Hideji Otaki Movies
- 2006
After being stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the prime of his life, a successful young businessman slips slowly away from his loving family in director Yukihiko Tstusumi's poignant family drama. Saeki (Ken Watanabe) is about to launch what promises to be the most successful advertising campaign in his burgeoning career. In addition to his astonishingly fast ascent up the corporate ladder, Saeki's beautiful young daughter is about to be married, and he will soon become a youthful grandfather. Though his long hours on the job always prevented Saeki from truly connecting with his family, Saeki's wife Emiko (Kenji Sakaguchi) remains staunchly committed to both their family and their relationship as husband and wife. With time fast running out for Saeki and the past gradually converging with the present in his rapidly-deteriorating mind, the unconditional love offered by his supportive family offers an intimate look into a disease that, despite it's prominence in virtually every culture, still goes largely misunderstood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Watanabe, Kanako Higuchi, (more)
A genetic discovery that could prove mankind's saving grace is instead used to create the very beings who threaten their existence in director Kazuaki Kirya's visionary sci-fi epic. The time is the late 21st Century; fifty years of war between Europa and the Eastern Federation have left the planet devastated and the human race completely dispirited. In the aftermath of the Eastern Federation "victory," a new federation known as Eurasia is born. But the planet has been ravaged beyond the point of repair by nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and a half-century of warfare has taken a devastating toll on all mankind. At first, it appears that salvation is imminent when a highly respected geneticist named Azuma announces the discovery of a so-called "neo cell" that can rejuvenate the human body without risk of rejection. Mankind's last hope threatens to become its ultimate downfall, however, when nature and science combine to create a menace that could very well extinguish the human race forever. Now, as the human race prepares to make its last stand against the ultimate enemy, a powerful warrior will emerge to fight for mankind and provide hope for future generations. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, (more)
As the Japanese studios were declining in 1969, four legendary directors from that country's "golden age" of cinema -- Kon Ichikawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Keisuke Kinoshita, and of course Akira Kurosawa -- banded together to start their own production company. The financial and critical failure of the studio's first feature, Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-Den (1970), scrubbed all subsequent projects. One of the shelved works was this film, which was adapted by the quartet from Shugoro Yamamoto's "Diary of Town Magistrate" and was originally going to be directed by all four masters. With the passing of Kurosawa and Kinoshita in 1998, directing duties of this almost forgotten script fell to the group's sole survivor: 85-year-old Ichikawa. The film centers on Koheita Mochizuki (played by charismatic leading man Koji Yakusho), a samurai selected by the regional lord to be the magistrate of the particularly lawless district of Horisoto, a place where three such officers disappeared. This appointment arouses more than a little curiosity from the locals; Mochizuki's reputation for liquor and general licentiousness has earned him the nickname Dora-Heita, or "alley cat" (meaning "playboy"). In fact, Mochizuki has carefully cultivated his debauched persona, as he quietly tells his friend Senba (Ryudo Uzaki), who works as district administrator. He exhorts his pal to keep the rumors circulating. When the venerable district council -- who is aghast at Mochizuki's slatternly appearance -- almost votes to remove him, Dora-Heita reveals the lord's signed letter of endorsement giving him absolute authority. His first task is to clean out three powerful gangs who control Horisoto, keeping it awash in prostitution, extortion, gambling, and murder. Though samurais are forbidden to sullen themselves with such riff-raff, he boldly ventures into the prohibited brothel quarters and plays up his libertine persona in order to suss out the real criminals. In the process, he profoundly offends a band of right-thinking young samurais who soon plot to assassinate the heretical Dora-Heita. With almost everyone in the area out to get him, Mochizuki's life is further complicated by the appearance of geisha and former mistress Kosei (Yuko Asano), who demands that he take her back. Told with a sly sense of humor that was common to all four directors, this film is directed with a muscular dynamism that recalls the best of the samurai movies of old, such as Yojimbo (1961) and Harakiri (1963). Dora-Heita was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Koji Yakusho, Yuko Asano, (more)
- 1992
Veteran filmmaker Juzo Itami spins this biting satire cum do-it-yourself video about the do's and don'ts of dealing with yakuza extortion techniques. The film centers on the posh Europa Hotel that lost a big conference bid to its rival; the reason was because gangsters were openly conducting business and harassing customers in the lobby. The hotel manager (Akira Takarada) drafts bellboy Wakasugi (Masahiro Murata) and pudgy middle manager Suzuki (Yasuo Daichi) into the heretofore non-existent yakuza task force. These two nice guys have no clue how to handle their sneering, loudly dressed adversaries. Paying them off only results in them demanding more money, and talking to them results only in a hail of insults. Enter Mahiru Inouye (Itami's wife Nobuko Miyamoto) -- a gutsy lawyer who is intimately familiar with Japan's newly installed anti-racketeering laws. Bribery, she tells the pair, won't stop their problem -- recording equipment, surveillance cameras, and a little backbone will. When asked if the yakuza might whack them for their defiance, Inouye laughs it off, arguing they won't risk jail killing a non-yakuza. In spite of their abusive language and menacing leers, they are first and foremost businessmen. This film proved to be so accurate about how to thwart mob shakedowns and so unflattering to the yakuza (who are used to being portrayed as latter-day samurai), that days after this film was released, Itami found himself on the receiving end of a gangland knife attack. The pugnacious director wore the resulting scars on his face as badges of honor. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nobuko Miyamoto, Akira Takarada, (more)
- 1990
In Japanese society, geisha still have a role to play as exemplars of gracefulness and cultivation, despite the near disappearance of this livelihood and art form. One of the customs of being a geisha is that wealthy or prominent men will "buy" their contract, which means that they have a primary obligation to appear at the contract-holder's side whenever he or his guests require the special entertainment geishas provide. Though there is a sexual element to this form of livelihood, it cannot be called a form of prostitution in any way, with one exception: customarily, virgin geishas are ritually deflowered by the highest bidder. The bidding wars that precede this practice frequently result in an amount that will completely pay for the previous training of the young girl. If this were not done, the girl would have to find some other way to pay her geisha-house back for the rigorous training she has received in classical Japanese dancing and music (not to mention the cost of her ruinously expensive gowns). In this story, Nayoko (Nobuko Miyamoto) is an "a-ge-man" or "golden geisha," whose mere presence confers success on whoever holds her contract. Over the years a number of men bid for or sell her contract, until it is bought by the one man who truly loves her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nobuko Miyamoto, Masahiko Tsugawa, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
Japan's answer to Don Simpson -- a flamboyant and brash producer drawn to make flamboyant and brash films -- Haruki Kadokawa takes a turn at the director's chair with this sprawling historical epic featuring a massive budget: a record-breaking five billion yen, and thousands of extras comprising most of the student population from the University of Calgary. Set during the Warring States era (1482-1558), the film opens on the real-life rivalry between feuding warlords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin. The latter (Takaaki Enoki) begins the film as Nagao Kagetora, the younger brother of the lord of Echigo Province. Encouraged by court retainer Usami Tadayuki (Tsunehiko Watase), he challenges his inept brother for the reigns of power and kills him in an ensuing duel. Soon after becoming lord of the province, he faces a new threat with Takeda Harunobu (Masahiko Tsugawa), lord of the neighboring Kai province. Both have grand dreams of uniting their war-torn land and ruling from the imperial capital of Kyoto. Ultimately, this clash of egos, personalities, and ambitions leads to the cataclysmic 1561 battle of Kawanakajima. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Takaaki Enoki, Masahiko Tsugawa, (more)
- 1971
Dracula really doesn't appear in the Japanese Lake of Dracula, but there is a charismatic male vampire roaming about... or is there? The story focuses on a young girl who is rescued from the vampire's fangs by a kindly old man. The girl grows into womanhood, never completely getting over her ordeal. Those around her have trouble believing her story, insisting that she merely suffered a nightmare. The truth comes out before the final sun comes up. Originally titled Chi O Suu Mee, Lake of Dracula was also released as Bloodthirsty Eyes and Dracula's Lust For Blood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
