Ryuhei Matsuda Movies

Previously adapted for the screen in 1953 by actor/director So Yamamura, author Takiji Kobayashi's classic 1929 novel gets a new lease on screen life in this manga-styled film from prolific actor/writer/director Sabu. When the young and downtrodden workers on a crab canning ship stage a daring revolt, their bold attempt in casting aside the shackles of conformity yields unanticipated results. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Visionary Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) returns to the helm with this bleak tale of a supernaturally gifted serial killer with the power to enter his victim's dreams, and the mysterious "Nightmare Detective" who provides the only hope of loosening the maniac's murderous grip on dreamland. Detective Keiko Kirishima (Hitomi) was an academic criminologist whose interest in detective work soon found her gravitating into homicide fieldwork. Upon being assigned to investigate a recent rash of suicides in which the victims seem to have slashed themselves to death while sleeping, Keiko observes a strange connecting factor -- each victim's phone displays "0" as the last number dialed before their grisly demise. Encouraged by her superiors to view the case from a paranormal perspective, Keiko soon learns of a man named Kyoichi Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda), who is said to be able to enter the dreams of others while analyzing the thoughts of his slumbering subjects. Despite his initial reluctance to get involved in the case, Kyoichi soon finds his resolve put to the ultimate test when the desperate Keiko dials "0" in a suicidal, last-ditch effort to capture the elusive killer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Two men imprisoned for seperate murders find their fates mortally intertwined in cult director Takashi Miike's homoerotic meditation on the societal flaws of modern-day Japan. Jun (Ryuhei Matsuda) is an effiminate gay bar employee who, after being sexually assaulted by a customer, brutally murdered his attacker in a fit of rage. Shiro (Masanobu Ando) is a brutish, heavily-tattooed thug whose combative nature has resulted in too many run-ins with the law to count. When both men are imprisoned for murder, Shiro's undeniable charisma and intensity draws Jun like a moth to the flame. As the two men learn from behind bars to open up and accept one and other for who they really are, a warm bond begins to grow that finds each man confiding his innermost secrets with the other and Shiro taking an almost paternal interest in his fragile young friend. When a confrontation erupts in the common area of the prison and one inmate strangles another to death, the guards are shocked to find Jun sitting on Shiro's lifeless body. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Directors Suguru Takeuchi, Akio Jissoji, Hisayasu Sato, and Atsushi Kaneko team to adapt four stories by acclaimed early-20th Century Japanese mystery novelist Taro Hirai, who penned his suspenseful tales under the telling pseudonym Edogawa Ranpo. Maverick Japanese indie star Tadanoby Asano stars in all four segments of the macabre omnibus. Takeuchi's "Mars' Canal," sets things into motion as a naked man (Asano) wandering through a desolate alien landscape recounts a sexual encounter that quickly took a violent turn. The second segment, directed by Jissoji and entitled "Mirror Hell," finds detective Kogoro Akechi (Asano) investigating the mysterious deaths of two young women. Upon discovering that mirrors crafted by malevolently handsome stationary shop master Toru Itsuki (Hiroki Narimiya) and that the mirror-maker knew both of the victims intimately, the investigation takes an unsettling turn that leads the detective to believe the occult may be involved. Director Sato's "Caterpillar," which comprises the third segment of the film, follows a quadruple amputee war veteran (Nao Omori) who returns from the battlefield only to face sadistic abuse at the hands of his nubile but resentful wife (Yukiko Okamoto). As a local artist (Ryuhei Matsuda) begins to take a morbid interest in the couple's twisted relationship, Detective Akechi (Asano) does his best to crack the strange case. Kaneko's "Crawling Bugs" rounds out the frightful quartet of tales by detailing the psychotic coupling between a well-known actress (Tamaki Ogawa) and her introverted driver (Asano), who longs to satisfy the sultry starlet in the same manner as her rough-handed lover (again Asano). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Audition writer Ryu Murakami returns to shock and surprise movie lovers with this darkly satirical comedy about an absurd street war between two gangs of violent, karaoke-loving outsiders. The Gakis are a gang of young slackers whose primary passion in life is staging elaborate karaoke recreations of the nostalgic, Showa-era songs (classic hits from the 1940s to the 1980s) they grew up on. The Midoris are a group of thirty-something female divorcees who share a similar passion for classic karaoke hits, yet despite their similar interests these two crews are about to become locked on a cataclysmic collision course. When a Gaki is rejected while trying to pick up a Midori, the humiliation proves too hard to handle and he instinctively kills the woman. The Midoris quickly retaliate, and the war is on. At first both gangs rely on knives and guns to exact their vicious revenge, but before long a simple bullet just won't suffice. As the violence escalates and both gangs up the ante by securing increasingly advanced and destructive weaponry, two generations forgotten by society clash in an explosive frenzy of apocalyptic fury. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After a 13-year absence, partially due to a life-threatening stroke, master filmmaker Nagisa Oshima returns to the silver screen with this revisionist samurai epic. From his first major film, Cruel Story of Youth to his most notorious work Ai no Korrida, Oshima has coupled the political and the sexual in a manner that transgresses all social norms. In this film, Oshima explores homosexuality among the ranks of the much hallowed samurai. The film is set in Kyoto in 1865 during a critical moment of Japanese history--the country's 300-year-long self-imposed isolation was coming to an abrupt halt leading to the end of the Shogunate. In its place came a more internationally-minded government with the Emperor as its nominal head. Feeling both their traditions and their grip on power threatened, samurai militia sprang up throughout the country to fight this foreign encroachment. One such group, the Shinsengumi, is auditioning new recruits at the film's opening. Commander Kondo (Yoichi Sai) and Captain Hijikata (Takeshi Kitano, a renowned filmmaker in his own right) select the ruggedly handsome Tashiro (cult actor Tadanobu Asano) and Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda), an effeminate lad with long locks and a thirst for blood. Worried about the perceived slightness of the latter, Kondo and Hijikata order Kano to perform an execution, which he does with grim aplomb. The lad's androgynous beauty soon raises the general blood pressure of the militia. While Tashiro snuggles up with him nightly, Hijikata, who suspects that something other than manly appreciation is going on between the two neophytes, also seems unduly interested in the youth. This film was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide