Kaoru Kobayashi Movies

Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, the gentle coming-of-age drama Tokyo Tower - Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Yoshimitsu Morita's comedy drama Ashura No Gotoku (Like Ashura) tells the story of what happens to four sisters when they discover a secret their father has been keeping. The film opens with third sister Takiko (Eri Fukatsu) revealing to the others that dad has been having an affair that has produced an illegitimate child. While all the women react in their own way, each has also been keeping secrets. Takiko becomes involved with the private eye she hired to snoop on her father. Tsunako (Shinobu Otake), the oldest, is a widow who has been carrying on with a married man. Second oldest Makiko (Hitomi Kuroki) is too dense to see that her husband has been cheating on her. The situation grows more complicated when a mysterious letter that may have been written by one of the sisters is printed in the newspaper. Like Ashura was screened at the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Makoto Wada directs this Twilight Zone-like portmanteau film about the grotesque, the bizarre, and the just plain weird. The first segment features a slightly drunken man (Hiroyuki Sanada) and a very tense woman (Mieko Harada) clutching a suitcase, who are riding an elevator together. When the lift suddenly stops and the lights dim, the guy clearly hopes for impromptu romance to bloom. Instead, the woman freaks out, accusing him of stopping the elevator on purpose. Soon she's brandishing a switchblade, defending whatever is in her luggage to the death. The second segment details how a young woman's (Mami Kumagai) moment of upward career mobility is undone by a mysterious -- maybe otherworldly -- boatman. The third section tells of a novelist (Haruhiko Saito) who fails to buy a train ticket on his way back to his hometown village and is forced to explain himself to a frightfully unsympathetic station manager (Ryuko Hagiwara). The fourth segment relates a story about a rich merchant (Kaoru Kobayashi) who happens upon his former mistress (Hitomi Kuroki) while escaping a thundering rainstorm. The two share a room at a nearby inn and make love. In the middle of the night, the mistress is plagued by horrible visions and soon the merchant is seeing them too. The final section is about a reporter (Ken Ishiguro) and photographer (Kyusaku Shimada) who enlist the help of the wrong pilot in order to make deadline for their tyrant of an editor. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Ichiro Kure (Yoji Matsuda) emerges from a coma to find himself in a psychiatric hospital. One doctor tells Ichiro that he is hospitalized because he has murdered his mother and his wife and explains his condition is inherited from a mad painter who lived over 1,000 years ago. Time moves forward and backward as disturbing Freudian interpretations are used in trying to explain the malady of the inmate. Even more disturbing are the psychiatrists themselves who act as impromptu masters of ceremonies. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this spoof about "industrial espionage" between the rival No and Ra advertising agencies, many quirky scenes highlight the Japanese obsession with (and curious modesty towards) sex. In one scene, a group of men in a shower have their genitals discreetly covered by round black circles. In another, shown at the start of the film, a naked woman is shown hurling curses at someone or something from a balcony too far above the street for her cries to be heard. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This is a probing tale set in turn of the century Japan, involving three people trapped in a complex relationship of love and friendship. Daisuke (Yusaku Matsuda) is supposed to be out looking for a respectable job and equally respectable wife. He is 30 years old and devotes his attention to music and literature; his family is wealthy and can support his interests. When his friend Hiraoka (Kaoru Kobayashi) returns with his wife Michiyo (Miwako Fujitani), problems arise. Hiraoka, not the best-tempered person in the world, has just lost his job. His wife Michiyo was once in love with Daisuke and when the two see each other again, their old feelings surface. Michiyo is not really happy in her marriage to Hiraoka, but Hiraoka, who condemns Daisuke's unwillingness to work, was once his best friend. Should Daisuke choose to keep Hiraoka's friendship and the respect of his society by ignoring Michiyo -- or rebel and go after her? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Hoichi Higashi once again develops an intelligent female lead -- Kazumi (Reiko Ohara) -- whose sensitivity does not undermine her strength when she handles her second husband's emotional conflicts with the wisdom of an adult. Kazumi's younger and more inexperienced husband Hideo (Kaoru Kobayashi) is continually suspicious of her fidelity, for no good reason at all. In one scene, Hideo locks himself in a room while in a fit of pique and Kazumi simply breaks down the door. When Kazumi gets pregnant and then suffers an accident, one might think that a tearful reconciliation between husband and wife would carry the day -- but as director Higashi intimates, it may not be so at all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director (and in this case, scriptwriter) Kazuki Omori has turned 180 degrees around from his Godzilla films to tackle college-student dialogues on the meaning of life, love, work, and once in awhile, learning. In the process of thinking through these topics, a Tokyo University student takes side trips to the port of Kobe to have a few beers and long conversations with a friend of his and the ever-helpful bartender. Whatever the bartender and his friend do not cover, the student can find in his ongoing relationship with a mystery woman. Not everything it is assumed, can be learned inside the university. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide