Yasunari Kawabata Movies

This virtuoso Japanese silent film, made in 1926, was re-released in 1973. It uses no title-boards, so the story is uninterrupted -- an unusual technique in the silent era. Indeed, except for the absence of dialogue, reviewers agree that this classic movie has a very modern look and "feel." The Seaman (Masao Inoue) works as a volunteer at the mental institution where his wife (Yoshie Nakagawa) is locked up. She was placed there after she had some sort of fit and tried to drown their infant son. The story of their family life, and of this incident, is told in flashbacks. He hopes that by working at the institute, he will have some opportunity to reawaken her to the present and take her away. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this Japanese drama, a dry goods merchant's daughter is surprised to discover that she has a twin sister. In rural Japan it was thought that twins bring bad luck, so the sister was abandoned at birth. Later her parents tell her that her sister was kidnapped. The woman doesn't believe this and when she eventually meets her twin, both women are involved in love affairs. The merchant's daughter is seeing an educated fellow. Trouble ensues when she begins suspecting that he may be more interested in her sister. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this Japanese romance, a writer travels to a hot-springs resort and finds himself falling in love with a geisha. He completes his vacation and then returns to his wife and family in Tokyo. The next winter he again goes to the resort to see the geisha. Unfortunately for her, he cannot offer her a commitment, and so he decides to return home and never see her again. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this Japanese drama, a housewife has a steamy affair with her interior decorator. During their trysts, always in seedy motels, she allows him to photograph her in the nude. Unfortunately a less scrupulous man gets hold of the negatives and tries to balckmail her. He also tells her that her decorator is having an affair with someone else. This all leads to a tryst between the wife and the extortionist. Later the decorator tells all to the wife's spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Based on a book by Nobel prize-winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata, this erotic drama is about aging and long-repressed desires. At age 70, Eguchi (Yoshio Harada) is at the top of his career as a classic music critic and DJ. Editors are harassing him for his printed insights and women are giving him smoldering sidelong stares. When his old friend and supreme court justice keels over, Eguchi slides into depression. While drinking with his friends, he asks himself what has the ravages of age done? Finding one-night stands and the scrutiny of his sagging body by potential lovers embarrassing, he learns of his dead friend's solution to the matter -- a brothel of sorts that offers up women drugged and unconscious. When he stops by he learns from the kimono-clad proprietress (Haruko Wanibuchi) that he may not have sex with his inert playmate. Soon, Eguchi finds himself in a traditional Japanese room with a magnifying glass in hand and with a passed-out naked beauty splayed out on the tatami before him. Meanwhile, Eguchi's daughter-in-law (Yuka Oonishi) is about to leave her cold fish of a husband. She quietly pines for Eguchi, hoping that he can give her what his son could not -- a baby. When she learns of her father-in-law's newfound passion, she quickly arranges to work at the establishment. Director Hiroto Yokoyama reportedly spend ten years getting this work committed to film. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Director Vadim Glowna explores such complicated issues as loneliness, guilt, remembrance, mourning, sex, death, and dying in this adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novel concerning a most unusual bordello catering to a most unlikely clientele. Edmond is a lonely man in his late sixties. On the advice of his older friend Kogi, Edmond visits a bordello that allows elderly men the rare opportunity to lie down beside beautiful, youthful women. The girls are narcotized before each session, ensuring that they never awaken to actually meet the clients. Presiding over this mysterious establishment is the 60-year-old Madame, a woman who assumes the caring role of mother to both the girls and the men who come to be with them. Each time Edmond lies down next to one of the girls, memories of his previous life come flooding back. Edmond wants nothing more than to disappear silently into death while basking in the glorious perfection of youth. One night, by chance, Edmond observes Madame and her helpers disposing of a corpse. But while Edmond becomes morally conflicted about what he has seen, he cannot stop himself from returning to the bordello. When Edmond begins questioning Madame about the incident, the mystery only seems to deepen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi