Tadanobu Asano
1) Vital
Pub. Date
2014.
Description
Hiroshi Takagi (played by the fantastic Tadanobu Asano - Zatoichi, Ichi the Killer), a young man in his 20s, awakens in a hospital bed to find an auto accident has completely wiped his memory away. Back home with his parents and attempting to rebuild his life, he comes across a medical textbook full of detailed drawings of dissection. Utterly fascinated by the subject, Hiroshi is drawn to the medical school to which he was once accepted, but refused...
2) Maborosi
Pub. Date
2021.
Description
After the sudden, self-inflicted death of her husband, a young mother (Makiko Esumi) remarries and moves to a remote village on the Sea of Japan with her infant son. She finds herself haunted by the many tragedies of her life, but time begins to heal her wounds as she rediscovers love, understanding, and a sense of peace. One of the finest pieces of Japanese cinema ever made with elegant camerawork, striking visuals and almost entirely natural lighting,...
Pub. Date
2023.
Description
On the last night of its existence, a small movie theater in Onomichi—the seaside town of Obayashi’s youth where he shot nearly a dozen films—screens an all-night marathon of Japanese war films. When lightning strikes the theater, three young men are transported into the world onscreen where they experience the violent battles of several wars leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima
Pub. Date
2023.
Description
One of Japan's most beloved characters returns in this bold tale of Zatoichi—the blind, nomadic samurai whose sword made him a hero and whose courage made him a legend. His appearance may be humble, but his gift for lightning-fast draw and strokes of breathtaking precision makes him the perfect weapon. After Zatoichi wanders into a town run by sinister gangs and a powerful assailant, he discovers two geishas avenging their parents' murder.
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Takashi Miike’s ICHI THE KILLER has endured as one of the most influential pieces of genre filmmaking of the last two decades, and now it returns in a stunning all-new digitally restored special edition approved by Miike himself. This visceral, bloody, and often hilarious film follows Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’ killer brings him into the orbit of a demented costumed assassin known...
7) Ruined Heart
Pub. Date
2014.
Description
A hitman falls in love with the crime boss’s girl. Now the pair must run for their lives as the boss brings down the full fury of his mob upon them. Nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix at the **Tokyo International Film Festival**. Official Selection at the **London Film Festival**.
8) Minamata
Pub. Date
2020.
Formats
Description
Three-time Academy Award® nominee Johnny Depp plays celebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith in a real life David vs Goliath story, pitting Smith against a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan in 1971. With the glory days of World War II far behind him, Smith has become a recluse. Between an impassioned Japanese translator called Aileen (Minami) urging him to go and a much needed commission from "Life" Magazine...
9) Midway
Pub. Date
2020
Description
Centers on the Battle of Midway, a clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude, and bravery to overcome the odds.
10) Silence (drama)
Pub. Date
2017
Description
Two Catholic missionaries face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan looking for their missing mentor, at a time when Catholicism was outlawed.
11) 47 Ronin
Pub. Date
[2014]
Description
Kai is an outcast who joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. They embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.