Tsutomu Yamazaki Movies

Director Yojiro Takita and writer Kundo Koyama examine the rituals surrounding death in Japan with this tale of an out-of-work cellist who accepts a job as a "Nokanashi" or "encoffineer" (the Japanese equivalent of an undertaker) in order to provide for himself and his young wife. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a talented musician, but when his orchestra is abruptly disbanded, he suddenly finds himself without a source of steady income. Making the decision to move back to his small hometown, Daigo answers a classified ad for a company called "Departures," mistakenly assuming that he will be working for a travel agency. Upon discovering that he will actually be preparing the bodies of the recently deceased for their trip to the afterlife, Daigo accepts the position as gatekeeper between life and death and gradually gains a greater appreciation for life. But while Daigo's wife and friends universally despise his new line of work, he takes a great amount of pride in the fact that he is helping to ensure that the dead receive a proper send-off from this state of being. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With his enigmatic, cerebral drama Koorogi (aka Crickets), Japanese writer/director Shinji Aoyama pays openly declared homage to one of his influences, the recently deceased Swiss director Daniel Schmid. Laden with symbols and archetypes, the picture concerns Serene Kaoru (Kyoka Suzuki), a young female caregiver assigned to look after a deaf and mute elderly gentleman (Tsutomu Yamazaki) at a seaside house. She has sacrificed numerous pleasures and comforts from the outside world to take the job, and thus begins to "test" her client's dependence on her by increasingly removing herself from his sphere and evaluating his response. Director Aoyama films the picture experimentally, with a 1:33:1 aspect ratio designed to create visual restrictions for the viewer and thus emulate the restrictions of Kaoru's new life. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A murder investigation takes a number of unexpected and unsettling turns in this suspense thriller from Japan. Nango (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is a prison guard moonlighting as a detective as he investigates the case of Toru Kihara (Kankuro Kudo), a petty thief who ten years before was convicted of a multiple murder he claims he can't remember. Toru's lawyer Sugiura (Tsurubei Shofukutei) hires Nango at the request of a nameless client who wants to see Toru cleared, and Nango brings in Junichi Mikami (Takashi Sorimachi) to assist him; Nango met Junichi when the latter was serving time for manslaughter, and Nango wants to give the young ex-con a chance to start over. However, as they dig deeper into the case, Nango discovers several disturbing parallels between the crime for which Toru was convicted and Junichi's own record; he becomes especially alarmed when he learns Junichi was near the scene of Toru's alleged murder. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Yoichi Sai's prison film Doing Time stars Tsutomu Yamazaki as Hanawa, a man serving a sentence in a minimum-security prison. Life in the jail is rigid and organized, eventually leading all of Hanawa's cellmates to abandon their individuality. Hanawa lasts longer than the others, but a stint in solitary confinement leads him to the same emotional and psychological state as the others. Doing Time was screened at the Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A former mob boss' past returns to haunt him as he tries to walk the straight and narrow in director Takashi Miike's adaptation of Hiroshi Motomiya's popular manga. He may have been a wild man in his past, but these days former biker Kintaro (Katsunori Takahashi) opts to spend his days working a white-collar job for a respected construction company. Though his street smarts seem to come in handy when a powerful corporation begins utilizing corrupt politicians and yakuza thugs in a bid to take over the company, Kintaro soon realizes that he alone cannot put an end to the strong-arm tactics, and if there is any hope for the company, he must enlist the help of some old, not so subtle friends. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Veteran director Juzo Itami who -- shot to fame with his sharply satirical Ososhiki and Tampopo -- turns to decidedly sweeter fare in this melodrama about the life of a mentally handicapped young man and his devoted sister after their famous novelist father and housewife mother go to Australia on a business trip. Adapted from the novel by Nobel Laureate and brother-in-law to Itami, Kenzaburo Oe, the film centers on Iyo (Atsuro Watabe) -- a brain damaged lad who is a gifted musician -- and his artist sister Ma-chan (Hinako Saeki), who slowly learn about the darker, more complicated life outside their idyllic home. One catalyst in this transition is Arai-kun (Masayuki Imai) who at first seems like not only the perfect swim instructor for Iyo -- he's kind and patient -- but also the perfect boyfriend for Ma-chan. Unfortunately, Arai-kun has a darker side, which comes out in unfortunate ways. Itami's wife, Nobuko Miyamoto, also appears. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed director and headmaster of the Sogestsu school of flower arranging Hiroshi Teshigahara helms this elegant historical drama about tea master Sen no Rikyu. A Buddhist priest who talks of the beauty of a single flower or the shape of a hand holding a teacup, Rikyu (played by Rentaro Mikuni) not only perfected the art of the tea ceremony, but he was one of the primary arbiters of taste during his age. That era was a bloody one, culminating in the uniting of Japan's disparate kingdoms by a series of strong leaders. The most ambitious and the most extravagant was Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Tsutomu Yamazaki), who favored flashy displays of wealth as much as he did violent conquest. Hideyoshi thought of the tea ceremony not as an art but as a show of refinement and power. In 1587 he held a ten-day tea-drinking orgy in Kyoto and Osaka. Hideyoshi chose Rikyu to oversee it and soon the buffoonish, violent leader and the reserved master were engaged in a thinly veiled clash of wills. Rikyu eventually does teach Hideyoshi that beauty is found in the minute. Yet when Hideyoshi receives both guns and a globe from Portuguese missionaries, he is overwhelmed with Napoleonic visions. When Rikyu expresses his reservations about Hideyoshi's impending invasion of Korea and China, the potentate demands an apology. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

The sophomore directorial effort from ill-fated Japanese filmmaker Juzo Itami, Tampopo is an off-beat comedy featuring several intersecting stories all related to food. Tsutomu Yamazaki plays Goro, a truck driver who helps a young widow named Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) improve her noodle restaurant. Over the course of the film, the story drifts around, not only following the stories of Tampopo, her son, and Goro, but also a number of customers who come through the diner, including an old woman (Izumi Hara) who insists on squeezing the cheese at a market and a criminal (Ken Watanabe) with a food-based kink. Tampopo was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1988 Independent Spirit Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In a tale that is visually stunning in certain segments, director Shuji Terayama (who died before this movie was released) has woven a spell of magic and social reprobation around the forbidden love of two cousins. Su-e (Mayumi Ogawa) and her cousin Sutekichi (Tsutomu Yamazaki), a descendant of one of the village clans, live together but have been forbidden by her father to have sexual contact. Like other villagers, he believes that if cousins have children together, the children will suffer serious birth defects. His remedy is to make Su-e wear a large, ugly chastity belt. Unable to take the ridicule of his fellow villagers, Sutekichi stabs the head of the clan to death and then runs away with Su-e. After some time elapses, the two make their way back to the village, but by then Sutekichi is suffering the effects of his actions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Just as many American studio-era directors found acclaim abroad that was denied them in their home country, by 1980 Akira Kurosawa's reputation outside Japan exceeded his esteem at home. As uncompromising as ever, he found considerable difficulty securing backing for his ambitious projects. Unsure he would be able to film it, the director, an aspiring artist before he entered filmmaking, converted Kagemusha into a series of paintings, and it was partly on the basis of these that he won the financial support of longtime admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Set in the 16th century, when powerful warlords competed for control of Japan, it offers an examination of the nature of political power and the slipperiness of identity. For some time, Shingen Takeda Tatsuya Nakadai has been able to stay removed from the heat of battle by using his brother Nobukado Tsutomu Yamazaki as a double. As the film opens, Nobukado offers another option, having discovered a condemned thief (also played by Tatsuya Nakadai) bearing an uncanny resemblance to the warlord. After he insists on witnessing the fall of an enemy in person, Shingen falls victim to a sniper's bullet, forcing his advisers to present the thief as the fallen warrior. At first awkward in his new position and plagued by dreams in which the spirit of his double confronts him, he slowly grows into the role even as his enemies begin to advance on his kingdom. The winner of the Palm D'Or at Cannes, Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior has also been released as The Double. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide

A Japanese soldier Tsutomu Yamazki deserts his position and travels to a small town on the Sea of Japan to start over in this melodrama from director Shinoda Masahiro. When a young maid falls for him, he talks her into sleeping with an older man for money. The woman is told by a Geisha Mayumi Ogawa that she gave up her virginity cheaply. The resort town begins to feel the influence of the modern world as the sabre-rattling that preceded World War II begins to change their lives forever. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, Hong Kong morphine smugglers successfully ply their trade until an intrepid detective begins investigating. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this Japanese adventure, a man is kidnapped by the wealthy president of a wartime trading company. He is taken because he is the only one who knows the location of 10,000 gold coins that the Japanese army left in the Philippines during WW II. His captors take him to a boat helmed by the financier's brother. He is then forced to join a small group disguised as Chinese merchants and U.S. Army troops and enter the Philippines where they make an arduous journey through the thick jungles and rugged mountains of North Luzon. Along the way, they find headhunters, but never the gold. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide