Shigeru Muroi Movies

A young yokai (specter) who lost his parents at birth wages war against the malevolent monsters that threaten humankind in a fantasy horror film directed by Katsuhide Motaki and starring Eiji Wentz. With the help of his father's soul (which lives in one of his eyeballs), the young warrior stands as the sole barrier between the fragile human race and the nightmarish beasts that populate another dimension. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Nodo Jiman is popular NHK television show in which amateur singers from across Japan sing their hearts out before a nationwide audience. This film -- directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu -- gives a fictional treatment of the dreams and struggles of a handful of potential contestants as the show is set to broadcast from a small town. The contestants are winnowed down from over 2,000 applicants to ten finalists. The denizens of the town that dream of fame and glory include a high school girl who is the star member of the karaoke club; a yakatori owner (Kohei Otomo), who frets when the health inspector times his visit at the same time as the audition; Kataro (Kazuo Kitamura), an old mushroom grower who sings to communicate with his autistic grandson; and Reiko (Shigeru Muroi), a fading enka singer who is looking for one more shot in the limelight. Other contestants include a narcissistic cabbie (Naoto Takenaka); a straight-laced salariman (Daikichi Sugawara) who butchers his song's French lyrics; and a grandmother (Kyoko Asakiri), who sings "Ginza Can Can Musume". This film played at the 1998 Pusan Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A subtle metaphor for the increasing depersonalization of Japanese society caused by the country's unending obsession with money making, avant-garde filmmaker Masashi Yamamoto's Robinson's Garden offers a powerful commentary on the relative insignificance of Humanity upon the much older, more enduring world. The story (told not as a straightforward narrative, but rather as a series of exquisitely photographed poetic images) centers on a young woman who, though she earns a middle-class income, augments her salary by dealing drugs. One day, while she is drunk and wandering the streets, she runs across an empty factory. Beside it lies a verdant, beautiful garden. Captivated, the woman moves into the factory, making it a beautiful place filled with gay colors and flashing lights, and she begins tending the garden, making it lovely but keeping it apart from her living space. One day, a tough little street girl shows up and enjoys the garden with the woman. Life in the fantasy world soon consumes the woman and as time passes she becomes increasingly withdrawn from her life in the real world. Eventually she becomes very sick. Too weak to keep the jungle plants of the garden from overtaking her home, delirium forces her to flee the garden and reenter the surrounding city. Unfortunately she finds only visions of her late grandfather. Frightened and without solace, she makes her way back to the haven to meet her fate. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi