Mifune's classic lead performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, (more)
- 1961
Mohei (Toshiro Mifune) is the samurai warrior who battles against the Portuguese arsenal of guns and cannons. With these newly introduced weapons, two families battle for control of a valuable land parcel in 17th-century Japan. This feature was made in 1961 but obviously introduced in America to follow up the success of Hell In The Pacific which stars Mifune, one of Japan's most world-renown thespians. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toshiro Mifune, Kyoko Kagawa, (more)
- 1960
Although shown at Japan House in 1981, Bonchi was first released in Japan in 1960 as an attack, with and without humor, on the beginnings of the feminist movement. The story centers around a family's merchant business that has been handed down from mother to daughter, but the daughter has an only son, and therein lies the rub. Worse yet, the son has inherited his mother's genes and can only beget male heirs. Try as he might, through a few wives and mistresses, only little boys are born to carry on the family business. Eventually, the matriarches of the clan die off and the son finally has to come to grips with his own life in his own way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Raizo Ichikawa, Isuzu Yamada, (more)
- 1958
Isusu Yamada plays a pretty Japanese tea seller who befriends widowed laborer Toshiro Mifune. Before either party knows what has happened, the two have fallen in love. Celebrating their impending marriage, the couple spend a wonderful evening in downtown Tokyo, accompanied by the tea seller's young son (Harunori Kametani). Perhaps it is best that none of the participants in this nocturnal excursion are aware that tragedy looms just around the corner. Running a brief 59 minutes, Down Town is not so much a feature film as a profoundly moving tone poem. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isuzu Yamada, Toshiro Mifune, (more)
- 1957
Abarembo Kaido translates to Horse Boy, the character played herein by Motharu Uecki. Left behind when his mother is required to return to her home town for taxation purposes, Uecki develops a deep resentment for his mom. Alone in the big city, Uecki stays alive by taking care of other people's horses. Abarembo Kaido was directed by Tomu Uchida, a former specialist in light comedy who, late in his career, switched to quasi-documentary realism. The film was one of several Japanese entries in the 1957 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isuzu Yamada, Shuji Sano, (more)
- 1957
As Yasujiro Ozu's final black-and-white picture, the 1957 Tokyo Twilight explores the emotional landscapes and nuances within a strained Japanese family. Two daughters - Akiko (Ineko Arima) and Takako (Setsuko Hara) - grew up under the sold guardianship of their father, Mr. Sugiyama (Chishu Ryu) after their mother walked out on the family. This created serious psychological problems for both young women that extended well into adulthood: Akiko now spends all of her free time haunting bars and pachinko parlors, looking for her boyfriend, while Takako withdraws from a severely dysfunctional relationship with her alcoholic husband, by whom she has one daughter. In time, Akiko meets a woman who claims to know her as an acquaintance from their childhood neighborhood, and senses that the lady might actually be her mother. This film ventures into slightly darker psychodramatic territory than much of Ozu's work, by courageously dramatizing and exploring issues such as maternal abandonment, broken families and substance abuse. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Macbeth is reimagined as a samurai in feudal Japan in director Akira Kurosawa's classic adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy. Familiar with Orson Welles's more faithful adaptation, Kurosawa chose to place a more personal stamp on his version by translating the events and characters to historical Japan. The equivalent of the tragic Scottish lord is Taketoki Washizu (Toshiro Mifune), a valiant warrior whose life is transformed by an encounter with a ghostly female spirit. The spirit offers several predictions, finally stating that Washizu will rise to power over the current warlord. When these predictions begin coming true, he and his ambitious wife decide to ensure his ascendancy to power by murdering the current ruler. As with Macbeth, Washizu achieves his goal, but his guilt and the suspicions of others soon bring about his downfall. The shift to Japanese settings is seamless, creating a historically accurate and resonant work with a culturally distinct visual style. The supporting performances also recall Japanese tradition, particularly Isuzu Yamada's creepily unemotional take on Lady Macbeth, while Mifune proves consistently gripping in the sheer intensity of his performance. The intelligence of Kurosawa's alterations retains the drama's tragic impact, especially during the conclusion, in which Washizu makes a memorable final stand against an advancing army. Impressive in every regard, Throne of Blood seems secure in the pantheon of superior film adaptations of William Shakespeare. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, (more)
Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa transferred the setting of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths from Imperial Russia to his own country's Edo Period--which, like Gorky's 19th-century setting, was an era of great cultural advances, offset by the miseries of those who weren't in the aristocracy. Kurosawa's film concentrates on Toshiro Mifune, playing a crooked gambler who falls in love with the sister (Kyoko Kagawa) of his cruel landlady (Isuzu Yamada). Herself carrying a torch for Mifune, the landlady exacts a roundabout revenge by killing her own husband and pinning the blame on the gambler. As the landlady descends into madness, those whom she has treated wretchedly laugh at her plight. Originally titled Donzoko, The Lower Depths was renamed Les Bas-Fonds for its French release--the same title bestowed upon Jean Renoir's 1937 adaptation of the Gorky play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, (more)
- 1956
Set in Japan during the 17th century, this conventional costume drama tells of the persecution of Christian converts in the feudal society of the time. Christianity alone was not the target, it was only one part of the perceived threat of Western civilization. Christofa Ferrera (Osamu Takizawa) is a Portuguese priest who is tortured and ends up giving forth the names of converts. In order to "test" the suspected convert's true faith, the person is asked to step on an image of Christ, the worst possible offense. If the individual refused to desecrate the image in that way, he or she is imprisoned, tortured, and executed. Eventually, the Portuguese priest gains courage from the actions of the laity but the killing does not stop. This was one of the entries in competition at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eiji Okada, Osamu Takizawa, (more)
- 1955
It is altogether fitting that the first major film about the bombing of Hiroshima should emerge from a Japanese studio. The atomic bomb is dropped at the beginning of the film; the remaining 80 minutes deals with the horrible aftermath. The episodic screenplay deals with too many victims to offer a focussed point of view on the event. The only character with whom the audience can identify for any extended period of time is a young boy who managed to survive the bombing, but who has been orphaned and is thus subject to scrutiny and persecution by the harried authorities. The film closes with a "ten years later" coda, as the now-grown-up boy reflects upon his life since that fateful August day in 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eiji Okada, Isuzu Yamada, (more)
- 1954
In this fast-paced satire by master Kon Ichikawa, various comtemporary stereotypes descend on a hapless new income tax employee. Sketches include an embittered geisha, a corrupt politician, and an impoverished family of 18 who manfucture atomic bombs at night. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- 1936
Along with Osaka Elegy (1936), Sisters of the Gion is widely considered one of Kenji Mizoguchi's finest prewar films. The movie takes a realistic look at the life of a geisha in Kyoto's Gion district. Omocha is a geisha with "modern girl" sensibilities; she resents the way that men callously treat women, and she is inclined to ignore the traditions and expectations of her profession. She sets out to beat men at their own game, jumping from patron to patron (a no-no in the geisha business) in order to attain money, nice clothes, and fancy meals. In the process, she deceives and ruins a bumbling, though sincere, store clerk. Her sister Umekichi, on the other hand, possesses all the qualities of the legendary geisha. In spite of Omocha's mockery, she remains devoted to her bankrupt former patron. Eventually, the wronged store clerk exacts revenge against Omocha, landing her in the hospital, while Umekichi's patron abandons her, returning to his wife. As in much of his oeuvre, Mizoguchi shows a deep sensitivity towards the plight of women in society and, as in much of his postwar work, he emphasizes the inevitability of fate. Neither Omocha's guile nor Umekichi's loyalty can do much to alter their cruel predicaments; however, this acknowledgement of their fate yields little of the transcendence seen in such later films as Life of Oharu (1955). ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isuzu Yamada, Yoko Umemura, (more)
- 1936
This is one of director Kenji Mizoguchi's first true masterworks in his long, highly celebrated career. Ayako, a young switchboard operator, tries to resist the advances of Asai, the owner of the pharmaceutical company where she works. Her love interest Nishmura, a young executive at the same company, does not seemed bothered, and her drunken father, who is up to his eyes in debt, is even less helpful. After a loud argument, her father throws her out of the house. With nowhere else to go, Ayako becomes Asai's mistress. She tries to pay her drunken father's numerous debts and help her brother Hiroshi with his studies. They eagerly accept the money but instead of gratitude, they demand more. Thanks to a comical mix-up at a doctor's office, Asai's wife finds out and the affair comes to an abrupt end. Yet thanks to her father's drinking, her family's financial situation seems as pressing as ever, which all but forces Ayako into prostitution. Unfortunately, the police catch her in the act. Even though her father and brother have been living off her, they brand Ayako a disgrace and cast her out of the house to face an uncertain future. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isuzu Yamada, Kensaku Hara, (more)
