Minbo (Japan, 1992)

A grand old Japanese hotel is trying to get a prestigious contract as the site of a summit meeting of important foreign officials. Unfortunately, this hotel is quite popular with the Yakuza, and is a favorite target of theirs for extortion. They employ a variety of schemes to con the hotel out of 'hush-money.' The hotel needs to rid itself of the Yakuza and finally begins to fight back by hiring Inoue, a lawyer who is an expert at dealing with these criminals on their own terms. 

Filmmaker Juzo Itami is known for only directing comic satires. If you haven't seen his 1985 movie Tampopo, then by God do it now. In Minbo, he targets the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) and portrays them hilariously as a bunch of bullies. It's an extremely funny film, but it wasn't exactly well-received by the real life Yakuza, because a couple of days after the films release, Juzo Itami was attacked and had his face slashed by a known gang who didn't appreciate the way he portrayed them in the film. 

Genre: Comedy

Like a Dragon (Japan, 2007)

Former Yakuza underling Kiryu Kazuma, who has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration, and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his Yakuza past. Along the way he encounters Haruka, a distressed young girl who is trying to find her lost mother (a former club hostess). Unfortunately Kiryu's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball bat-wielding psycho Majima Goro who has a grudge to settle with Kiryu.

Director Takashi Miike often makes movie adaptations of other work, for example manga or games. Like a Dragon is based on the video game-series Yakuza, and the film has just as much of slapstick action and Yakuza thug-wars as its counterpart. Fans of Miike will recognize his style of over-the-top fighting and quirky, Japanese humor. Nothing too serious, but a fun and intense Yakuza flick.

Genre: Action/Crime

No Regrets for Our Youth (Japan, 1946)

In 1933. students at Kyoto Imperial University protest against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Prominent professor Yagihara is relieved of his post because of his leftist views against fascism. The professor's daughter Yukie (Setsuko Hara) is courted by two of her father's students: Ryukichi Noge and Itokawa. Itokawa is safe and sensible while Noge is fiery. Yukie is eventually drawn toward Noge.

Postwar Kurosawa is amazing Kurosawa. Setsuko Hara who plays the main character is brilliant, and there's some very memorable scenes with her. The plot is based on the Takigawa incident of 1933, so there's a historical relevance together with this great drama. People who aren't too keen on lengthy black-and-white movies might have a hard time getting through the film, but fans of Akira Kurosawa should not pass this one up.

Genre: Drama

A Stranger of Mine (Japan, 2005)

In one long Friday evening, Takeshi, a straight-arrow businessman, will encounter a number of people (some only fleetingly) who have intertwining fates. The plot of the film is presented in succession first from the point of view of Maki, a young woman disappointed in love, then from Takeshi's point of view, then of his friend, Yusuke, a private detective, and it keeps on switching the viewers perspective like this.

With lots of comic relief and several storylines, A Stranger of Mine is a fun and engaging movie that reward its viewers more and more, and the plot is like a puzzle that is slowly being pieced together. It features some interesting characters and will give you a couple of good laughs, definitely worth a watch. 

Genre: Drama/Comedy

God Speed You! Black Emperor (Japan, 1976)

The film follows the exploits of young Japanese motorcyclists, the "Black Emperors". The 1970s in Japan saw the rise of a motorcycling movement called the bōsōzoku, which drew the interest of the media. The movie follows a member of the "Black Emperors" motorcycle club and his interaction with his parents after he gets in trouble with the police.

Black Emperor offers an insight into the lives of troubled teenagers in seventies Japan and how they find solidarity in biker gangs. The director refrains from showing a bunch of interviews, nor does he criticize the way the bikers are acting. Instead he places the camera right in front of the teenagers wild lifestyle and lets the viewer judge by themselves. 

Genre: Documentary

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Japan, 2006)

A teenage girl finds that she has the ability to leap through time. With her newfound power, she tries to use it to her advantage, but soon finds that tampering with time can lead to some rather discomforting results.

The concept of time travel has always been fascinating, and this film really plays around with the idea of going back in time over and over again. It's an imaginative story with great, great visuals and the director was also responsible for Summer Wars (2009) and the excellent Wolf Children (2012). 

Genre: Drama/Fantasy

Moebius (South Korea, 2013)

A housewife becomes enraged with jealousy over her husband's affair. Meanwhile, their son sits in the periphery, observing their violent confrontations. One evening, the housewife takes a kitchen knife into their bedroom to exact revenge on the father. The father though is able to repel her attack and throws her out of the bedroom. The mother then goes into the son's room.

Okay, what to say about this one. Other than the fact that it's completely insane, of course. Kim Ki-duk, the director, really does whatever he wants when it comes to making films, and that's just genius. Moebius has no dialogue whatsoever. None. Kim's fantastic 3-Iron (2004) had very little of it, but here it's just gone. A fact that you either love or hate. The plot is off the rails-nuts and in need of some serious therapy, but that's how I love my Kim Ki-duk movies. 

Genre: Drama

Our Sunhi (South Korea, 2013)

About Sunhi who just go back to her old school to meet her professor but coincidentally meet her ex-boyfriend and her senior which each of them have had a big role in her past.

Our Sunhi is a very character driven film that basically stands on its script and characters alone. It's far from a huge blockbuster but instead a small and light drama about a group of people who happens to cross each other roads by accident and the common denominator is a young and indecisive girl named Sunhi. One thing I've always loved is scenes that lasts for a good while without any cuts, and Our Sunhi really satisfies my need for that, with some scenes going on for almost ten minutes. That's really cool. Check it out if you just want a simple story and a couple of characters who get on each others nerves.

Genre: Drama

Daimajin (Japan, 1966)

A giant stone statue comes to life to protect the residents of a small town against the depradations of an evil warlord.

Here's another one from the 'oldie but goodie'-category. If your village is being taken over by a power hungry samurai and his nasty henchmen, then what better way to get rid of them than to let an angry god crush them under his foot? Now, Daimajin is technically more of a samurai film due to its main focus on the human characters and how they suffer at the hands of a madman, but with a giant monster thrown in at the end to spice things up and deliver a satisfying end to the tyranny. All in all, it's a good film and shouldn't be missed.

Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Horror

Starry Starry Night (Taiwan/China, 2011)

12-year-old Mei grew up with her grandparents in the mountains, but now lives with her parents in the city. Her parents constantly fight and she ignored at home. Mei withdraws into her own world and imagination. One day Mei meets transfer student Lee. Mei takes a liking to Lee who seems as withdrawn to the world as Mei. After Mei saves Lee from bullies their friendship becomes real. As Mei home life worsens and her parents announce their divorce, Mei turns to Lee and plan their escape.

You could think that Starry Starry Night is another cute high school drama, but you'd also be dead wrong. It's a story of a girl who's being torn from her childhood and is forced to face the harsh reality of adults and the fact that love isn't something that always lasts. Mei's fantasies comes to life with beautiful animations and in a great way enhances how lonely she is, because if she can't be comforted by her own parents, then maybe she can feel better with a blue, wooden elephant by her side.

Genre: Drama

Pitfall (Japan, 1962)

Penniless miners talk in passing about labor unions. A miner and his young son go to a village in Kyushu where the miner has been told he'll find work, but it's a ghost town, save for one woman. The miner leaves and is followed by a man in a white suit and white gloves. A murder takes place: faked footprints, bribery and intrigue, investigations, a frame-up, and a ghost who wants to know why meet in a story of realism and the surreal. A child mutely witnesses all.

Pitfall has an eerie and foreboding atmosphere, and also feels original. It contains social sattire, and the director portrays a flawed mining industry and added a twist with the ghost story. A big classic, this one.

Genre: Crime/Drama

Good Morning (Japan, 1959)

The film takes place in suburban Tokyo, and begins with a group of boy students going home. The boys are all attracted to a neighbor's house because they have a television set, where they can watch their favorite sumo wrestling matches. Two of them, Minoru and Isamu, pressure their mother into buying them a television set, but their mother refuses. So they decide on a silence strike against all adults.

Good Morning is director Yasijiro Ozu's (Tokyo Story) second film in color. In this one, he uses more comedy than usual, and it fits in really well with the story. Ozu shows a small community where gossip runs thick and old ladies spreading rumors like wildfire, and on top of it all there's two young boys who creates confusion among the neighbors by not speaking. Nothing too serious plot-wise but still another great film by a fantastic director. 

Genre: Drama

Gantz (Japan, 2010)

After trying to rescue a man on the subway tracks, two teens wake up in a room dominated by a mysterious black sphere that sends them to hunt down and kill aliens hiding on Earth.

Gantz is based on a manga series, but it's nothing you already need to have read before watching the movie adaption. Terrific special effects and lots of cool weapon design is the name of the game here, and that's a relief because I've always felt that Japan is a few years behind when it comes to slick effects and computer graphics. Gantz is sure to please anyone whose in for a entertaining action adventure. A sequel was made in 2011, called Gantz: Perfect Answer, and it improves on pretty much everything. 

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi

Kwaidan (Japan, 1964)

Kwaidan contains four seperate ghost stories, and all of them has roots in old Japanese folk tales. Black Hair: a poor samurai who divorces his true love to marry for money, but finds the marriage disastrous and returns to his old wife, only to discover something eerie about her. The Woman in the Snow: stranded in a snowstorm, a woodcutter meets an icy spirit in the form of a woman who spares his life on the condition that he never tell anyone about her. Hoichi the Earless: Hoichi is a blind musician, living in a monastery who sings so well that a ghostly imperial court commands him to perform the epic ballad of their death battle for them. But the ghosts are draining away his life, and the monks set out to protect him by writing a holy mantra over his body to make him invisible to the ghosts. In a Cup of Tea: a writer tells the story of a man who keep seeing a mysterious face reflected in his cup of tea.

For me, the most striking things with Kwaidan aren't the creepy stories, it's the sets and the beautiful matte paintings that I'll remember long after the film is over. The haunting atmosphere is thick, and because the film is made up of four stories instead of one it never feels like it outstays its welcome even though it's three hours long. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi two years after his thought-provoking and original samurai film Harakiri, he by far proved he's one of the heavyweights in Japanese cinema. One of the most classic and eerily captivating ghost anthologies in film history, a crash course in Japanese folklore and full of lush set design, Kwaidan proves to be a true force when it comes to all sorts of spectres, and a stunning work of art.

Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Horror

A Story of Yonosuke (Japan, 2013)

The year is 1987 and Japan is just reaching the peak of its economic success. Eighteen-year old Yonosuke Yokomichi arrives in Tokyo from Nagasaki. Ordinary in every way possible, he lives in a suburb far from the excitement of the big city and commutes to a university in the center of Tokyo. During his first days at school, Yonosuke befriends Ippei Kuramochi and Yui Akutsu. Parallel to the depiction of this year of ordinary college life, the characters are shown sixteen years later in the year 2003.

A Story of Yonosuke, and what a story it is. It's two hours and forty minutes long, but you won't believe how fast those hours feels like. Yonosuke is a guy whose happy spirit is catching, and one by one he changes the lives of those around him. It's a film that goes through stages in life, and portrays how much a single man can affect the outcome of others future. A bittersweet story that should be seen by anyone who wants a really good drama you can loose yourself in. 

Genre: Drama